Cornish bantam chickens are a joy to raise. Remarkable specimens are being produced in dark,whites,and white laced reds. Bantams are hard to surpass, they are versatile chickens both as a dressed bird and layers a trait not found in meat type birds. It is easy to understand the Cornish Bantam popularity in both the show barn and backyard poultry keepers.
The Cornish fowl originated in Cornwall England, this was the dark Cornish. Cornish are a composite of several different bloodlines. Asil Black Red Old English and Malays. A characteristic of Cornish is the body of the male (Rooster) and female (Hen) are the same conformation. The texture of feathers is another strong characteristic in the breed. The body plumage should be close fitting ,the feathers short,hard and quite narrow. The well knitted webs give brilliancy to color pigments.
Our breeding practices at bulldog Cornish for both dark and white Cornish bantams. The head is broad, what I refer to as a Hawks head, the beak short and curved ,the comb set square in the middle of the skull with a pea comb. Comb wattles and ear lobes bright red and smooth in texture. The chickens neck fairly short with the feathers tight not extending over the back. When viewed from the back the Cornish should be broad across the shoulders narrowing to the tail, "think heart shaped" , The frontal view, hip set wide with the shank set in the middle of the body appearing well balanced. The legs should be wide apart and straight, the shank well rounded short and stout, the toes straight well spread and strong. The breast broad and deep ,the wings short, well rounded from the front of body and shoulder carried at the top of the tail. The tail short closely folded setting a little under horizontal. Giving the bird an overall very stout and bold appearance. The bird described is what I think we should be breeding. Not all birds hatched will posses the traits described above, thats why we cull and use selective breeding practices at Bulldog Cornish.
Health, Feed, and Breeding Tips
Wormer's: I use Ivomec at the rate of three drops. given orally with a dropper. We dust with ten percent Seven Dust once a month. The leg will scale occasionally, we us WD 40 every two to three months .The old birds will have more problems with legs mites, mites are a big pest among the Cornish breed . In raising birds you will have both show birds and breeders, the breeders will produce some show birds, however most of the time when mating show birds it is nececessary to A.I. (Artificial Inseminate) due to the short legs. I would use a longer legged cock bird and shorter legged hen. The Cornish are a slow maturing bird it takes about a year to see what you have raised.
FEED: The feed we start chicks on is a twenty percent medicated crumby, after about six months we switch the young birds over to layer pellets.
For more information join the ICBA-International Cornish Breeders Association. Billy Grimes P.o. Box 373 Lenord Texas 75452
