how do you raise a cornish x as a pet?

[SueNH]

When I was a kid I had a small flock of mongrel chickens as pets. My older cousin brought me a crate of cornishx that had fallen from a truck. A few died within days of injuries or stress but 9 or 10 survived the trauma.

One by one I would find a dead one as the summer progressed. But they got to do chicken things. I let them out of the pen every day and they would lay happily in the grass under the fruit trees. The last hen was around 3 when her body finally failed her.

Odds aren't real good for a long lived Cornishx. I've tried a few times to keep one or two so I could play with crossing them to a real rooster. None made it to laying age. This past summer I managed to keep several and they were doing pretty good only to have a recent flood take them out. I guess I'll start over again. I know I'm reinventing the wheel here with a more functional broiler but I want to try and see what I come up with.

 

[red-hen]

Hooligan, Nuggetsowner and SueNH, I know I'm not the original poster - but I just had to say I loved your posts!

Especially loved that pic of your son with his hen, Nuggetsowner ... just adorable. You say you've posted it before - but since I'm new I've never seen it - I say keep on posting it cuz it tells quite a story. In fact, it reminds me of a pic of myself from when I was toddler-ish age hugging a big ole white hen!

Sue - just thinking aloud - but what if you went at the creation of a more suitable broiler from the other direction? I mean - they create these broilers from CERTAIN white rocks crossed on CERTAIN cornish if I understand things correctly. Not all white rocks x cornish with produce such elephants. What if you took somewhat large but incredibly healthy and long lived white rock crossed with excellent cornish (not a cornish cross - but aren't they known as Indian Game in England? Do they come in white?) - and started filtering for the qualities that make a good healthy broiler - rather than fixing what is already genetically a mish-mosh? Just thinking aloud. You're on the right track - but the foundation stock is problematic. Thinking aloud here .... possible crosses: white rock x white wyandotte, white rock x white dorking, white rock x white cochin, white rock x white orpington .... etc)

Nice posts everyone.

 

[SueNH]

40+ years later that little girl who couldn't understand why her big white chickens who got the best of care died is still lurking inside me.

I want to play with a couple of those poor meat mutants and see if I can get a bird that can be kept and harvested as needed rather than a mass processing at a young age. More practical for a small family. The last bunch of cornishx I processed had birds over 12 lbs dressed.

The older cornish x I had as a kid weren't bad layers and one was extremely broody.

I actually do have some standard cornish coming in May. My main rooster is a very big and round australorp/wyandotte cross. So far he's produced some very good and very round layers and his two sons that are still here are decent breasty birds for a mongrel dual purpose layer type roo. So the experiment will go in both directions.

Little yucky but the cornish x I processed had an amazing amount of fat inside the body cavity. Their hearts were tiny compared to total body mass. Many had lots of blood clotting around the organs. Those were the ones turning a little blue at 12 weeks. They all had it to some degree, even the ones still moving normally. Nothing like this going on inside the extra dual purpose roos we did. Almost two different creatures on the inside.

The ones I've kept for any length of time have been totally free range. Lots of grass and plants material to eat. I even gave them hay during the winter.

Chickens are omnivores so a heart healthy diet/lifestyle for people should pretty much apply. Just be ready, the odds are so stacked against them.

But... I think I'd be swapping that pretty red chick for a dyed white rock chick while the kid is shopping with grandma or something.

 

[pond_ripple]

I think one of the mystery chicks I recently got at TS is actually a cornish cross. We aren't really a farming family so she'll end up being a pet. The problem is I only have 1 like her and I don't want to separate her from the other 5 chicks and raise her alone. I'd rather keep her with her little flock of sisters, but it sounds like her food intake is going to be a problem for her in the long run. Would it be feasible to raise her with the egg laying breeds till they all feather out and go with the big girls or am I just killing her with kindness leaving her with the others?