Cornish Cross chickens are heavy-duty meat birds that grow quickly. They’re fairly docile, and can provide significant amounts of meat in just a few weeks. (We’ve had some of ours clock in at 10+ pounds!) If you’re considering these birds, you might also be wondering if Cornish Cross chickens lay eggs.
While Cornish Cross hens technically CAN lay eggs, these birds are not your best choice when it comes to adding to your flock of layers, or even using them as dual purpose birds. Keep reading and we’ll explain why.
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What are Cornish Cross Chickens?
Cornish Cross chickens, also known as Cornish X or Cornish Rock, are a hybrid chicken that is specifically bred for meat production. They’re a hefty bird that grows quickly and are bred to be economical.
The exact breeding of these birds is somewhat mysterious, but strains of this selective breeding process include Cornish chickens and White Plymouth. Cornish Crosses are well-known for their fast growth rate and high meat yield. If you pick up chicken at the grocery store, it’s almost certainly from this breed of chicken.
But how fast do these birds grow? Well, they are typically ready to butcher around 8 weeks of age.
The quick growth of the Cornish Cross chicken breed is certainly a benefit when it comes to economically raising meat chickens. Their fast growth means that they require significantly less days of feeding. In our experience, this has equaled out to less feed total compared to other breeds, even though they may eat more per day.
On the downside, however, these weighty broiler chickens are also prone to serious health problems due to their rapid growth. The most common issues include heart problems and leg problems. This is because their bodies tend to grow so fast that their hearts and legs cannot always support them. However, common problems like heart attack and splay leg can be avoided by limiting feed intake and not allowing the birds to grow for longer than 8-10 weeks.
Cornish Cross Vs. Standard Cornish: What’s the Difference?
The standard Cornish breed – also called the Indian Game Chicken, is not the same as Cornish Cross. While still a hefty bird that can weigh up to 9 pounds, they tend to be a little easier to raise and have less health problems than Cornish Crosses. They were originally bred to be game birds.
Cornish hens lay small, light brown eggs, but not very many – up to about 160 per year.
These birds do tend to have a more aggressive temperament, especially if you have Cornish roosters.
The main benefit of these birds is that they generally have less health problems and can be a good choice if you’re looking for something that’s more forgiving to raise. However, the main downside is that they grow much slower than Cornish Crosses. They also aren’t always as easily accessible to buy.
You might also hear the name Cornish Game Hens in the Cornish chicken circles. Cornish Game Hens are just Cornish Crosses that are processed at just 4-5 weeks old to get a smaller, thinner bird with more tender meat. They’re somewhat of a high-end delicacy that’s usually served at fancy restaurants.
Do Cornish Cross Chickens Lay Eggs?
Cornish Cross chickens can lay eggs if they’re allowed to live long enough. While all normal female chickens (hens) have the potential ability to lay eggs, on average, most chicken breeds don’t begin to lay until around 6 months old. For Cornish Cross broilers, this can actually be as soon as 4-5 months. However, this is still significantly past the recommended butchering date of 8-10 weeks.
Since most Cornish Cross birds run into health issues before they’re able to start laying, this breed is not known for being egg layers.
With that having been said, there are some chicken owners who have successfully kept these birds until they began laying eggs. Typically, this involves feeding them a lower protein feed so that they don’t grow as quickly. In addition, keeping your birds in more of a free-range environment rather than a smaller chicken coop can be effective for slower growth.
If you do let them free range, however, keep in mind that they are even more susceptible to predators than your other backyard chickens may be, since they’re heavier and cannot move as quickly as egg-laying breeds or even dual-purpose breeds.
What are the Best Dual-Purpose Birds?
If your goal is to raise dual-purpose chickens, Cornish Crosses don’t quite fit the bill – at least, not nearly as well as other available breeds.
Some of the top dual-purpose chickens include heritage breeds such as:
- Wyandottes. These typically friendly birds start laying around 4-5 months of age and reach processing age around the same time.
- Plymouth Rocks. These popular, black and white striped birds are good layers and can produce eggs for up to 10 years! Their mature weight is 7-10 pounds.
- Brahmas. Brahmas are excellent cold weather birds that are slightly larger than other dual purpose chickens, weighing in closer to 9-12 pounds.
- Buff Orpingtons. Buff Orpingtons are good foragers and can produce 250-280 eggs per year. One downside of this breed is that they can be broody compared to other birds.
- Rhode Island Reds. Another popular choice for homesteaders, Rhode Island Reds are excellent foragers. However, they’re slightly smaller than many other dual purpose breeds (around 6.5-8.5 pounds).
- Jersey Giants. These birds are gentle giants, but they are big! Jersey Giant roosters can stand about 24 inches tall and weigh 11-15 pounds. The hens can produce up to 260 eggs per year.
If you want the choice to raise both meat and eggs with one bird, you might consider one of these breeds instead of Cornish Cross broilers.
What Do Cornish Cross Chickens Look Like?
Cornish Cross birds are white with red wattles and combs and yellow legs. Usually, they are fairly easy to recognize by their hefty bodies, broad breasts, and relatively short legs. The males and females look very similar, although the males tend to get slightly bigger.
Cornish Cross chicks are fluffy and yellow, and look similar to many other young birds until they get their white feathers.
Why Choose Cornish Cross Chickens?
If Cornish Cross chickens don’t usually live long enough to lay eggs, and they’re prone to health problems, why should you choose them for your flock? Well, here are a few reasons you might consider raising these birds.
