Cornish x egg layig

[mrmcduck]

Will a Cornish x meat bird lay egg as my grand son named one and want to keep it as his pet ?

 

[JadedPhoenix]

If it survives to maturity? Yes but that is very rare as they are bred to grow so fast that they typically die of heart issues if they are not butchered at a young age. If you allow it to grow, it will get so heavy that the legs can break under the strain. It is kinder to have your grandson choose a different breed for his pet since if it doesn't die early, it will have a rough life.

 

[havery]

Will they? Yes, eventually. Should they? That's up to you.

You have to remember what they were bred for: to grow quickly, give an efficient meat output, and be easy to process. So they instinctively eat, constantly if food is available. You would have to keep her separate and feed her a limited diet or she's going to get too big and have all the problems pp mentioned. Because of their weight, they aren't very heat tolerant. Also, they don't really feather out as well as other birds (they're super easy to pluck), so they aren't cold tolerant either, and make easy targets for excessive pecking because of all the exposed skin. Even if you get her to survive to egg laying age, she won't lay very well at all and could possibly be more susceptible to becoming egg bound or having nutritional deficits that result in poor eggs because she will still need a limited diet but her body will burn up all the nutrients in the process of staying alive and growing. It's possible to keep them beyond butcher age, but I honestly don't know if it's ethical.

Personally, I think you should explain to your grandson that his cute yellow ball is going to get massive very quickly and won't live a good life. Let it be a teaching moment. I had to explain to my kids when we got meat chicks in that some baby chickens are for eating and some are for pets and laying, it's just a fact of life. We don't allow the kids to name the meat birds and we limit contact as much as possible, but encourage contact and naming of the laying pullets.