8 Weeks Old...White...Fat Legs...Won't Perch...Lay Around...Huge

[rckirby]

your frankin chickens have allready lived there "natural life" they are generally processed around 6-8 weeks before the big problems start arising. heart attacks, broken legs dislocated joints ect ect... they most likely wont live long enough to lay eggs and probably wont lay eggs... will destroy you layer feed budget, and if you wont process them what are you going to do with them? just watch them die?

has anybody complained to tsc about getting broilers when you ordered layers? man I would be sooooooo ******!

Al

I can't complain to tsc because hubby bought them and didn't know what he was buying.

I have a dumb question. How do 'franken chickens' keep breeding if they don't lay eggs? That's OK, I'm quite a believer in the strong will survive. We've lost some red layers too due to unexplained reasons. (no trauma, no disease). We have a pretty cool place out here and don't want to get rich on selling eggs or meat - hell we don't sell anything. I guess you can say when they come here, they are pardoned from their normal future. And they seem happy and we enjoy them and vicee versee.

 

[fire370]

I can't complain to tsc because hubby bought them and didn't know what he was buying.  

I have a dumb question.  How do 'franken chickens' keep breeding if they don't lay eggs?  That's OK, I'm quite a believer in the strong will survive.  We've lost some red layers too due to unexplained reasons.  (no trauma, no disease).  We have a pretty cool place out here and don't want to get rich on selling eggs or meat - hell we don't sell anything.  I guess you can say when they come here, they are pardoned from their normal future. And they seem happy and we enjoy them and vicee versee.

They don't breed, they are a hybrid.

 

[rckirby]

They don't breed, they are a hybrid.

Ok thanks.

 

[keesmom]

I have a dumb question. How do 'franken chickens' keep breeding if they don't lay eggs?

It isn't a dumb question. The original ones were a result of a Cornish crossed with a white Rock. That was decades ago. These days they are the result of highly specialized and selective breeding program, involving a 4 way cross.

 

[eviemethugh]

I can't complain to tsc because hubby bought them and didn't know what he was buying.  

I have a dumb question.  How do 'franken chickens' keep breeding if they don't lay eggs?  That's OK, I'm quite a believer in the strong will survive.  We've lost some red layers too due to unexplained reasons.  (no trauma, no disease).  We have a pretty cool place out here and don't want to get rich on selling eggs or meat - hell we don't sell anything.  I guess you can say when they come here, they are pardoned from their normal future. And they seem happy and we enjoy them and vicee versee.

I feel like thegawd explained it really well and maybe you still don't understand quite what you are in for. None of these will live. Maybe maybe maybe if you have the perfectly formulated diet to provide the exact amount of protein to keep them alive and not give them a heart attack they *might* live a year. There is a thread in the meat bird section on keeping them as pets and those who were trying did not have good outcomes, and sounded quite dedicated to formulating the perfect solution. These birds will FILL with fat until their organs cannot work. You will come out and find them with broken or dislocated legs. And umm well dead. Probably after suffering. Processing these birds is the kindest thing you can do for them. And I think you said you have children, teaching them about the natural order of things isn't just death. Sometimes it needs to include, "this bird was bred to be a race car, that is why it looks like an adult and is really just a baby. Now we have to respect its life and harvest it the way it was intended."
I really feel for you, and thinking about your feed bill....yikes!
I will say, if you lived near me I would trade with you just because meat bird raisers know not everyone is up for "the ending" you might be able to find someone, truly.

 

[123RedBeard]

A lot of mis-information on this thread!

If they are a Cornish Cross(ed) with something ... They can live quite a long time if people know what they are doing, many here have them over a year old ...

Meat birds (Cornish X) are supposed to come all male, as they grow bigger ... More meat! Once in awhile the sexer's make a mistake, and a female is included ... Usually looks like a runt!

