2 week baby chick- balding neck.. is this normal?

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes she lays down much more than the others. I got her at tractor supply. I figured she was a white wyandotte but I've never had one before so i dont really know. They seem to be growing quite fast

You have 2 of them?

I don't think he's a White Wyandotte.
I'm terrible at i.d. of chicks, but with the hefty legs, the comb, the body shape and overall size, I'd say he's a Cornish X meat bird.

A boy too.

I think why the way the feathers are on the crop/breast is because he's laying down quite a bit and probably in front of the food and water. See if the debris on the feathers is food.

As far as feathering in and being bare like that, IF he's a Cornish X, then it's normal.

Cornish X will eat a lot and gain weight quickly. Most are processed for food anywhere between 8-12 weeks of age.
Sometimes a few folks have kept them as pets and they can live to be around a year old or more IF you limit daily intake and they get exercise.

They are bred to gain weight quickly, so often their legs will give out and won't support them or they can suffer from heart failure (again due to quickly gaining weight).

I'm very sorry. I'm not trying to come down on you or even disappoint you, I just want you to understand what you may be facing. Sometimes chicks can look very similar when just 1-2 days old and when the chicks arrive at stores, they may get mixed up or go in the wrong bins. Sadly, this scenario is played out every year during chick season it seems. There're folks that end up with meat birds when they thought they were actually getting a different laying breed.

I'm going to tag in a couple of folks to see if they think he's a Cornish X as well.
@Overo Mare @nuthatched

 

[nuthatched]

You have 2 of them?

I don't think he's a White Wyandotte.
I'm terrible at i.d. of chicks, but with the hefty legs, the comb, the body shape and overall size, I'd say he's a Cornish X meat bird.

A boy too.

I think why the way the feathers are on the crop/breast is because he's laying down quite a bit and probably in front of the food and water. See if the debris on the feathers is food.

As far as feathering in and being bare like that, IF he's a Cornish X, then it's normal.

Cornish X will eat a lot and gain weight quickly. Most are processed for food anywhere between 8-12 weeks of age.
Sometimes a few folks have kept them as pets and they can live to be around a year old or more IF you limit daily intake and they get exercise.

They are bred to gain weight quickly, so often their legs will give out and won't support them or they can suffer from heart failure (again due to quickly gaining weight).

I'm very sorry. I'm not trying to come down on you or even disappoint you, I just want you to understand what you may be facing. Sometimes chicks can look very similar when just 1-2 days old and when the chicks arrive at stores, they may get mixed up or go in the wrong bins. Sadly, this scenario is played out every year during chick season it seems. There're folks that end up with meat birds when they thought they were actually getting a different laying breed.

I'm going to tag in a couple of folks to see if they think he's a Cornish X as well.
@Overo Mare @nuthatched

Looks awful round, I think its a Cornish x cockerel.

 

[Painted Calls]

It's a CX.

 

[Chick-a-dee93]

You have 2 of them?

I don't think he's a White Wyandotte.
I'm terrible at i.d. of chicks, but with the hefty legs, the comb, the body shape and overall size, I'd say he's a Cornish X meat bird.

A boy too.

I think why the way the feathers are on the crop/breast is because he's laying down quite a bit and probably in front of the food and water. See if the debris on the feathers is food.

As far as feathering in and being bare like that, IF he's a Cornish X, then it's normal.

Cornish X will eat a lot and gain weight quickly. Most are processed for food anywhere between 8-12 weeks of age.
Sometimes a few folks have kept them as pets and they can live to be around a year old or more IF you limit daily intake and they get exercise.

They are bred to gain weight quickly, so often their legs will give out and won't support them or they can suffer from heart failure (again due to quickly gaining weight).

I'm very sorry. I'm not trying to come down on you or even disappoint you, I just want you to understand what you may be facing. Sometimes chicks can look very similar when just 1-2 days old and when the chicks arrive at stores, they may get mixed up or go in the wrong bins. Sadly, this scenario is played out every year during chick season it seems. There're folks that end up with meat birds when they thought they were actually getting a different laying breed.

