Dark Cornish

[poultry_admin]

Breed Description
The name Cornish indicates the origin of these handsome birds in Cornwall, England and they belong to the English Class. At one time they were known as "Indian Games" because of the use of both Old English Game chickens and Asells from India in developing this breed. They are unique because of their thick, compact bodies, unusually wide backs, and broad, deep breasts. These super meat qualities have made the Dark Cornish a truly gourmet item to raise for eating. The hens are nice layers of firm-shelled brown eggs and wonderfully hardy. This variety will come as close as any to rustling for themselves under rough conditions and also make good setters and mothers. Another very distinctive character is the close fitting, rather hard textured feathers with unusual lustre and brilliance. The close feathering and compact build will fool you on weight. They are always much heavier than they look. Baby chicks, all purebred and from the same strain, can vary greatly in color from a light reddish buff to a darker reddish brown with dark markings on the head and sometimes a dark stripe on the outer edge of the back.
Source

Adult Pictures
(none yet)

Adult SOP

Statistics

[table][tr][td]Type[/td][td]standard[/td][/tr][tr][td]Class[/td][td]English[/td][/tr][tr][td]Egg Colour[/td][td]brown[/td][/tr][tr][td]Egg Size[/td][td]large[/td][/tr][tr][td]Egg Production[/td][td]better[/td][/tr][tr][td]Meat Production[/td][td]excellent[/td][/tr][tr][td]Heat Tolerance[/td][td]good[/td][/tr][tr][td]Cold Tolerance[/td][td]better[/td][/tr][tr][td]Disposition[/td][td]Poor[/td][/tr][tr][td]Weeks to Maturity[/td][td]22[/td][/tr][tr][td]Free range[/td][td]Best[/td][/tr][tr][td]Skin Color[/td][td]Yellow[/td][/tr][tr][td]Feather Color[/td][td]Black[/td][/tr][tr][td]Comb Type[/td][td]Pea[/td][/tr][tr][td]Likely to sit on eggs[/td][td]Very likely[/td][/tr][tr][td]Bird Size[/td][td]Extra large[/td][/tr][tr][td]Exotic[/td][td]No[/td][/tr][tr][td]Leg Style[/td] [td]Clean[/td][/tr][tr][td]Head Style[/td][td]Regular[/td][/tr][tr][td]Male Mature Weight[/td][td]10 lbs[/td][/tr][tr][td]Female Mature Weight[/td][td]8 lbs[/td][/tr][tr][td]ALBC Priority[/td][td]recovering[/td][/tr][/table]


Teenager Pictures
Male Teenager (5 month old)

Female Teenager (5 month old)

Chick Pictures (7 day old)

Weight: 78.2 gram (2.76 oz)
Gender not distinguishable at this age.

[Robbie]

I have to disagree with the disposition listed as poor- as with all chickens it's dependent on the line, but I have 2 groups, from different sources, all are at the bottom of the pecking order, and none of the hens has ever pecked me even when broody- and they are friendly birds, but are wary so easily spooked.
And as far as egg production goes, I suppose between broody periods, they do lay a decent egg. But I find they are too broody to be great egg layers.

[baronrenfrew]

I had them over a few years and found that 3 in ten went broody. Developed with Old English Games?! Well that explains 1. Broodiness 2. Self reliance 3. Almost feral. 4. Athletic despite how heavy they are: a few hens would clear my 8 foot chain link fence (and the "hatchery" bantams i had were even worse). Thankfully they were easily tamed/trained with food treats (they're always ready to eat). And 5. Predator wary (i never lost one to a daytime predator)
I've had them a few times (and starting over with them now). Disposition: not aggressive and not pushovers either.

Most important...... tasty! :lunch: