Soo very upset at TSC

[awagnon]

I will NEVER buy chicks from TSC again! I picked out 3 chicks from the WHITE LEGHORN labeled 'tank' they had and now it appears they are Cornish X. These girls are huge at 6 weeks! From all the research I have done here I am sure we were sold the wrong ones. I did NOT want meat birds as there is NO WAY I can kill them after raising them from tiny fluff balls. Just can't do it. They have all the characteristics of Cornish X. They look exactly like the picks of them on here and are definitely NOT slender like the Leghorns. If they are bred to be harvested at 8 weeks, do I have to do that? Can they live out healthy chicken lives even though they won't lay many eggs? They are pretty friendly as I handled them since they were hatchlings so I could manage them when they were older (assuming they were Leghorns, that is). If they are gonna have health problems and poor life quality, I will give them away as meat birds as I won't be able to handle the chore. Another concern is they are in the coop with 3 red sex-links that are much much smaller although the same age. After reading on here their tendency to cannibalize, should I separate them so the little ones are safe? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Oh, that's awful! I am so sorry! I know it doesn't help much, but talk to the manager at tsc. They might refund your money or give you replacements.

I agree that you will likely need to give them away. My heart really breaks for you. What a terrible thing to have happen. It just sets you up for heartbreak.

I got a black Naked Neck, an Appenzeller Spitzhauben, and a lavender Orpington from bin at tsc that was labeled "Blue Andalusians."

I find it's often dependent on who is in charge. I've had GREAT luck at one tsc and BAD luck at another. If the folks in charge are serious about chickens, it's more likely theh will be labeled correctly.

I actually helped one store re-label their chicks a few weeks ago....

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Sorry, TSC is notorious for misidentifying birds. The employees aren't trained to ID breeds, and things get mixed up in shipping and back of house inventory all the time.

Cx will have a hard time of it, and will never be reliable "pet" birds. But with activity and feed management, you can get some time out of them.

Egg laying begins (typically) around 7 months - though start of lay is a suggestion, not a guarantee or a calendar date. Free ranging them helps, as does restricting feed to just once or twice daily. They want to eat - so if you take the food away, and leave them a route to a bunch of green stuff, they will eventually get the idea and waddle out to fill their tummies, particularly if you have other breeds showing them the way.

Additionally, you should be aware that Cx are NOT well suited to heat. They are going to spend much of the day during the summer months seemingly suffering, dug down into the dirt, panting, wings spread, laying on their side.

I do not know how long they can live, potentially, under those circumstances - I processed the oldest of mine, a quite healthy girl, around 15 months after she produced a lot of eggs for my culling project.

 

[SilverBirds]

They were bred to be meat birds. They grow so fast that they're internal organs can't keep up and their legs snap under their own weight. It's not very common they live good healthy lives. I'd give/sell them to someone will use them for meat.

It is VERY common for TSC to have chicks marked incorrectly or some chicks get put in the wrong bin.

I don't necessarily think you have to separate them. If the X aren't hurting the reds then no reason to worry. If they do start to hurt them you can separate them.

So sorry you are in this predicament.

 

[NatJ]

If they are gonna have health problems and poor life quality, I will give them away as meat birds as I won't be able to handle the chore.

I would recommend you do that.

Yes, they can be managed to live longer, but that involves severely restricting their food.
That makes them healthier, but it also means they spend all their time hungry.
It also means more work for you, because you have to feed them the right amount of food each day, in one or two meals. You don't have the option of just filling the feeder and knowing they are set for several days.

Limiting their food would probably also mean separating them from your other chickens, who should not have their food limited. (Or putting food for the small birds on a high shelf that the Cornish Cross cannot fly to, or making a space that only small birds can enter to get free-choice food, or something like that.)

Even when they live "longer" and are "healthier" than other Cornish Cross, they do not live as long as other breeds of chickens, and they are not as healthy as other breeds of chickens.

Another concern is they are in the coop with 3 red sex-links that are much much smaller although the same age. After reading on here their tendency to cannibalize, should I separate them so the little ones are safe?

I am guessing it will not be a big problem, especially if you have some roosts in the coop.
The smaller birds will be able to fly up, when the Cornish Cross cannot.
Even if they don't fly, the smaller birds are probably faster and more agile than the Cornish Cross.

Also, if they have constant access to food, the Cornish Cross are less likely to canibalize the smaller birds (the feeder holds still to let them eat, so it's easier.) Hungry Cornish Cross who have their food restricted would be more motivated to eat their coop-mates.

So yes, you could keep the Cornish Cross as pets. Several people in the thread have already given advice about that. But I suspect that you will enjoy chicken-keeping more if you give away the Cornish Cross.

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

If you want to attempt to separate and give them a normal chicken life, @Weeg has done it before.

 

[awagnon]

I would recommend you do that.

Yes, they can be managed to live longer, but that involved severely restricting their food.
That makes them healtier, but it also means they spend all their time hungry.
It also means more work for you, because you have to feed the m the right amount of food each day, in one or two meals. You don't have the option of just filling the feeder and knowing they are set for several days.

