Cornish game hen

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A Cornish game hen, sometimes simply called a game hen or a Cornish Rock, is an immature chicken of the Cornish variety, or of a crossbreed between the Cornish chicken and another breed. The Rock Cornish game hen, the most common game hen crossbreed, is a crossing with the Rock chicken. As is common in the poultry industry, storebought game hens may be either male or female specimens, despite the common usage of the word "hen" typically denoting a female.

The Rock Cornish game hen was originally bred by Jacques and Alphonsine Makowsky in Connecticut in 1950. By crossbreeding the short-legged, plump-breasted Cornish chicken with various other chickens (including the White Plymouth Rock variety) and game birds, the result was a small bird with all white meat, enough for a single serving. Originally marketed as a temporary substitute for a flock of guinea hens that the farm lost in a fire, it soon became more popular than the guinea hen.

Despite the name, game hens are not hunted as a game animal, and are instead raised in chicken coops as are normal chickens. They are, in fact, chicks that are fed a highly nutritious diet and slaughtered four to five weeks from hatching. The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that all chickens sold as Cornish game hens be no more than 2 pounds in ready-to-cook weight.