Cornish breed is one of the most popular and beloved chickens of farmers. She is appreciated for the excellent taste qualities of meat and the rapid growth of young animals.
Black Cornish breed of chickens (Cornish)
White cock and hen of the Cornish breed
White lace red cornish
History of the origin of the breed
The Cornish breed is also called the Indian fighting breed. Homeland - England, breeder - Gilbert W.R. It was born thanks to the cockfights, popular at that time. Gilbert in the early 19th century decided to breed a new breed of bird, for this he crossed fighting hens with the breed Azil. From her parents, Cornish received speed and strength. The breed quickly gained the interest of the English nobility and ordinary farmers.
By the end of the 19th century, she had changed a little and lost her fighting qualities. But Cornish discovered other advantages, thanks to which work on the breed continued, they were engaged in by breeders of the counties of England Cornwall and Devonshire.
In 1895, the English Cornish chicken breed was recognized by the American Poultry Association, its characteristics were approved, and made the standard. At that time, the breed was called “Indian fighting”, the breeders understood that this did not correspond to the characteristics of the chickens, therefore it was renamed “Cornish”, which means “resident of Cornwall”.
However, ancient roots do not allow themselves to be forgotten: in the appearance and nature of the breed, fighting signs are manifested. After the hens lost interest in English farmers, the demand for the breed for a long time could not be restored.
Cornish in the 19-20 century was considered very demanding for care, feeding, egg production is low, they grew slowly. Breeding was inhibited due to the large weight of the males. The eggshell is thin, which provoked breeding difficulties.
Despite this, breeding work did not stop, scientists were able to bring out that breed of chickens that will amaze everyone with its performance. They succeeded, representatives of the Cornish began to grow rapidly, brought in a large amount of tasty fresh meat, but the egg production remained at the same level - minimal.
Description of Cornish Chickens
English beauties are attractive, they are difficult to confuse with other breeds. Consider the main characteristics inherent only to Cornish.
Appearance
Looking at a brood hen, the first thing to do is to draw attention to a large body with a pronounced relief. The chest is massive with prominent hips and a broad back. The body is low. The legs are far apart, the legs are voluminous with prominent muscles. The beak, like the paws, is yellow.
The head of chickens is medium in size. The strong forehead is adorned with a small pod-shaped comb, often of a red hue. Reds also have earrings, ears and leather. Feathers come in different colors, the most common varieties are black and white. In nature, fawn, brown and red are found. The male weighs about 4 kg, the female 3.5 kg.
Temperament
The breeders wanted to create a hen with a real fighting character, but they managed to create a chicken with a calm and docile disposition. Females are not prone to fights and showdowns. The males are calm and reasonable, but in emergency cases they are ready to engage in a fight and protect their family.
Aggressiveness, pugnaciousness, loudness - qualities that were lost in the process of breeding the breed. Therefore, modern Cornish chickens do not bring difficulties and hassle to owners.
Productivity
At first, the Cornish breed was created not only for cockfights, but also for improving meat qualities. This product is considered dietary. The birds gain weight very soon, at the age of 2 months they reach 2 kg. In addition to the positive characteristics, domestic birds are characterized by late puberty. Cornish is usually referred to as a meat species.
Puberty and egg production
English women do not ripen soon, however, like other meat breeds. However, they are characterized by rapid growth and mass gain, which is why they are valuable in poultry farmers. The first time the female lays eggs at the age of 7-9 months. Because of this, raising Cornish chickens is quite difficult.
The peak egg production comes in the 2-3rd year of life. An average of 140 eggs can be obtained from one brood hen. The highest recorded productivity was 176 pieces. The weight of one egg is about 60 g, the color is different - from white to cream.
Incubation instinct
The maternal instinct is present in layers. If the owner of the birds competently approaches the breeding process of chickens, then the females will be able to hatch healthy and strong young. The breeding process itself is not easy.
