3 week old overweight Cornish Rock - I believe has broken leg(s)

[CMV]

I'm going to try one last time and then I am stepping out. CXs are highly bred to put on as much meat as possible, as quickly as possible with the smallest amount of feed possible. They are specifically bred this way. The lines that go into their breeding are closely guarded secrets that require several generations to achieve the ideal bird. What is considered "ideal" is a bird that grows as I indicated earlier. The problem with this ideal is that is not sustainable long-term. The leg issues are just the tip of the iceberg with these birds. As Nambroth stated, heart issues run rampant in this breed. They have dietary issues, heart issues, leg issues, an inability to deal with stress of any sort, skin issues (breast blisters, poor feathering)...and these are just the things I can think of off the top of my head. The longevity of these birds is brief at best. There have been a couple folks here who have tried to keep CXs past their due date, and I think one BYCer managed to keep one just shy of 2 years...and it was a lifetime of struggle for the bird and a boatload of money/time/resources for the keeper. Does that really seem a worthwhile expenditure of resources when chickens are so readily available? I understand the desire to fight for the underdog (Believe me! I have a $1000 goose running around my yard. Long story...), but there are times when this is just not a doable thing.

Last thing...graphic story time, so if you are faint of heart do not continue reading... I used to belong to a poultry co-op. We would pool our money together with a bunch of friends and invest in batches of meat birds. The birds would be raised on a site with appropriate housing, and then when 9 weeks was up we would have Processing Day. Everyone who gave money was obligated to participate on Processing Day. The people involved would always be changing, so their experience level varied widely. We had done Freedom Rangers in the past, but one year decided to do CXs because the return on invest was so high. The first year we did CXs, I was showing a couple of new girls how to process. When it came time to pull out the upper viscera, I said, "OK, next we pull out the hearts....wait a minute...where is the heart?...Well, it HAS to be here..." It took several minutes before I realized I had already removed the heart (Embarrassing! I was supposed to know what I was doing, which is why I was teaching the new girls.). It was completely webbed into the lower viscera, which is not really normal. The heart is also normally the consistency of a super ball- bouncy, springy, and tough- but not so in CXs. In CXs the heart feels like a loose bag of applesauce. Long story short- CXs' organs are junk. All the birds we processed that day had hearts that were barely functional, livers that were only good for the dogs, and everything else was just a pile of mush. And this isn't something that was strictly limited to that group of birds, it is the normal state of being for this breed. And this was at 9 weeks old. Their organs only get worse over time.

I would strongly recommend that you reconsider your plan to try to rehab this bird.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I'm going to try one last time and then I am stepping out.  CXs are highly bred to put on as much meat as possible, as quickly as possible with the smallest amount of feed possible.  They are specifically bred this way.  The lines that go into their breeding are closely guarded secrets that require several generations to achieve the ideal bird.  What is considered "ideal" is a bird that grows as I indicated earlier.  The problem with this ideal is that is not sustainable long-term.  The leg issues are just the tip of the iceberg with these birds.  As Nambroth stated, heart issues run rampant in this breed.  They have dietary issues, heart issues, leg issues, an inability to deal with stress of any sort, skin issues (breast blisters, poor feathering)...and these are just the things I can think of off the top of my head.  The longevity of these birds is brief at best.  There have been a couple folks here who have tried to keep CXs past their due date, and I think one BYCer managed to keep one just shy of 2 years...and it was a lifetime of struggle for the bird and a boatload of money/time/resources for the keeper.  Does that really seem a worthwhile expenditure of resources when chickens are so readily available?  I understand the desire to fight for the underdog (Believe me!  I have a $1000 goose running around my yard.  Long story...), but there are times when this is just not a doable thing.

