Comments on: Frey’s vs White Rock

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:13:17 +0000

Answer to crop color change…
The hens/pullets usually stay on the *yellow* side till maturity.

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:43:18 +0000

I raise the lumbering chickens. I think it is kind of cute the way they lumber around. I have ordered them many times as a streight run. I order a dozen and a 100lbs bag of feed. The 100lb bag of feed last till I butcher. I butcher them out at 8-10 weeks at 6 1/2 lbs or so, or till the bag is gone. Sometimess they are not even fully feathered out.This time I did not free feed, only twice a day. I feed them about a 1/2 cup a day per bird and at 8 weeks old they are smaller then usual, more active too. They now have a small pasture to rome around in all day long. They love worms, finding bugs, eating greens, and scratching and digging in the dirt. They might not be like my free range chickens, however they are who they are and what they are bred to be. A very big delicious bird. This year will be my first year trying to keep a few of the smaller hens. I am looking forward to the adventure.

By: Kate

Kate — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:48:32 +0000

This is our third year growing the CornishX, and we too find them somewhat un-natural, but there are not many alternatives out there for a fast growing specific ‘meat bird’. I am very interested in the Freedom Rangers, but cannot find a source for them here in Canada. Ours are out on pasture from 3-4 weeks old depending on the weather. We use the Joel Salatin pen and method, which has worked very well for us, and once the chickens adjust from the move to the great outdoors, they also seem happier. We are planning to get some heritage Dark Cornish and try breeding our own, as we do with our laying hens. A work in progress :)

Thanks for the great blog by the way. Will definitely check out some of the suggestions from the other replies!

By: Elaine

Elaine — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:54:59 +0000

My white cornish rock hens have lost all their feathers, what is with that? Are they ill?

By: Mike (tfb)

Mike (tfb) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:24:36 +0000

I don’t recall the exact amount, but probably whatever is their recommended daily by age, maybe 10-20% little less. The idea is not to let them overeat to the extreme, and get discouraged from moving around by having endless food sitting in front of them. I don’t think they get that much from foraging, limiting feed is mostly to encourage them get exercise, and top up with a healthy variety of food, like plants and insects. I would also give them vegetable culls and the like. They still get the majority of growth from the feed. As always, experimentation is good, taking into account how long you intend to keep them, and how much area they have to roam in, as the smaller the area, the faster they will go through what’s around. And always remember to have plenty of clean water available, and shade.

Glad you like the blog. :)

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:42:50 +0000

Hi Mike,

I often find your blog when searching for small farming info. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences.

I especially like your recent response to Ginger from October 2011. This is very useful. We are planning to give it a try this year.

How much did you feed per day per chicken?

Thanks again!

By: Ansley

Ansley — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:04:32 +0000

when do the Cornish/Rock’s crops start to redden? I have a mixed flock and i need to know so that i don’t accidentally butcher one of my tetra tints…

By: Rabbi Pinchus Presworsky

Rabbi Pinchus Presworsky — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:55:50 +0000

DEAR CHECKEN EXPERT:
IF YOU HAVE NICE PICTURES OF THE ROCK-CORNISH CHICKEN, PLEASE E-MAIL THEM TO ME WITH PERMISSION TO USE IN A BOOK
THANK YOU:
presworsky@hotmail.com

By: Mike (tfb)

Mike (tfb) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:24:05 +0000

That was my experience exactly with my second White Rocks. Their feed was measured daily, and after they’d polished it off in a feeding frenzy, they headed out. A few weeks in, and they were bursting out the chickenhouse door in the morning, couldn’t wait to get out and about. I saw them running – lumber-running – around with worms in their beaks. I think the exercise helped a lot, because I didn’t lose any this time, compared to a dozen or more out of 40 in the first round. With foraging, they weighed around 7 lbs at 10 weeks or so, about a pound less than when they were all-feed, but since none died, that turned out net better. And it was just a lot more satisfying to raise them, they seemed happier – happy – instead of just freakishly expanding Frankenbirds. :)

By: Ginger

Ginger — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:32:31 +0000

I raised Cornish Rock X this year as well. I found that if I pull the feed for an hour or two in the mornings after moving their “tractor”, they forage a bit better and get more exercise. Does this help them? I don’t know; but I feel like I am encouraging them to be more chicken-like. At 10 weeks our chickens were 6 – 7 1/2 pounds, dressed! Great taste, very tender, even the thighs are “whiter” than commercial chickens.
We called them Franken-chickens!!
My husband keeps reminding me – they are bred for this purpose. :-/