This is a preview of a breed profile I'm currently working on. I will be raising some Cornish Cross chickens for my own use this year and will write a profile similar to the ones for other breeds of chicken. I'll be using a Cornish Cross purchased at my local grocery store, as usual, as the benchmark. This preview will be included in the finished profile when it's published sometime this summer or fall (depending on when I order chicks and get around to slaughtering them).
Mixed breed chicken on the left, pastured, free range Cornish Cross on the right. It's really not a matter of one being better than the other...
I love Cornish Cross chickens. There, I said it. And I'm not ashamed of my love for this bird. The modern Cornish Cross is the workhorse (workchicken?) of the modern meat poultry industry. Millions of the birds are raised by commercial growers and home growers every year. It is the most commonly eaten chicken in the USA, probably in the world.
In recent years, thanks to some elements of the local and healthy food movements, this bird has gotten a bad rep, and I'd like to rectify some of this. The birds have been portrayed as being genetically manipulated (in a GMO way), given growth hormones (it's illegal in the USA to administer growth hormones of any kind to poultry), being slothful and lazy (which isn't a characteristic of the bird, but is of the growing system used), and having health problems (again, primarily issues with the growing system that many people, including the large commercial growers) use.
I'll address these issues below...
Genetics - The modern Cornish Cross chicken is the result of decades of careful breeding. It's no more a GMO (genetically modified organism) than your heirloom tomato, and was produced by the same breeding principles. That is to say, the bird's characteristics were created by breeding one type of chicken to another type of chicken in order to produce a bird that meets a set of criteria. The Cornish Cross hybrid (it's the offspring of two chicken breeds), was first introduced way back in the 1930s, which means that people have been developing this hybrid and its parent stock for over 70 years. The Cornish Cross chicken doesn't need to be a GMO, regular selection and development of parent lines through selection is ample, and an excellent example of what standard breeding practices can produce when done intentionally with specific goals in mind.
Likewise for the claim that some have made that the birds are fed growth hormones. First off, it's illegal to feed growth hormones to chickens, and second, the selective breeding of parent lines have made the use of growth hormones in these birds unnecessary anyway. Anyone who's raised Cornish Cross chickens can attest to their rapid rate of growth even on low protein feed.
As to the birds being lazy and prone to structural and organ problems, it all depends on how they are raised. If they are kept confined to small tractors or pens and fed a high protein feed, they definitely can develop structural and organ problems. They also will not move around much. If you're restricted to a small space and provided with lots of rich food that was just a few feet away, you wouldn't move around much either. Add to this the naturally placid temperament of the birds and it's no wonder they behave the way they do.
However, when allowed to run loose and fed a lower protein feed, they will be much more active. Raised in such an environment, they will grow slower and the meat will be firmer (although never tough). When paired with dual purpose chickens, or with turkeys, they will be just as active as those birds for the majority of their lives. However, even raised that way, the Cornish Cross should be slaughtered no later than 6 months of age for cockerels (males) and slightly longer for pullets (females). There comes a time when the birds will get so heavy that they really do have trouble moving around. I once raised a small flock to between 5 and 5 1/2 months of age. I was intentionally raising them to be very large birds, and ran them with a flock of free range layers. The birds were fed twice a day and foraged for part of their food. The smallest bird, a pullet, dressed out at over 6 lbs. The largest bird, a cockerel, dressed out at 10 lbs 15 oz.. That's a chicken the size of a small turkey. At that point in the bird's life, he had gotten so big, he was actually having a hard time getting around. But up until a couple of weeks prior to slaughter he had been doing pretty well.
When fed properly, and especially if they're allowed to have exercise, there are very few organ and structural issues with these birds, at least not the Cobb 500, which is the strain I've been working with for several years. And they do have a sweet and placid temperament, especially when compared to extremely active birds such as White Leghorn layers. Cornish Cross can even be paired with more active or flighty birds and have a calming effect on those nervous breeds such as White Leghorn, and species of bird such as Guinea Fowl. I've used them to calm guinea fowl keets, which are extremely active and nervous.
The Cornish Cross I will be raising in 2016 will be used in this breed profile when I slaughter and process them. As always, I will be using a Cornish Cross of comparable weight from my local grocery store as the benchmark that my birds will be compared to. There will be some differences, but not a lot as far as type and quantity of meat. The real difference is in the eating quality. That is, my birds are raised very differently than the large producers' birds. My birds have firmer meat due to the activity and the fact that they're older at slaughter than the store bought birds. The reader will be able to see differences and similarities in build and darkness of meat, quantity of fat, etc. in the photos I'll include.
When I buy my benchmark birds, I purchase birds from the same producer (aka "integrator"). It's a common brand, but I don't disclose which brand or what store the bird was purchased from as these profiles aren't meant to be a "better" or "worse" set of comparisons. They are meant to inform people of the differences between the bird that everyone is familiar with, and various other breeds and crosses. Intrinsically, there is nothing wrong or right about any breed, cross, or production system. What matters is what you like to eat and what you'd like to try that's new to you. For people who are not familiar with other breeds of chicken, it can come as quite a shock to find that most breeds are very different than what they are used to. And too, the growing systems can make those birds even more different.
When a person is used to a plump, round, Cornish Cross, and they are confronted by a lanky bird with half the breast meat, long drumsticks and skinny wings, it can be a little off putting. But knowing what you're getting into, as they say, is half the battle. And if you're interested in different birds or production methods, and cooking with them, the adventure is definitely worth it.
All content in this article, including images, © Joanne Rigutto, unless otherwise noted.
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