Last thing...graphic story time, so if you are faint of heart do not continue reading...  I used to belong  to a poultry co-op.  We would pool our money together with a bunch of friends and invest in batches of meat birds.  The birds would be raised on a site with appropriate housing, and then when 9 weeks was up we would have Processing Day.  Everyone who gave money was obligated to participate on Processing Day.  The people involved would always be changing, so their experience level varied widely.  We had done Freedom Rangers in the past, but one year decided to do CXs because the return on invest was so high.  The first year we did CXs, I was showing a couple of new girls how to process.  When it came time to pull out the upper viscera, I said, "OK, next we pull out the hearts....wait a minute...where is the heart?...Well, it HAS to be here..."  It took several minutes before I realized I had already removed the heart (Embarrassing!  I was supposed to know what I was doing, which is why I was teaching the new girls.).  It was completely webbed into the lower viscera, which is not really normal.  The heart is also normally the consistency of a super ball- bouncy, springy, and tough- but not so in CXs.  In CXs the heart feels like a loose bag of applesauce.  Long story short- CXs' organs are junk.  All the birds we processed that day had hearts that were barely functional, livers that were only good for the dogs, and everything else was just a pile of mush.  And this isn't something that was strictly limited to that group of birds, it is the normal state of being for this breed.  And this was at 9 weeks old.  Their organs only get worse over time.

I would strongly recommend that you reconsider your plan to try to rehab this bird.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Mine lived past 4 years and it was not a struggle for me. My girls had a great life. Everyone that saw them could see that they were healthy as they ran around with the other birds in the chicken yard.

Everything that I read and everything that people tried to tell me about them not living past 8 weeks wasn't the case with my cornish. I love it when people tell me I can't do something. I enjoy proving them wrong.

 

[Nambroth]

Thanks for the info. I've read some folks have had overweight Cornish Rocks with serious leg issues, who isolated the birds, controlled their diet and weight (of course none included details of exactly how they did any of these things except) some wrapped their legs etc. Now they say those birds are a part of the flock, their legs are healthy and they are some of their best layers! Awesome! I wanna have one of these stories! I may need to take her to the vet but I truly feel that changing her diet (if you can get your aunt to tell you what the special diet was?) to slow or reduce her weight, rest, nutritional/vitamin/nutrient increase to make her bones stronger I think she has a great chance.

I was so excited when I brought these 6 home, because they were all strong and healthy. With our first 4 we got a Barred Rock (Babe) who was very sickly - which I didn't know until I opened their box at home. Babe got trampled by the others on the way home (this time I brought paper towels for the bottom of the box for traction, perfect) and would have been dead before we went to bed. I got online and BYC provided the most guidance and information, I knew NOTHING about chickens except that I love birds and wanted the experience of raising baby chicks, having chickens and collecting eggs on the way to our veggie garden. I gave her a sweet name because at times I wasn't so sure the would live, and I wanted her to know that we loved her.

I followed all of the advice on previous topics and that sickly little girl lived! It took a lot of dedication to make it happen, but even when she was too weak to fight I encouraged her to keep trying. I even slept with her in a red bandana around my neck at night because she couldn't regulate her own body temperature. She was left with a bit of mental frailty and restrictions but she is gentle, agreeable and most social with humans - she's the one being passed around from lap to lap when our friends come over for parties! She lived in our home for a month after being attacked by a hawk on 1/1/14. We took her to the vet, he cleaned her eye, which she nearly lost in the attack, then sent us home with best wishes, thank goodness we put in vinyl flooring 3 days before. She's partially blind in one eye now but she gets along very well outside.

Please let me know if your aunt can share details about her weight loss diet! That would be great!

I regret that I am not very close to this aunt and only talk to her a few times a year when I visit CT (she's an in-law) so I don't know many details of what they did for her CornishX, Bailey. She's sent a few photos and Bailey DOES look happy, though she has somewhat limited mobility (though not as bad as before they intervened). I remember when I visited her last spring, three weeks after she got the chicks, she asked me to come over and see her birds. She was confused why a few of them were getting 'so fat'. Well, of course my heart sunk when I saw that she had cornishX's and she wanted them as loved pets-- this happens all too often, which makes me a bit mad at the apathetic ignorance of some of the chain feed stores out there. That is a rant for another time.

