Hi, I live in rural Ontario, Canada, in an old farmhouse with my husband. Four weeks ago we got our first chicks ever: 21 Cornish Rock Xs, meat chickens. When one got sick two weeks ago, I found really helpful information on BYC. So thanks!!
When our CRXs were two weeks old, I noticed that one was starting to fall behind. She was growing much more slowly than the others, and she couldn't compete for food---she'd just about given up trying. So I took her out and made her a little nest in a spare pet carrier. She was almost instantly incredibly affectionate.
After a day in the pet carrier, her legs were really weak and she was walking on her haunches. I felt so badly for her. So I held her up on her feet while she ate, and as she wanted to follow me everywhere (despite walking on her haunches), I found that if I picked up the pace a little she had to get on her feet to walk. Over the course of a few days, she became much stronger and is now very healthy and lively, and still incredibly affectionate. She has a great personality, knows her name, and is really social with people. She's eating well, but is about a third the size of the other smallest females and seems to weight nothing at all.
So that's the background (thanks for your patience!).
My questions are these:
Has anyone heard of such a thing in a CRX? It's as if she's the runt of the litter, but there's no litter.
Do you think she'll continue to be smaller, and will she be able to lay eggs?
What's the longest you've heard of a CRX surviving?
Thanks so much!
When our CRXs were two weeks old, I noticed that one was starting to fall behind. She was growing much more slowly than the others, and she couldn't compete for food---she'd just about given up trying. So I took her out and made her a little nest in a spare pet carrier. She was almost instantly incredibly affectionate.
After a day in the pet carrier, her legs were really weak and she was walking on her haunches. I felt so badly for her. So I held her up on her feet while she ate, and as she wanted to follow me everywhere (despite walking on her haunches), I found that if I picked up the pace a little she had to get on her feet to walk. Over the course of a few days, she became much stronger and is now very healthy and lively, and still incredibly affectionate. She has a great personality, knows her name, and is really social with people. She's eating well, but is about a third the size of the other smallest females and seems to weight nothing at all.
So that's the background (thanks for your patience!).
My questions are these:
Has anyone heard of such a thing in a CRX? It's as if she's the runt of the litter, but there's no litter.
Do you think she'll continue to be smaller, and will she be able to lay eggs?
What's the longest you've heard of a CRX surviving?
Thanks so much!
from Ohio. So glad you joined. There are some folks here that kept some CRX's for over a year but personally they are not designed to be egg layers, they are a meat bird. 