- They’re incredibly economical. These chickens grow faster than other broiler chicken breeds. This means that they use less feed and the commitment for keeping them is shorter. This also means that we can fit more batches in during the warmer months (which is three batches per year for us here in Michigan).
- They’re fairly friendly. These birds don’t have a lot of get-up-and-go, so they’re one of the more docile breeds of meat birds. They can get a little feisty if they go for a long stretch without feed, but generally, they’ll leave you alone when you walk into the coop. Other broiler breeds we’ve raised, like Freedom Rangers, tend to be less friendly.
- They’re easy to buy. This breed tends to be the most popular meat bird, so they’re not too hard find when you’re looking to order your baby chicks. You can usually find them available online or at your local feed store. (However, like any chicken breed, finding them does tend to get trickier later in the season.)
- You know your food. A major benefit of raising your own chickens is that you know exactly what’s in them and how they were raised. This breed grows very fast, so it’s not hard to quickly fill your freezer with your own, homegrown meat.
- More selling potential. If you plan to sell your birds, Cornish Cross can be a great choice, since you can raise more birds more quickly and at a lower cost. Just make sure you’re familiar with the requirements for selling homegrown meat in your state.
For reference, our last batch of Cornish Cross chickens averaged out to approximately $9.25 per bird, and weighed around 7-8 pounds each.
Where Can You Buy Cornish Cross Meat Birds?
You can buy your chickens either online or at your local feed store. We’ve done both, and have had good experiences in both cases. Popular choices for online ordering include Hoover’s Hatchery, Myers Poultry, and McMurray Hatchery. Our local Tractor Supply Co. has also served us well in the past. And with local buying, you don’t have to worry about chicks dying in the mailing process (although most hatcheries include a few extras for this reason.)
We’ve also done well ordering online through Tractor Supply, since there are more options available than what they receive in the store each week.
Regardless of where you decide to buy your birds, it’s a good idea to start thinking about your plan for your broilers far in advance. Many hatcheries sell out by springtime, so if you’re going to place an order, start looking toward the beginning of the year. Otherwise, you’ll have much more limited options for available ship dates, sex, and possibly even breed.
Not sure what date to choose for requesting your chicks? Check out these tips for choosing the best time of year to raise meat chickens.
FAQs About Raising Cornish Cross Chickens
How long do Cornish Cross chickens live?
Because Cornish Cross meat chickens are bred specifically to be a fast growing chicken, it’s best to butcher them by around 8-10 weeks. This hybrid meat chicken breed can get up to around 10 pounds in a very short amount of time. And because of their large size, leg issues and heart failure are common with this breed when allowed to grow too long. They will literally eat themselves to death.
With a strict diet and the right type of feed, they can live longer. But because of their breeding, it doesn’t make much sense to keep them as pet chickens.
Are Cornish Cross hard to raise?
Cornish Cross chickens can be more difficult to raise than other birds, simply because they grow so fast and require you to know the protocol for raising them. If it’s your first time raising this breed, be sure to start by reading up on what type of feed you’ll need, their feeding schedule, and when you’ll need to butcher so that you don’t lose your birds to heart attacks or leg problems.
What kind of feed do Cornish Cross chickens need?
We feed our Cornish Crosses a 20-22% crumble. At around 4 weeks, they’re put on a 12-hour on, 12-hour off feed schedule. If their feed isn’t restricted, they will literally eat themselves to death, as bad as that sounds! The DIY chicken feeder that we use makes it easy to cap off their feed bucket each night and uncap it in the mornings.
Their nutritional needs are such that they need a high-protein feed in order to grow, but it also needs to be closely monitored.
You can give your birds some kitchen scraps, but it’s wise to limit this so that they are mainly filling up on the high-protein feed that they need.
Since these birds are generally not used for egg production, you don’t need to worry about adding oyster shells or other nutrition to their diet.
How much water do Cornish Cross chickens need?
Plenty! It’s vital to make sure that your birds have fresh water at all times.
We use a DIY gravity waterer with a 5-gallon bucket, and it generally lasts for around 3 days for 25 broilers.
How much space do Cornish Cross chickens need?
Cornish Cross chickens don’t need as much space as other chickens do. Around 2 square feet per bird is sufficient.
These hefty birds don’t move around nearly as much as other breeds do, so although most layers need at least 4 square feet per bird, broilers can get by with much less.
Chicken tractors are especially helpful for backyard chicken keepers with smaller flocks. They have a set of wheels that allows the coop to move around so that the birds can forage on fresh grass.
We keep our 25 meat birds in a 50-square-foot chicken tractor. We love that not only do they have fresh space every couple of days, but their coop also stays clean and they do an amazing job of fertilizing our grass!
What are the best choices for laying hens?
If your goal is a steady supply of fresh eggs, you’ll probably want to look for a different breed besides Cornish Cross.
Some of the best breeds for laying hens include:
- White Leghorn. These birds are one of the top laying breeds, making them an excellent choice for chicken keepers whose goal is fresh eggs. They lay white eggs, sometimes over 300 per year!
- Isa Browns. Isa Browns are fairly small chickens. Most people know them for their friendliness and tasty brown eggs. These birds can also lay around 300 eggs per year.
- Olive Eggers/Easter Eggers. Many farmers love these birds for their beautiful green (or olive) eggs. Don’t worry – the color doesn’t change the taste of the eggs!
- Plymouth Rocks. Plymouth Rocks produce less eggs than other breeds (around 200 per year), but they’re productive for a long time! This durable breed can keep laying for up to 10 years.
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