Chicks are large, not all eggs are fertilized and ready to hatch. The females become very nervous and sensitive, as soon as the time comes to incubate - they are scared by every rustle. The danger is the weight of the chicken, because of it, she can accidentally break her offspring.
Conditions of detention
Feathered Cornish breeds do not need special conditions, they can live in cages and on free range. The main condition for birds is a sufficient area for walking, since the Cornish bird is large and it needs a site for free movement.
Nutrition
The diet should be correctly selected, because the birds are prone to overeating.
Chicken Diet
The menu of young animals should contain all those components that are in the diet of an adult bird, but you should pay attention to the vitamins and minerals necessary for the chicks. Protein products play a special role. If the kids are rapidly recovering, then they are put on a diet. Chicks should always have drinkers filled with water.
Adult chicken diet
If the poultry farmer does not plan to slaughter, then young animals are transferred to an adult diet at the age of 2 months.
Foods that can be fed to Cornish chickens:
- Food with a lot of vegetable protein. It should be the basis of the diet. Use mixtures for growing broilers. You can make a finished grain mixture with your own hands.
- Wet mash. Birds are given in the morning. They are instantly absorbed, respectively, after a small amount of time the hens will again have to be fed. During the day, Klush has a chance to eat free-range, and giving this dish for dinner is irrational. Birds will quickly feel hungry and sleep poorly at night.
- Diet. Excess weight is a reason to gradually reduce the amount of food or change the diet. Best of all, hens shed excess on fresh vegetables and herbs. These products can replace all grain mixtures.
- Special menu before laying. During this period, the amount of nutritional supplements is increased, because they are a source of calcium. The menu should be filled with egg-forming protein.
Reproduction
The patience and efforts of the breeders were not in vain, today from one laying hen you can get about 150 eggs. Previously, the strength of the shell was very low, now it is thicker and stronger. Chick breeding problems have dropped significantly. Experienced poultry farmers breed young animals in special incubators to avoid all sorts of dangers.
Read the article about the features of incubating chicken eggs.
Hatchability in the incubator is approximately 70%. Problems regarding egg fertilization do not go away. On some poultry farms, one of the biggest mistakes is made - breeders do not fight obesity of birds, and more and more of them are fattened. This event leads to excess weight, respectively, reproduction is difficult.
The amount of fatty layers can interfere with the cesspool, in which the eggs are laid.
Chickens of the Cornish breed are distinguished by a developed maternal instinct, birds hatch eggs for a long time, but any intervention from a person or other representative of the fauna can frighten them off.
Layers try to protect eggs from the owner or predator, because of this, females often break them. The eggs of English chickens are of different sizes and colors, it all depends on the specific variety of Cornish. To prevent the chicken from crushing them with its weight, the eggs are shifted under layers of another lighter breed. This action helps to improve hatchability and facilitate future care of the young.
The correct temperature regime for the chickens is provided by the laying layer, hiding them under their wing. The main task of the poultry breeder is to provide the chicken with delicious food, and create a cozy and comfortable atmosphere for it.
Cell content
Behind nets of birds often kept in poultry farms. Representatives of birds living in this way do not get sick often, because they live in cleanliness, and they have no chance of picking up deadly viruses and bacteria. This is the main advantage of the cellular method of keeping.
But hens cannot go out into the open air, they are completely devoid of physical activity, meat birds are characterized by a slow metabolism. Often they eat a lot: in birds the amount of fat increases, internal organs get sick, the laying of eggs is suspended. Birds fall on their paws - this leads to the death of representatives of the Cornish breeds.
Caged carcasses are of no importance because their taste loses their value.
Outdoor-walking method of keeping
This way of keeping birds is the best. Fresh air and an active lifestyle affect the health and full development of birds. Taste indicators of meat become more pronounced and vibrant.
The comfort of breeding birds is provided by several rules:
- The temperature in the chicken coop should not drop below -15 degrees Celsius. There is no draft in the room where chickens live.
- Adults quickly get used to the cold and new living conditions, but they too sensitively experience sudden changes in temperature.
- Hens will only feel safe if their nests are located away from human eyes. In a stressful situation, birds can crush eggs.
- No need to install poles and perches too high from the floor surface. Heavy weight and low feet can pose the risk of a bad fall and bird injury.
- On the courtyard site, be sure to dig a hole and pour sand and ash into it. Such a small bath will help birds to lose fleas that live in their feathers.
During the walk, representatives of the English chickens breed dig the ground with their paws, so they grind off claws, the long length of which causes them inconvenience.
Features of the content of chicks
Young animals especially need care in the first days after birth. Chickens take longer to plumage than other species. They appear gradually from 1.5-2 weeks. On cold days, babies hide under the wings of the mother, if she does not take all the chickens, then they begin to stray together. Strong, healthy individuals crush small ones or cripple them.
In order to prevent hypothermia and reduce the number of young animals, you should maintain the temperature at +28 degrees Celsius. In the daytime, this is not a problem, but in the evening it is better to use a special infrared lamp located under the ceiling. The development of young animals, the acceleration of growth, is beneficially influenced by walking chickens in the fresh air.
How do chickens handle the winter cold?
Frost, winds, drafts, a sharp change in temperature - all these factors negatively affect the well-being of birds. Young growth takes feathers for a very long time, so the cold for them is a great danger, which leads to death.
In winter, the room where the birds live is necessarily heated. The temperature should not fall below +5 degrees Celsius, but even this indicator is considered extremely undesirable.
Prevention and treatment of obesity
Excess weight in chickens is fraught with various consequences. Poultry meat loses its tenderness, it becomes too fat. To get rid of fat, it is necessary to regularly weigh the birds, and see if the mass corresponds to their age. For example, at 3 months the weight should be about 1.7 kg, at 4 months - 2-2.1 kg, at 5 months - 2.3-2.4 kg.
If the mass of birds significantly exceeds the norm, then the birds are put on a special low-calorie diet. The menu of slimming birds includes fresh herbs, corn, beans, any bean culture. All cereals should be excluded. Mineral and vitamin supplements are added to the diet. A prerequisite for losing weight is a large amount of drinking water. Refuse should be from cereals.
Advantages and disadvantages of the breed
Chickens of English origin, like all other birds, have both pros and cons.
The advantages of the Cornish breed:
- rapid weight gain;
- active growth;
- tasty and nutritious meat;
- Cornish roosters act as parents to create other breeds of chickens;
- not a strong whimsy to living conditions and diet.
Disadvantages of the Cornish breed:
- low egg production;
- hatchability rates are low;
- the risk of excess weight;
- long plumage in young animals;
- the longer the chicken lives, the worse the meat quality becomes.
Cornish chickens have excellent intelligence: a bird can remember about a hundred distinctive characteristics of both other birds and humans. If a person has offended a hen at least once, he will not be able to gain her trust anymore. The chicken remembers everyone who feeds and cares for her and treats him with great care and love.
Reviews of poultry farmers about Cornish chickens
Cyril, 44 years old, therapist, Kursk.We decided to start a breed of Cornish chickens, studied many descriptions, almost all of them say that English birds are not pugnacious, and all fighting characteristics are in the past. In fact, this is not entirely true. The hens behave normally, do not scream, do not quarrel, but the cocks are terribly pugnacious. We don’t know, maybe just two roosters didn’t like each other, and maybe the genes of their ancestors - fighting birds - wake up.
Olga, 36 years old, breeder, Adler.They decided to start breeding chickens with decorative representatives. They beautifully decorated the site, created an amazing atmosphere. Then it was time to start raising birds for meat, the choice fell on the Cornish. The taste of birds is at the highest level, the meat is tender and juicy. We noticed two significant drawbacks - they recover very quickly and bring few eggs, although the second drawback is completely justified, because Cornish is meat chickens.
Hide
Add your review
Cornish chickens came to our territory from England, they quickly won the love of farmers. Thanks to good care and rules of keeping, the poultry farmer will be able to get excellent poultry meat without spending a lot of time and worries.