What is a Cornish Cross?
If you purchase a chicken in the grocery store, it is highly likely is a Cornish Cross chicken. They are one of the fastest growing broiler (aka meat) chickens in America. They are ready to butcher in 8 to 10 weeks, whereas other broilers are just starting to get their feathers at that age.
The Cornish Cross evolved from the hybrid breed, Red Cornish Cross, a breed that was developed decades ago.
At the end of World War II, there was a shortage of red meat, therefore, the demand for chickens rose. From this demand, the A&P Food Stores, at that time the largest poultry retailer, sponsored a contest called “The Chicken of Tomorrow”. This contest called for the development of a superior meat chicken. The National Chicken of Tomorrow contest took place in 1948. The winner was a Red Cornish cross, a fast-growing, plump, and primarily white meat chicken. This contest proved breeding chickens with superior meat characteristics could produce faster growing chickens then the poultry industry had ever witnessed before.
Eventually over the years to come, continous modification of breeding specific chickens together ultimately resulted in today’s Cornish Cross.
If Two Cornish Cross Chickens are Bred, is the Result a Cornish Cross?
No. The Cornish Cross is not a specific species of a chicken, but instead, is developed by breeding other species together. Therefore, when two Cornish Cross’ breed, the result is not exactly identical to the parents. They may share similiar characteristics, but they are not identical.
The curiousity was killing me though, so I did it. I hooked up a Cornish Cross Rooster with a Cornish Cross hen, and waalaa:
These pictures were taken when these chickens were 13 weeks old. Their parents were significantly larger at that same age. However, very much like their parents, they do not like to forage. They prefer to sit all day and wait for me to feed them.
They are still very big birds though. To put these into perspective with another species, our Promontory Reds (laying hens) didn’t even have their crown at 23 weeks, where you can see these two do at 13 weeks.
So What’s the Verdict?
The verdict is, it was an interesting experiment, breeding two Cornish Cross’ together. The results were chickens that are good broilers and they grew at a pretty fast rate, not as fast as their parents though.
However, I prefer a chicken that is more of a forager, so I won’t be breeding the parents again. This preference is for a couple of reasons. First, ultimately the cost to feed a chicken that forages is less if they are getting a portion of their nutrients from nature. Secondly, a chicken that forages does not sit in the same area all day long, so their house stays cleaner longer, meaning less work for me.
With this in mind, I ordered White Bresse Chicks, a heritage chicken. When breeding two heritage chickens, the result will be the same as the parents. As adults, they will look very similiar to the Cornish Cross’, except for their legs. They have blue legs. Bresse chickens are said to be the worlds most delicious chicken because their meat is marbled. They are also great foragers. In addition, they are a great multi-purpose chicken. They should start laying eggs around 4 to 5 months.
