Anyone ever free range Cornish X?

[Beekissed]

I'm thinking about next spring....I might put in a chick order for the monsters and would like to free range them and feed them just like I do my dual purpose gals. Do you think they would have a similar growth rate if they weren't penned and given free choice?

I don't care if it takes them longer to reach the correct size or even if they are a little smaller than they would be if penned. I just want them to taste better than the CX my niece raised and had me butcher for her. Not much flavor. They were penned and fed scratch grains and cracked corn.

I was thinking the varied diet, fresh air and sunshine would produce a better tasting bird but still with the heavy breasts.

Anyone did this? How did it turn out?

 

[patandchickens]

Go search in Meat Birds Etc on BYC, there are some people who've done it (like actually free ranged them, not just tractored).

My impression is that they do not, in fact, free 'range' very much, mostly just sit around the feeders eating, although they do get more exercise than if in a teeny broiler pen obviously. My CornishX last year had a largeish run so got a fair amount of exercise - they had muscles in places that no supermarket chicken ever does, but I do not think they really tasted any much different than you'd expect. (Home raised are still better than store boughten, especially for soup stock, but I think a lot of it's in the processing and handling, honestly).

Isn't flavor more related to *age* than to exercise/diet? Not that the latter don't contribute, but, basically if you are eating a 6-8 wk old bird it just isn't going to have lots of flavor.

You might consider trying one of the colored broiler lines -- this spring I had some red broilers (possibly just a meat line of NHR, I'm not sure, they're from a Canadian hatchery though) that gave me the exact same cost per lb of meat as the CornishX only they grew slower... if time is not an issue, you could let such birds grow out to an older/larger size (I didn't, b/c of scheduling issues) and have meat at the same price/lb as CornishX but with more maturity and thus more flavor.

Or, try that PLUS some CornishX, both free ranging as much as they're willing, and compare

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Frosting]

I'm raising my first batch of cornishXes right now. The one thing I have noticed is they don't move very far. I have to have mine penned due to predators but, they have a good sized run and still I shoo them around to get them to move some. If you free range them you will need to have a feeder close by or an area with a high concentration of natural foods for them. And boy do they eat!

 

[dacjohns]

I "free ranged" a bunch of those ugly meat birds with some success. They are lazy and want to stay close to the feeder but if you put the feeder out of reach they will move around more. They don't forage as well as "dual purpose" birds but they will forage. They liked being out of the coop and pen just as much as the other birds.

I found them to have more flavor and texture than the store bought chickens. They were a little slower growing than if they had feed available all the time but I was still pleased with the results.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I freerange mine, sorta. I have the electric poultry netting that I keep them enclosed in. I have a moveable shelter for sun/wind/rain inside the netting area. I move the shelter every other day, four times within the netting. By then, all the grass is used up. then I move the netting and shelter and start all over again. It's true, they dont really freerange. They just kinda plop where they are,-- when hungry, meander over to the feeder, when thirsty, meander over to the waterer. I always keep the food and water far away from them so they actually move.

If you don't have much in the way of predators or distractions, you could freerange them (as much as they will freerange). In my yard, theres too much going on, and they would get too stressed if totally free.

However, mine only see shavings as chicks, and only if I need to brood them in the shop. this second batch, I brooded outside, and moved their brooder as needed too. they have acess to bugs and grass, which they do eat, as we saw in their crops when we butchered. I don't notice a strong odour, maybe my olfactory senses are accustomed, but none of my friends or family have ever mentioned the smell.

I also give my meaties free choice. But I feed commercial feed for meat birds--not sure what you have planned. my last batch I butchered at 9 weeks, and the biggest bird was 8lbs8oz. Smallest bird was about 5 lbs.

since I cant comment on your nieces birds, all I can say is I love my meaties, and although I will butcher extra roos and old hens, I am hooked on my meaties. I cook usually one a week througout the year.

 

[Beekissed]

Isn't flavor more related to *age* than to exercise/diet? Not that the latter don't contribute, but, basically if you are eating a 6-8 wk old bird it just isn't going to have lots of flavor.

