Cornish Cubalaya and Dorking

Cornish originated in Cornwall England and is the ultimate meat bird which is often crossed into other breeds to add muscle. In their native country they are called indian games. They are made up of old english games malay and aseels. Aseel is the majority of their make up. In fact they look like an aseel on steroids. Only aseel and shamo meat can compare in the flavor department. This is the breed my dad and his family always raised since they were not farmers in the egg selling business. The cornish are poor layers but can rustle free range for most of their food like the aseel. Also like the aseel they are great at avoiding predators like hawks snakes and rodents. I have only experience with the dark cornish and white laced red. Its been my experience that the white laced red variety is inferior to the dark in most all aspects. Cornish roosters will go ten to eleven pounds at two years old. The hens will weigh in around eight. They are excellent setting hens in the spring and summer. For fall chicks they really don’t have enough plumage. My cornish hens would often chase my cats up the trees in protection of their baby chicks. This breed likes people and enjoys being hand fed. They are calm and make very little noise like their aseel ancestors. Kept my cubalayas for their beauty. They are brightly colored birds from Cuba. The breed is very poor layers but their small quanity of flesh is tasty. The breast meat being very white. People often mistake them for fighting chickens. Mine had no spurs on their legs. The long elegant tail makes them look beautiful while roosting in the trees or on the fence. This breed is very tame never flighty. Cocks weigh around six pounds at maturity and hens four. Lots of people love the looks of black breasted red chickens. I only kept about thirty of this breed at a time. Not many people seem to want to get started in these lovely chickens. Got my start of silver grey dorkings from a propane dealer. He was old and wanted to get out of the chicken business. He had kept his line pure for over forty years. The flock of sixty were heavily inbred and weighed in the seven to eight pound range. Located some show people who had dorkings and bought five big ten pound cocks from them. We made chicken and dumplings with the roosters I had bought from our propane dealer. Dorking meat is very tender and fine grained where as cornish asil and shamo meat is firm. My mother always preferred dorking meat for that reason. Often dorkings win meat contests because of the texture of their flesh. Only a young cornish rock approaches the tenderness of their meat. Only had the one color variety. Their combs dont freeze easily and they are good layers. Their short legs and extra toe makes them quite a novelty. They are an ancient breed dating back to the ancient romans. Gather eggs frequently or else all your hens may go broody. The chicks are a bit delicate so dont let them wander around in the morning dew with their mothers. Seem to thrive in a dry environment with a roof over their heads. My cocks weigh around nine and a half pounds and the mature hens weigh seven pounds. Cant say enough good things about this breed. The roosters are usually quite docile.