I'm going to tag in a couple of folks to see if they think he's a Cornish X as well.
@Overo Mare @nuthatched

Omg if they are cornish x, im probably just gonna have to keep them as pets. Theyre so sweet i dont think i could eat them. My chickens are free range in big backyard, hopefully that helps with exercise. I hope I can give them a quality life while theyre around. I'll do more research on diet

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Omg if they are cornish x, im probably just gonna have to keep them as pets. Theyre so sweet i dont think i could eat them. My chickens are free range in big backyard, hopefully that helps with exercise. I hope I can give them a quality life while theyre around. I'll do more research on diet

It may help a little with excercise but my understanding is they will constantly look for food, this unfortunately is how they have been bred.

I've heard they can be very sweet birds, I am not a nutritionist nor have I raised any Cornish X so I'm not the one to offer sound suggestions on what type of diet they need to help keep their weight down.
@NatJ may have some suggestions and I know @Weeg did raise a couple of CX and kept them longer, I do believe they eventually did have some health issues.
Hopefully they can chime in here and give some pointers.

I understand thinking of processing them isn't ideal, you were not expecting to have meat birds to begin with.
So! Do the best you can, do some research and see how it goes. Right now they are getting a lot of love and attention and that's what matters.

 

[NatJ]

Omg if they are cornish x, im probably just gonna have to keep them as pets. Theyre so sweet i dont think i could eat them. My chickens are free range in big backyard, hopefully that helps with exercise. I hope I can give them a quality life while theyre around. I'll do more research on diet

If you want Cornish Cross to live very long, they need a greatly restricted diet. Basically, you need to partly-starve them to stunt their growth enough for their organs and legs to keep up. Even then, they usually have a much shorter life than most other chickens.

If you pick up your other chicks (the colored ones), feel for the keel bone in the center of the breast, and feel the shape of the breast muscles on each side of it. Now feel the same area on a Cornish Cross chick. The muscle is probably much wider, and the bone does not stick out as far. That is a way to check how they are growing-- the goal for a pet is to have the Cornish Cross keel be almost as easy to find as the normal chickens. That takes MUCH less food than they want to eat.

The Cornish Cross chicks would need to live separately, so you can give them limited food while letting the others eat as much as they want. (Possible exception: if the other chickens are much smaller, you might be able to put a feeder inside a cage that the little ones can get into but the Cornish Cross cannot, so they still live in the same pen, and then provide feed once or twice a day to the Cornish Cross.)

The Cornish Cross will always act like they are hungry or starving. They will probably try to eat anything handy-- grass, bedding, maybe the other chickens or each other.

@Weeg tried keeping two Cornish Cross as pets.
One (named Smudge) died at about 25 weeks of ALV:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/incubation-and-alv.1513624/#post-25463074
That was not a direct result of being a Cornish Cross, just a sad effect of that virus.

Here is the most recent update on the other (named Doodle) and the project as a whole:

Unfortunately, Doodle is no longer with us. She died about two months ago of hypothermia during the cold snap, which she also struggled with last winter. She was about 21 months old.

While I was happy to have her and Smudge for the time I did, it’s not something I would do again, or recommend.

It was very difficult to keep Doodles weight under control. This was because of my setup since she had to share a space with birds who were free fed after Smudges passing. I tried numerous different ways to keep her away from the food, and each strategy would work great until she figured it out. Then she would find a way to the feeder without issues. Her weight was always an issue. Like NatJ mentioned, this caused leg/foot issues. She sprained her leg one way or another and it took months to heal. While for the average chicken it could take a couple rest days, or no intervention at all, Doodle’s was persistent.

She also didn’t live a “happy” chicken life, or a life like a normal chicken at all. She spent most of her days trying to get to the food, laying down, or eating. If I let her out to forage she would pace the food bins or the other birds coops the entire time trying to get to feed. I don’t think it was very humane for her in my opinion. Her best days were her young life, and beyond that it got worse for her.

It was an informative experience, but again, not something I would recommend to anyone.

That's a long quote, so you may have to click to open it up and read it all of it.

Personally, I would not keep them as pets. You could butcher them yourself (which leaves about 4-6 weeks for you to get used to the idea before it's time to do the deed.) You could raise them for another month or so, and then give or sell them to someone who will butcher & eat them. You might find someone now, who can raise the chicks and then butcher them, so you don't spend as much time getting attached to them.