I would have to say that my young free ranged dual purpose chickens have a totally different flavor than my nieces penned CX, fed a mostly corn diet...and they were comparable ages. Actually, she had bought the meat birds because she was so impressed with the taste of my laying stock. When she killed one and ate it, she was very disappointed in the flavor and didn't really want to kill anymore. I got a lot of meat out of the deal but it lacked much flavor.

I think diet and exercise would have the MOST to do with the flavor and the age would have more to do with the tenderness. Isn't this why most folks are raising their own? So they know what goes into the bird...as far as diet, meds, etc.

Better health and diet would no doubt influence the richness of the meat, wouldn't it? Same as corn fed beef tastes different than grass fed, wild deer different than farmed deer, etc.

I only feed in the evenings, so these meaties wouldn't have much call to hang by the feeder. They will have free choice as chicks but all my free rangers get fed once a day.

It will be an interesting thing to do, to see if they have slower growth and less health problems if free ranged.

Thanks for all the input! I didn't take it to the BYC because very few of those folks attempt to free range their meaties, from what I've read.

 

[me&thegals]

We just butchered 100 of these monstrosities. I have never seen so clearly the result of breeding for certain traits.

Ours were "free-range, pastured" birds, but I felt guilty even calling them that when selling them. They DO NOT want to move! To make them move, we moved their feeders further and further away each day. Sometimes, when it was going to rain, we brought the feeders back in. Some of those birds actually sat around all day waiting for the feed at night!

Then, we started leading them in chicken aerobics The kids and I would slowly walk around and around the barn, forcing them to get up and moving. A few actually foraged around, but very little. The most athletic simply got up off their butts to go get to the outside feeders.

Even with all this to try to slow down their rate of growth, we had some start going down at 7 weeks. Due to scheduling issues with friends and family helping butcher, we didn't butcher until 9 weeks. By then, about 5 of 100 had to be butchered early due to leg problems.

Ugg! Everyone says it's the best meat they have ever had, and we may still do it again, but right now that genetic soup mess is still too fresh in my mind. I'd like to talk with Jeff on BYC more about his birds. He has pastured birds, and I wonder if his are bred a little more for foraging...

So, yes, a completely different story from our dual-purpose roos that we fed out and butchered last winter.

 

[me&thegals]

They have acess to bugs and grass, which they do eat, as we saw in their crops when we butchered.

Oh, that's right!! I had forgotten! We also found grass in some of their crops and commented that we could now honestly say they were pastured birds I had forgotten that, so maybe they were foraging more than I realized, at different times of day than when I was out there.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

From everything I've read (including the above ), they are sluggish & less instinctual than your standard dual purpose breeds. I talked myself out of ordering Cornish X for meat production because of this article by Harvey Ussery on his website: http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Cornish-Cross.html

 

[Beekissed]

It appears he was making the same mistake as everyone else by providing free choice feed all day and expecting the birds to want to forage for food. Why should they if they have feed that is easy and tastey right beside them. Why the hurry to grow out these birds?

I can see why commercial growers would want to have a quick turn around, though I can't imagine it needs to be THAT quick to make a profit.

But us simple folk with a backyard flock? Why the need to give free choice feeds and let the animals gorge themselves continually on high protein feeds and then complain when they die of heat or heart?

Why not treat them like the rest of the chickens? Yes, they seem to be genetically inclined to be hungry, hungry hippos....but its that old nature vs. nurture thingy. He complains that they have to be propped up by medicine to survive, but is it more because the feeding methods are similar to commercial growers? All the feed they want in the shortest amount of time?

This would be worth exploring....letting them free range at 2-3 wks or sooner if they fledge properly. See how they do without a ready feeder to sit next to. My feeder and waterer is in the coop which has an inclined ramp to traverse. I won't have to drive them out of the henhouse, the older girls will do it for me!
I only feed in the evenings, so they will have to eat something on their own two little feet until then.

I might try it!