Raising Cornish Cross Meat Birds

We live in an area that is heavily populated with huge chicken barns, large hatcheries and processing factories (mainly Tysons and George's). I see the trucks filled with nasty, unhealthy chickens going in to Tyson's continuously and have watched as the fork-lift driver unloads cage after cage after cage of chickens into the building. Filled cages go in as empty cages go out. It seems like he never stops. I see (and SMELL) the chicken barns all over the beautiful countryside and have been inside of several (some for meat, some for egg production, some 'conventional', some 'organic', some 'free range', some not ... makes no difference, they are all the same except the feed ... and does organic feed really make that big of a difference in such situations?).

While I understand fully that we must do what we have to do (I've eaten plenty of chicken from Tyson's and will continue to do so when I have to ... and be THANKFUL for it!!), I also believe that if we have it within our power to do things better then we should. It is for these reasons and more that I decided to raise my own chickens for meat. Organic, non-GMO feed, clean water with ACV, room to roam, green grass, fresh air, sunshine, bugs.

I was very ignorant when I started and had no idea what kind of bird to choose, so I did a little research; later however I discovered that I did not research fully enough. Live and learn.

I chose the Cornish Cross probably for the same reasons most folks do: they grow quickly and produce a lot of meat for the least amount of cost. I knew they were hybrids ... but at the time I was only thinking how at least it's not GMO. These birds were 'selectively bred', not 'genetically manipulated'. I learned through reading that if they are allowed to eat freely 24/7 they will grow too quickly and suffer with health issues (heart and leg problems, among other things). It is for this reason that it's recommended to restrict their access to feed after about 2 weeks of age (12 hours of free access and 12 hours of nothing). For some reason, this did not seem too strange to me ... however after I got the birds and learned more about them my thoughts began to shift.

I must admit, at first I struggled to like these birds because they simply just grossed me out. They are not like a 'normal' chicken. While I've read of many who claim their Cornish Cross birds (CX) do in fact act like normal chickens if given the right environment, this has not been my experience. I've owned a heritage breed for over 3 years now and the difference is very clear. The CX might be a little active and forage a little bit if given free access to do so, however my girls (Barred Rocks) are active pretty much all day long, scratching around, hunting for bugs, eating green stuff, etc. They take a break once in a while, have a dirt bath, or just relax in the shade, but it's not long before they are back up, roaming around, hunting, scratching, etc. Totally different from the CX. They have free room to roam but choose to stay pretty much right where they are ... as close to the feeder as possible of course!! Many of them do not even stand up to eat! I have noticed they are much more active in the morning before we give them their feed ... I really enjoy watching them run around and play, however they are just too big to last very long at acting normal. All too soon, one by one, they plop down, exhausted.

Well, as I said, I did struggle at first to like these birds, however I realized that my bad attitude and regret was having an effect on how I handled them and I did NOT want that to happen!!! So I quickly changed my attitude and just treated them the same as I do our girls. Yes, I talked to them, tried to pet them, gave them treats, etc. This helped me a lot, and I'm sure it helped them in some way too. I made the absolute best out of the situation and gave it my all. While I've read of several having health issues with their CXs, we've never experienced any such thing. Yes, they are lazy and as I shared above they do get tired quickly, but it seems to me if you do it right they do not suffer. We did lose one to an owl, but that was our only loss and totally our fault. :'(

The end result: fresh, organic chicken meat from chickens that were raised with love in a healthy environment. DELICIOUS! Tender, moist, and full of flavor. No regrets.

We chose to butcher in batches instead of all at once, and still have 9 left that will be butchered within the next 2 days. There is only four of us and more often than not there is only 1 or two of us. We've done several together but a few times Corban has butchered some, left for work and then Brianna did all the cleaning/dressing. We try to butcher then at about 7-8 pounds, though some have been a little smaller (closer to 6lbs). The dressed weight has been 4-5.5 lbs, with one so far weighing in at just under 4lbs.

NEXT TIME
Instead of raising a hybrid that grows from zero to 10 pounds in a record amount of time, I am going with a dual purpose heritage breed like our Barred Rocks. We'll probably just do a 'straight run' of chicks, cull out the roosters when the time is right and save the hens for eggs. This seems a much more natural, peaceful way of doing things ... the way I believe God intended it to be ... because really, if he wanted us to have a huge, fat chicken in 6-8 weeks he would have made one that way. This, above all else, is why I believe heritage breeds are the healthiest and best choice. God knew what he was doing.

But that does not mean I am totally closed to ever raising CX again ... if that is all we can afford and handle I do believe it's a much better choice than Tyson's and I am very thankful for a freezer full of good meat!!

And if anyone is wondering, we purchased all of their feed in advance and stored in an old refrigerator (unplugged, laying on its back like a chest) to keep the mice out. I was informed of a good deal on organic, non-GMO feed but it's a few hours away so we thought it best to get it all in one shot ... we figured 20lbs per bird ... 25 birds (well, 26 actually) ... 500lbs total. We are butchering the last few within the next few days. There is a little bit of feed left (less than 50lbs) that we'll just mix in with our layer feed for the girls.