5 Reasons NOT To Raise Cornish Cross Meat Chickens

We’re on our fourth year of raising the majority of our chicken on our own property. Now that we’ve raised and processed hundreds of birds, we’ve been able to see a lot of the pros and cons of different breeds firsthand. Here are 5 disadvantages of raising cornish cross meat chickens – and why we’re still raising them.

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What Are Cornish Crosses? Here’s What You Need to Know

Cornish cross chickens are hybrid birds that are bred specifically for meat production. They’re fast growing and are the type of chicken you’ll typically find in the grocery store. 

Here are the important points:

• These birds are typically ready to process around 8 weeks of age.
• Their average weight is around 6-8lbs per bird at processing time.
• They’re easy to process compared to other breeds. 
• They tend to have more health problems than other breeds if they’re not cared for properly. 
• Between chicks, feed, and processing, our cost is typically around $10 per bird. (Here’s a breakdown of our last 5 batches.)
• They need a high-protein diet (at least 20% protein broiler feed).
• Cornish Crosses can also go by the names Cornish X, Cornish Rocks, Cornish Rock Cross, Jumbo White Cornish Cross, Cornish Rock broiler, etc. 

Within the Cornish breed, you might also hear about the Indian Game Chicken (which is the standard Cornish breed) and the Cornish game hen (which is just a Cornish X processed at 4-5 weeks old – more of a personal-sized, upscale version of these chickens).

5 Disadvantages of Raising Cornish Cross Meat Chickens

So by now you already know that we’ve raised dozens of these birds. And as of now, we’re planning to continue to do so. But more about why down below.

Here are 5 reasons you might NOT want to raise cornish cross chickens for meat.

1. They’re prone to health issues

As I mentioned above, this hybrid breed is literally bred for rapid growth and meat production. Cornish cross broilers have a voracious appetite and will literally eat themselves to death if you let them. 

Because they gain so much weight (6-8 lbs or more) in such a short amount of time (~8 weeks), they’re prone to health issues including heart attacks, leg problems/broken legs (we’ve only had one or two of these), and sudden death syndrome (SDS or “flip-over disease” – we’ve had a few of these).

It is a little bit crazy to see how fast these birds grow, and compared to other breeds, they have a significant mortality rate. They go from normal looking, day-old chicks to full size birds in just a couple of months. 

However, from personal experience, we’ve also found that we can avoid many of these health issues with proper care. Avoiding raising them in the hottest summer months and limiting feed starting at about 3 weeks of age (we do a 12-hour-on, 12-hour-off schedule) are highly affective at minimizing casualties. 

And while some homesteaders feel uncomfortable with the way these birds are bred, there are great ways to still give them an excellent quality of life, including the ways I mentioned above and raising them in a moveable chicken tractor where they have plenty of space and clean grass.

2. They’re not dual-purpose birds

If you’re looking for some good dual-purpose chickens that you can raise for eggs and meat, cornish cross birds are not it. While a few chicken owners have supposably kept these birds long enough for them to start laying (by giving them larger spaces and feeding a lower protein diet), cornish crosses typically don’t live long enough to start laying eggs, since they usually run into heart problems or leg issues before reaching laying age (4-6 months). 

In addition, they’re not particularly good foragers and they’re also easy prey.

If you’re looking for some good egg layers that can also produce meat, you’re better off looking into actual dual-purpose breeds. 

Here are a few of the best dual-purpose chicken breeds to check out:

• Wyandottes
• Plymouth Rocks
• Brahmas
• Buff Orpingtons
• Rhode Island Reds
• Jersey Giants

3. The taste may be lacking

Some chicken-keepers prefer the taste of Freedom Rangers/Red Rangers over Cornish Crosses. Because of their build and lifestyle, the large breasts of Cornish chickens may have more mild flavor compared to the darker, richer taste of chicken meat from other types of meat birds. And in addition, Freedom Rangers tend to have a larger percentage of dark meat compared to Cornish Crosses (keep in mind, though, that Freedom Rangers also weigh less overall typically).

Since we’ve raised both types of birds, we’ve noticed this difference a little bit. However, we still MUCH prefer the flavorful meat of our grass-raised, homegrown Cornish cross meat birds over any store bought chicken any day! 

4. You can’t let them free range

These birds are SLOW. So slow that they have virtually NO way to defend themselves from predators. They cannot run quickly like lighter birds can, so letting them free range is pretty much an impossibility. If you want to free range your meat birds, you probably shouldn’t choose this breed.

We still want our chickens to live healthy lives with lots of fresh air and green grass, so we use a mobile chicken coop and move it to fresh grass every 1-3 days. This allows them to have a very clean living space, lots of opportunity to forage, and a very healthy lifestyle. It also creates great fertilizer for our grass! Basically, a chicken tractor gives you the benefits of free ranging without having to worry about your birds’ safety or chicken manure all over the yard.

5. They’re ugly!

There’s no upside to this one. Cornish cross chicks are as cute as any other chicks, but after the first 2-3 weeks, it becomes very clear that we do not keep them for their looks! Their feathers are somewhat minimal compared to most other breeds, and their white color gets dirty easily if you don’t keep their coop clean (although the chicken tractor definitely helps with this!). 

Overall, they’re kind of a giant ball of faded white feathers and skin. Try not to think about it while you eat your chicken dinner.

Alternative Meat Bird Breeds

Did I convince you to avoid Cornish Crosses? If so, here are some other breeds you might want to try. From dual purpose heritage birds to common broiler breeds, there are a few different options to choose from.

Freedom Rangers, or Red Rangers, are a common top #2 choice in the broiler world. They’re specifically bred for meat production, but they typically take 9-11 weeks to grow and weigh in a bit smaller than Cornish Crosses.

Other good dual purpose and heritage birds to consider include:

• White Plymouth Rock
• New Hampshire
• Jersey Giant
• Rhode Island Red

Why We Still Raise Cornish Crosses

So, yes, there are definitely disadvantages of raising Cornish Cross meat chickens. If we had unlimited time and money, we might choose a different breed. Here are 5 reasons we’re still sticking these fast-growing birds (at least for now):

1. It’s economic. Because Cornish crosses have such a fast growth rate, the cost of feed is lower than it is for other breeds. Even though they probably eat more per day, the feed costs per batch of birds are lower overall. In a comparison of 5 batches of our meat birds, we found that the Freedom Rangers went through an average of 5 more bags of feed total, for approximately the same amount of birds. (We also use a DIY gravity feeder that virtually eliminates any waste, which helps in either case!)
2. Summer flexibility. Each batch only takes about 7 weeks, so the time commitment is fairly low. We typically do one batch in April-June and one in July-September. This also allows us to avoid the hottest and coldest months. 
3. Allows us to raise enough meat for the year (with only 1 tractor). Since we can easily fit two batches in during the spring through fall months (and really, you could even do three with the right setup), we can raise 50-60 birds in just our one chicken tractor.
4. Easier to process. Cornish chickens are a bit easier to pluck and process. We typically process our birds ourselves, but the processor we used last fall for one batch won’t even take Freedom Rangers because he finds them more difficult and would rather keep his prices low. If you process your own, we’d highly recommend renting a plucker for either breed. Huge difference!
5. Still 1000% better than store bought! Once you’ve had your own meat chickens, it’s going back to store bought meat is almost unsettling. Compared with pulling out a pale, slimy store-bought chicken breast, our meat is rich in color, clean, dense, and delicious.