The Jumbo Cornish Cross Chicken is sometimes nicknamed Cornish Giants because of its rapid growth and weight gain. This is the bird that changed American eating habits. Before Cornish Cross Broilers were developed, a chicken dinner was a rare treat reserved for special occasions. Before the Cornish Cross era chickens grew slowly while eating plenty of feed. Their meat was tasty but sparse. The Cornish Cross made broiler production efficient, and today it’s often the most inexpensive meat the grocery store sells.
Cornish Cross Broilers require special feeding and care but grow astonishingly fast. These birds can be grown to a live weight of over 6 lbs. by 6 weeks of age! Or, can be managed to a roaster weight of 8-11 lbs. Live weights of 4-5 lbs. can be achieved on close to 2 lbs. of feed per pound of meat. Cornish Cross Broilers are the best choice for a person who wants to quickly produce delicious meat. Cornish Broilers have excellent conformation: plump, tender breast meat and good skin texture. Excellent for Pastured Poultry!
The Jumbo Cornish Cross Chicken has exceptional feed conversion and growth rate. This chicken will produce the best uniformity for processing with lean, tender breast meat. Typically, this bird is processed at 7 weeks, but many farmers choose to process at an earlier age and sell them as Cornish game hens. When customers desire large roasters, this can be accomplished by raising the birds to 10 weeks or older. Due to the tremendous amount of meat that can be economically produced by this bird, many pasture-based farm systems use this chicken.
The Jumbo Cornish Cross is valued for its rapid growth, great feed efficiency, tender meat, and broad breasts. The genetic traits of this bird have been in development and refined over many years to become the broiler breed of choice for commercial growers. These chickens will grow uniformly with minimal difference in weight. This is the standard chicken grown indoors on litter but is also the most common variety for pasture and free-range type systems.
We do not offer Marek’s Vaccination on the Jumbo Cornish Cross in this category.
MATURE WEIGHT: MALE 10# & FEMALE 6#
Quick Stats:
- Poultry Show Class: No Poultry Class at this time
- Weights: Hen—–6 lbs.
Rooster——10 lbs.
Pullet—5 lbs.
Cockerel—-7-8 lbs.
6 Week pullets – 4 1/2 lbs. Cockerel – 6 lbs. - Purpose and Type: Meat; Production
- Color of Egg Shell: Light Brown
- Egg Production: Poor
- Egg Size: Large
- Temperament: Docile
- Fertility Percentage: 40-55%
- Broody: Non-Setter
- Mating Ratio: 4 Females to 1 Male
- Roost Height: Floor
- Country of Origin: United States
- APA: No
- TLC: Not Listed
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CORNISH CROSS-MEAT BIRD CARE
JUMBO CORNISH CROSS BROILERS are a very unique and remarkable bird. We like to think of it as the BBB – Big Breasted Broiler – it has very broad breasts, large thighs, beautiful white plumage, and yellow skin. Its rapid growth is remarkable, along with great feed efficiency. You can actually see it grow before your eyes. We use the Ross 308 Blood Line/Strain. For more information on the Ross 308 please visit the Aviagen Website.
There are special steps to follow when raising the Broilers. In order to avoid bad legs and Heart problems, we recommend the following steps…
- Restrict access to feed to 12 hours per day for the first 3 to 4 weeks.
- Be sure the chicks have adequate feeder space so most of the chicks can eat at the same time.
- Limit protein in the feed to 20-22%.
- Limit light to natural day length or 12 hours (whichever is longer).
- Keep chicks warm with good ventilation, but avoid drafts.
- Keep air quality high by keeping ammonia low.
- Do not use a straw for litter – use pine shavings (Not Cedar) or ground corn cobs.
Cornish Game Hen is a Cornish Cross Broiler Female that is butchered at three weeks of age when it reaches a weight of 2.5-3 lbs.
Available February – September!
Orders ship USPS Priority Mail on the day of hatch!
(Minimum 3 Chicks) (Max 200 Chicks)
Mix & Match with Chickens, Ducks, Guineas, Turkeys & Waterfowl!