Limiting their food would probably also mean separating them from your other chickens, who should not have their food limited. (Or putting food for the small birds on a high shelf that the Cornish Cross cannot fly to, or making a space that only small birds can enter to get free-choice food, or something like that.)

Even when they live "longer" and are "healthier" than other Cornish Cross, they do not live as long as other breeds of chickens, and they are not as healthy as other breeds of chickens.


I am guessing it will not be a big problem, especially if you have some roosts in the coop.
The smaller birds will be able to fly up, when the Cornish Cross cannot.
Even if they don't fly, the smaller birds are probably faster and more agile than the Cornish Cross.

Also, if they have constant access to food, the Cornish Cross are less likely to canibalize the smaller birds (the feeder holds still to let them eat, so it's easier.) Hungry Cornish Cross who have their food restricted would be more motivated to eat their coop-mates.

So yes, you could keep the Cornish Cross as pets. Several people in the thread have already given advice about that. But I suspect that you will enjoy chicken-keeping more if you give away the Cornish Cross.

That would be good news about the smaller ones roosting out of the big ones way IF we could get them to stay up there. ugh. I put the red girls up there and they immediately want to jump back down and run to me to see where I am going. They are such a hoot. The poor Cornish ones, ( I have since found out this morning 2 of the 3 'Pullets' are Roos even tho the girl boxing them up assured me they were not. ugh.) NEVER shopping at TSC again!!

Thank you for the tag!

Op, I didn't read your whole post, but I would be happy to help! I raised who Cornish X from 2 weeks of age, and still have Doodle today. She turned 1 a month or so ago.
I'm going to post a link to my article and thread for you to read through, that will have all the info you need. At 6 weeks, its going to take some dedication to get their weight back down. Separate them immediately, and start restricting feed, use 18% protein, or less. I would feed about 1/4c, maybe a bit more, for a couple weeks, daily. Hopefully they can slim down. You should feed leafy greens as treats during this time since they will be hungry. I've had to diet my girls extra a few times in the past when they would break into the feed room, and they were not happy about it. The leafy greens will fill their crop, but they wont gain any weight from it.
Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you can get all the info you need form the links below.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ge-my-adventure-with-cornish-x-as-pets.76727/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/experimenting-with-a-few-meat-birds-as-pets.1449592/

Thanks so much for your help and advice, but we have decided not to keep the Cornish birds. I called the store this morning and although I didn't expect them to take these huge birds back, the Mgr. passed the buck to the hatchery claiming they were 'mislabeled' there. We have decided to trade with my sister who has REAL leghorns. She also raises and process birds for her freezer so these birdies will be harvested. Don't get me wrong I LOVE a good chicken sandwich, just not one made out of a chicken I KNOW! lol

 

[Weeg]

Thanks so much for your help and advice, but we have decided not to keep the Cornish birds. I called the store this morning and although I didn't expect them to take these huge birds back, the Mgr. passed the buck to the hatchery claiming they were 'mislabeled' there. We have decided to trade with my sister who has REAL leghorns. She also raises and process birds for her freezer so these birdies will be harvested. Don't get me wrong I LOVE a good chicken sandwich, just not one made out of a chicken I KNOW! lol

Sounds like you made a good decision.
As much as I love Doodle, and think she is a happy bird, I'm not sure if I will do it again in the future. She dust bathes, and forages, and sun bathes. But if I walk in, or even by the run, she's at my heels hoping for the smallest morsel to eat. She is always hungry, and as happy as she seems, I feel bad for her because of that one little detail. Of course, chickens cant talk, so I can't ask her if she would rather eat as much as she likes, not be hungry, but have a very short life, or always be hungry, and have a long life. We just have to make the best decision based off of what we think is right. Sounds like you did a great job at doing that.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

You can keep them but they need to be given an extremely restricted diet, which would be rather inconvenient with other breeds in your flock. They also still probably won't make it much past 12 months old. Other here have kept them on into adulthood so hopefully they will chime in and help you.

Sorry to hear about the situation that really sucks.

 

[cassie]

I will NEVER buy chicks from TSC again! I picked out 3 chicks from the WHITE LEGHORN labeled 'tank' they had and now it appears they are Cornish X. These girls are huge at 6 weeks! From all the research I have done here I am sure we were sold the wrong ones. I did NOT want meat birds as there is NO WAY I can kill them after raising them from tiny fluff balls. Just can't do it. They have all the characteristics of Cornish X. They look exactly like the picks of them on here and are definitely NOT slender like the Leghorns. If they are bred to be harvested at 8 weeks, do I have to do that? Can they live out healthy chicken lives even though they won't lay many eggs? They are pretty friendly as I handled them since they were hatchlings so I could manage them when they were older (assuming they were Leghorns, that is). If they are gonna have health problems and poor life quality, I will give them away as meat birds as I won't be able to handle the chore. Another concern is they are in the coop with 3 red sex-links that are much much smaller although the same age. After reading on here their tendency to cannibalize, should I separate them so the little ones are safe? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

My neighbor went to hatchery and bought "White Rocks". Turned out they were Leghorns. The little newbie manning the desk did not know the difference. Needless to say he was not happy.