Picture Gallery 2 (Table Birds)

Thank You for the Mastergris slide show. I will go looking for this chicken, but have only seen cornish X in the usa for meat chickens. B

You won't find Mastergris in the USA, its a hybrid and the only breeding flocks as far as I know are mine in Lincolnshire and the ones over in France where my parentstock originate from.

Just been looking at your lovely photos of table birds. We started 22weeks ago with 11 master gris (mg) at one week old. All survived until we put 5 in the freezer at 14 weeks and gave one hen away to supplement our daughters flock. We kept a very impressive cockerel and 4 hens with the intention of them becoming our breeding flock for the next few years but are running into doubts.
Firstly, ours dont look as grey as yours. Ours look more like your colouryield. All but one of our cockerels were white (the other big fella was dark brown). Our hens range from ermine (mucky white) to brown.
Secondly, am I making a genetic mistake creating a mg x mg cross. I understand they come from a redbro female and a mg male.

The reason I ask is the boy is 14/15lb and damaged (terminally!)one of the 8lb hens. I have since fitted hen saddles. Also, he has since picked up a bout of bumblefoot and though his treatment is going well, I am beginning to wonder what quality of life he will have with his size. He walks and jumps but seems too heavy to fly (the hens can escape by jumping onto the run, which is nice for them). He perches but only on one I have put at about 4 inches.
Sorry to ramble, but you are one of that rare breed that have table birds and thats what I want a small flock of for home consumption.
Hope you can help, thankyou.

Hi Dave, these hybrid table birds are a bit like an F1 hybrid seed. they don't breed true to type so you can get anything if you breed them. Also if they all came from the same place, you could be breeding brother and sister!

I have lost all the details that Simon our breeder sent me, but yes, basically you are right I think they are a blend of redbro and mg, but with the genetics there may be a bit of something else in which perhaps makes them eat more to get heavier, or to consume less feed but still put on the same amount of weight. It's all very scientific now!

They are not geared up for breeding as by breeding mg and mg, you may be undoing what the scientists have already done, so you'd need a breeding triot of redbro and mg!

If you want a small flock of birds you can breed yourself for home consumption, you'd be better with dual purpose birds like Rhode Island Reds, Light Sussex, Welsummers, some Leghorns and cream legbars I think someone said were good. That way you could keep or sell the hens for egg laying and rear the cockerels for the table like they did in the old days.

And yes, once they reach their optimum weights, they are too heavy to fly and they were only developed to live for 10-16 weeks anyway.

As to the colours, I can't tell you why yours are not the same colour as mine. Where did you get them from? If it was Simon at Poulet anglais, he would have told you what breed they were. Perhaps they aren't all MG's, could they have been JA757's and Coloryields too?

I hope this answers your query Dave, but if I missed anything, please let me know!!

Good luck, that's some more chicken that didn't get bought off the supermarkets!!! lol

Best Regards Ann