Ultimately, it is your decision to make, whether to try to keep them as pets for as long as they manage to live, or to do something else. The "best" answer can be different for one person than for another, and I do not know what is actually best for you.

 

[Chick-a-dee93]

It may help a little with excercise but my understanding is they will constantly look for food, this unfortunately is how they have been bred.

I've heard they can be very sweet birds, I am not a nutritionist nor have I raised any Cornish X so I'm not the one to offer sound suggestions on what type of diet they need to help keep their weight down.
@NatJ may have some suggestions and I know @Weeg did raise a couple of CX and kept them longer, I do believe they eventually did have some health issues.
Hopefully they can chime in here and give some pointers.

I understand thinking of processing them isn't ideal, you were not expecting to have meat birds to begin with.
So! Do the best you can, do some research and see how it goes. Right now they are getting a lot of love and attention and that's what matters.

Thank you

 

[BarnyardChaos]

My chicks neck is red and bald on the right side, is this normal?

Are the chicks in this photo all the same age?

If so, then yes - definitely - the white ones are CornishX.

 

[2ndTink]

As others have said, you can try to keep them as long as possible, but keep in mind it might not work for long.

I accidentally bought a CX 2 years ago, she was the only white chick left in the brooder with the RIR chicks and the guy at the store didn't know what she was. It was obvious in the first few days that she was a CX, we decided to just give her a good life as long as possible. When she got to 19 weeks she was having too much trouble trying to support her body weight so we butchered her. It was the right choice, we found she had bruising in her knees, she also had a hard time with the heat in the summer so I got a solar fan to blow on her favorite hangout spot.

Just be aware that in keeping them as pets, you will be trying to do something that is in opposition to what this breed was created for. No matter what you decide, the awesome people on this site will help you on the journey!

 

[Weeg]

If you want Cornish Cross to live very long, they need a greatly restricted diet. Basically, you need to partly-starve them to stunt their growth enough for their organs and legs to keep up. Even then, they usually have a much shorter life than most other chickens.

If you pick up your other chicks (the colored ones), feel for the keel bone in the center of the breast, and feel the shape of the breast muscles on each side of it. Now feel the same area on a Cornish Cross chick. The muscle is probably much wider, and the bone does not stick out as far. That is a way to check how they are growing-- the goal for a pet is to have the Cornish Cross keel be almost as easy to find as the normal chickens. That takes MUCH less food than they want to eat.

The Cornish Cross chicks would need to live separately, so you can give them limited food while letting the others eat as much as they want. (Possible exception: if the other chickens are much smaller, you might be able to put a feeder inside a cage that the little ones can get into but the Cornish Cross cannot, so they still live in the same pen, and then provide feed once or twice a day to the Cornish Cross.)

The Cornish Cross will always act like they are hungry or starving. They will probably try to eat anything handy-- grass, bedding, maybe the other chickens or each other.

@Weeg tried keeping two Cornish Cross as pets.
One (named Smudge) died at about 25 weeks of ALV:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/incubation-and-alv.1513624/#post-25463074
That was not a direct result of being a Cornish Cross, just a sad effect of that virus.

Here is the most recent update on the other (named Doodle) and the project as a whole:


That's a long quote, so you may have to click to open it up and read it all of it.

Personally, I would not keep them as pets. You could butcher them yourself (which leaves about 4-6 weeks for you to get used to the idea before it's time to do the deed.) You could raise them for another month or so, and then give or sell them to someone who will butcher & eat them. You might find someone now, who can raise the chicks and then butcher them, so you don't spend as much time getting attached to them.

Ultimately, it is your decision to make, whether to try to keep them as pets for as long as they manage to live, or to do something else. The "best" answer can be different for one person than for another, and I do not know what is actually best for you.

The quote above that @NatJ posted summarizes what I would have said.

While I’m opulent recommend it, if you’re set on keeping them I would highly highly recommend having a separate coop and run for them. Keeping them with other birds didn’t work for Doodle and Smudge, my past Cornish. Maybe it would go better if they were houses separately since you could better regulate their weight, etc, but I’m not sure.