We had a runt that ended up having a buff color to her, (more buff after each molt) and we put her in with our layers ... She lived two years (seasons) with us, just like our layers (black sexlink) she layed 5-6 eggs a week, and most were double yokes, and a few were TRIPLE yokes! She was a good hen, and NO HEALTH PROBLEMS!



She did like free ranging ...

Go over to the meat bird section, and learn about the breed ... Or read this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-cornish-x-for-meat-the-truth HATCHED OUT CHICKS!

We usually butchered our males at 12-18 weeks, again NO HEALTH PROBLEMS ... They free ranged half the day, and were only fed twice a day a small amount ... They still can poop a big pile though!

 

[keesmom]

Meat birds (Cornish X) are supposed to come all male, as they grow bigger ... More meat! Once in awhile the sexer's make a mistake, and a female is included ... Usually looks like a runt!

They generally come straight run. Females can certainly grow as large as the males, they just take an extra week or 2 to get there. None of the females I have ever raised were tiny. They were in the same weight range as their brothers at processing time.

 

[dekel18042]

They generally come straight run. Females can certainly grow as large as the males, they just take an extra week or 2 to get there. None of the females I have ever raised were tiny. They were in the same weight range as their brothers at processing time.

Over time I have read where people on this list made project birds of their Cornish crosses with varying success. They grew them slower, limited their feed, or fed them twice a day and put their water and feed far apart so they would have to move between the two, not just sit and stretch to eat and drink and they free ranged them.
In several instances some of the hens were added to the laying flock and the result seems to be that surprisingly they were decent layers of really large eggs. If you wanted to try this it might be better starting them off this way from the beginning.

 

[eviemethugh]

A lot of mis-information on this thread!

If they are a Cornish Cross(ed) with something ... They can live quite a long time if people know what they are doing, many here have them over a year old ...

Meat birds (Cornish X) are supposed to come all male, as they grow bigger ... More meat! Once in awhile the sexer's make a mistake, and a female is included ... Usually looks like a runt!

We had a runt that ended up having a buff color to her, (more buff after each molt) and we put her in with our layers ... She lived two years (seasons) with us, just like our layers (black sexlink) she layed 5-6 eggs a week, and most were double yokes, and a few were TRIPLE yokes! She was a good hen, and NO HEALTH PROBLEMS!



She did like free ranging ...

Go over to the meat bird section, and learn about the breed ... Or read this: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/raising-cornish-x-for-meat-the-truth HATCHED OUT CHICKS!

We usually butchered our males at 12-18 weeks, again NO HEALTH PROBLEMS ... They free ranged half the day, and were only fed twice a day a small amount ... They still can poop a big pile though!

That is a great link! I will say, I don't mean they are all going to break their legs and die tomorrow. The truth link person killed the majority of her birds at 12 weeks, that's not unreasonable at all IMO. If she would have kept her Roos going I can tell you her story would not be as pretty. They ARE sweet intelligent animals. But I have cleaned birds who were kept too long and I know what I found...and they were fed good good GREAT diets, limited feed to encourage foraging, etc. Pulling huge globs of fat off of organs is not healthy. And that is what you are going to see if you do a necropsy on her (from the truth link) hens that didn't make it past 10 months. Sorry, it's the truth. Finding the right diet is the only way. It IS possible, I'm just saying it's an uphill battle. And I don't think this chicken momma is planning on butchering at 12-18 weeks...

 

[rckirby]

Over time I have read where people on this list made project birds of their Cornish crosses with varying success. They grew them slower, limited their feed, or fed them twice a day and put their water and feed far apart so they would have to move between the two, not just sit and stretch to eat and drink and they free ranged them.
In several instances some of the hens were added to the laying flock and the result seems to be that surprisingly they were decent layers of really large eggs. If you wanted to try this it might be better starting them off this way from the beginning.

So, after reading all these threads, and thinking I had one 'roo......can I assume that there might be more than one? After all, if they were sold as meaties, then the sex wouldn't matter. If all this is true, I'm thinking the little 'runt' might be the only female? No wonder she is so friendly to me.