Why should you choose a Heritage Breed Chicken vs. a Cornish (Broiler)?

Not all Backyard Chickens are equal.  My goal here is to try to differentiate between “broilers”, whether it’s grown in your backyard or from the grocery store already packaged, and a true “Heritage Chicken” that is “Organic.”

A Heritage Chicken is one that has been around since the early to mid 1900’s.  They have a much slower growth rate than the Cornish Chickens (Cornish X Rock or Cornish Roasters) you buy for the store or hatchery for your own raising.  A Heritage breed usually reaches maturity in about 16 weeks or longer.  They are able to reproduce naturally and are able to withstand harsher climates.  Heritage Chickens are supposed to be pastured and do much better when they are not confined in tight spaces.  They should be allowed to naturally forge on grass bugs, and grubs.  They do not need to be babied as do the Cornish Chickens (broilers) because Heritage birds are hardy.  There is nothing humane about how these kinds of chickens are produced, the broilers that is.

The flavor of a Heritage Chicken is much better too.  It has a TRUE chicken taste.  I was raised on home grown Heritage Chickens and I am here to tell you it’s true.  The eggs and meat are full of flavor, and 100% natural protein.

A Cornish Chicken (Cornish X Rock or Cornish Roasters) is a Hybrid which means it is genetically modified to grow super fast.  There are some implications to this sort of chicken.  First, is has health implications.  They spend a lot of time lying down on their breast eating all day long.  They grow so fast that their legs can not always support their body weight and therefore in many cases can cause leg problems.  Second, because of their poor genetics, they should not be allowed to breed.  Where is the originality in that?

Cornish Hybrids can be pastured too, but Cornish Chickens are genetically engineered to stay in small tight spaces and eat, eat, eat, eat, all day and grow, grow, grow so they can make it to your local grocery store faster.  Productivity is the key with this kind of poultry, as far as the poultry industry is concerned.  The more the producers grow FAST, the more $$$$$ they make. 

A Heritage Chicken would break the producer’s banks.  It would cost much more to feed them, more labor cost, and therefore less marginal profits.  It’s not cost effective for the poultry industry.  Not only that, but it would be harder to keep up with the demand for chicken.   

Just think, if you were raising chickens to sell and you choose to raise the Heritage Breeds, you would have more time, money and work invested in these chickens.  You would have to sell it for 2-3 times more than your competitor to make a profit.  The only way you could survive would be to have a niche market.  You would have to target the people who want quality, wholesome chicken meat.  Raising just a few backyard chickens for yourself is very inexpensive, especially if you allow them to pasture as much as possible.

Let’s get back to the basics.  Remember, if you are thinking about starting your own backyard chicken flock, choose a Heritage Breed.  What’s more important to you, your health or money?  It’s cheaper to be healthy than sick, right?  And the long term health benefits far out weight the short term savings that can cost you more money in the long run. 

Take care of you and your family, support the Heritage values, eat and live a happy healthy life. J