Anyhow, all of that rambling, and I'm trying to say that sadly I don't have much more information for you, and I don't want to give you BAD info. Your best bet is to talk to folks that have had direct experience, like @kuntrygirl ... they will give you the most help in your efforts, I think. It sounds like she has had experience and has good information!
Finding out exactly what is going on with her legs should be a priority. The longer they are 'messed up', the less likely she will heal properly (if at all).

 

[Nambroth]

Mine lived past 4 years and it was not a struggle for me.

My girls had a great life. Everyone that saw them could see that they were healthy as they ran around with the other birds in the chicken yard.

Everything that I read and everything that people tried to tell me about them not living past 8 weeks wasn't the case with my cornish. I love it when people tell me I can't do something. I enjoy proving them wrong.

Did you aim for a (lower) protein % in your feed for them?

 

[kuntrygirl]

Mine lived past 4 years and it was not a struggle for me. My girls had a great life. Everyone that saw them could see that they were healthy as they ran around with the other birds in the chicken yard.


Everything that I read and everything that people tried to tell me about them not living past 8 weeks wasn't the case with my cornish. I love it when people tell me I can't do something. I enjoy proving them wrong.

Did you aim for a (lower) protein % in your feed for them?

No, I fed them the same protein as the others.

 

[lizanne]

I'm pretty sure all Cornish-X are over weight, and it this chick is one of the biggest I would bet it's a cockerel. Can I just ask why you got Cornish-x? I've had several "batches" of them. I haven't had any die on me (as chicks). I also haven't had any with leg issues. I had one that lived to be 10 months old (then we ate her for thanksgiving dinner). The other one we kept (longer term), passed away from the heat (we had 10 days of 105+ temps). She was 8 months old. They laid eggs very regularly at first, then stopped laying about 2 months later. These birds are not genetically made to live for a long time. Maybe it would help if you put up some pics of her leg. Then we could see what the issue is. I feel bad for her if she is in a lot of pain.

 

[missmissi]

Some people asked for pics to help with recommendations.... a lot has happened since I first posted this Wednesday morning.
I have her pain under control. I can decrease her food, but I wonder if, like humans, a high protein low carb diet would help reduce their weight? If it doesn't appear that there is any damage to her leg(s) help me develop a rehab program to make them stronger while I slow down her weight gain.


Wednesday night: You can see here she is standing, though not for long, primarily on her left leg. She favors her right leg always, it seems a tiny bit 'turned in.



She's trying to walk (please excuse the doody, it just happened when she stood up) but it's more like a hop. She doesn't want to straighten her right leg or apply much pressure to it.





At peace Another symptom of the issues with her breed: She's barely gotten any feathers yet, her siblings same age have lost most of their down. Instead, she's putting all of her energy into producing muscle. The others are all mostly feathered now, my little dumpling here looks almost like a brand new baby! Except she's twice the others' size!




Stretching the tender leg. She's constantly stretching. I assist her however I can.





The tender leg at rest. BTW, that's chick feed, not poop.




She lays on the tender leg too. Her left leg has issues of its own. Again, feed, not poop.





She looks so normal here, like the healthy chick I brought home 2 weeks ago.




Her breast is already huge. She's so sweet.




The left/strong leg, the knee is swollen and appears a bit bruised. The right/tender leg will not straighten, again, a tiny bit turned in.




I don't see any bruising on the right leg. It's a bit swollen, but much less than the left leg.

 

[LittlePsycho]

I believe I am having the same problem. I'll post some pictures on here just to make sure it is or isn't broken.



If it is unlikely that it will ever really walk again, I will kill it, but I will NOT kill it just because its a Cornish. I'll be sticking with this post closely to see if any more good advice is posted.

 

[lizanne]

The left leg does look bruised under the joint. I wonder if you could use a strechy tape (like the kind they give you at a blood draw) to wrap it.

 

[lizanne]

I believe I am having the same problem. I'll post some pictures on here just to make sure it is or isn't broken. If it is unlikely that it will ever really walk again, I will kill it, but I will NOT kill it just because its a Cornish. I'll be sticking with this post closely to see if any more good advice is posted.

That looks like a foot issue. Have you looked for a cut or something on her foot that might be infected?