Am I dumb? Just rescued a factory farm chicken.

[donrae]

If it's having trouble walking, it's not from living in a cramped cage. Most broilers aren't raised in cages, they're raised in the huge commercial houses. yes, they're cramped for space, but they're able to walk and stretch their legs.

they're what is referred to as a self-terminating cross. Meaning, they don't really live long enough to reproduce themselves. If it's already having leg issues, I'm thinking it's not long for this world. Personally, I'd butcher it and enjoy the free dinner

. If you chose not to go that route, you should still read up on methods of humane euthanasia now, before it becomes an emergency and you're scrambling to put down a bird that's in CHF and gasping for air, or who's legs have become too weak to support itself.

Some folks have kept meaties as pets, and nursed them along for several months or a year. But, those are usually folks who had the chicks from hatch and limited feed while free ranging and encouraging exercise. Getting a bird that's been raised expressly for slaughter at this age, I'm thinking it's not going to live very long, sorry.

I don't think there's much risk to your current flock. The commercial broiler industry is heavily invested in keeping their birds healthy. I do think the broiler is probably at risk of cocci, etc one it's on your ground for a week or so unless you feed medicated feed or dose with Corid.

 

[aart]

Not dumb...but maybe a bit naive.

That bird was bred and raised to be harvested and consumed by and for people.....
.....it may survive, but probably won't thrive.

 

[Mrs. K]

Reality and romance. It sounds like a good thing to do, saving that chicken, but the reality is that it is a terminating cross. They only live so long, and they are not very vigorous. Go to the meat section, and you will see back yard chicken people, raising these up to harvest themselves, and sometimes losing quite a few before they are ready to butcher due to heat or other health issues.

As for quarantining, if you put her in your coop/run, you have already broken quarantine, you have exposed her to your chickens' droppings and any germs that your chickens can live with. When you put your own chickens back into the set up, you expose them.

A bird on the way to the processing plant, is at harvest size. Realistically, this bird is very near the maximum size, it is too late to fix that with a diet. This is not going to end well. Egg laying is going to be the least of the problems for this bird.

Mrs K

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The "X" in Cornish X stands for Cross or Cross Breed. Your rescued bird is a first generation Hybrid. or Cross of some very intensely bred or inbred birds and it is going to grow fast and furious, its what it does best. They are tightly inbred so that both of the X's or Cross' parents will contribute their full innate DNA or genetic traits into the chick that will become the finished product that you see in the supermarket. The exact same is true of all the Sex crossed birds that you purchase form a commercial hatchery. At least it should be because if carried into the second generation a Sex Linked, Sex Cross or Cornish X Bird bred to another such bird will not breed true so beware of someone selling Sex Linked or Cornish Crosses out of their garage. Chances are good that it isn't the real thing.

About 15 years ago I was approached by a poultry integrator about getting back into the Poultry Biz by producing hatching eggs (well anyway the hens producing them) for a poultry breeding concern that supplied day old chicks to chicken farmers. I passed and am glad that I did because I had some health issues three years later that would have prevented me from servicing my debt. They say that hindsight is 20/20 and I guess it is. Just saying that contributing my poorly worded ideas to this forum is not my first rodeo in the field of poultry husbandry.

Some of the foundation stock of Cornish Cross chickens will top out at about 30 pounds on unlimited feed, making it about as large as most domesticated turkeys and 1&1/2 the size of a bald eagle.

Don't worry too much about the health of your rescued chicken and it infecting your back yard flock. Regardless of the untruths spread by groups like PETA, HSUS, or the ASPCA birds like your rescue are about as free of contagious diseases and parasites as it is possible for a chicken to be.

Here is a good example of how much the Chicken has changed or evolved between 1957 to 2005. All of this was achieved with selective breeding.






.

 

[pattyhen]

How is she doing? Have you named her yet?

 

[MtnHarmony]

I am sorry this post may be long and rambly but I wanted to share our good/bad experiences with you as I was never able to find much info when I first rescued our chickens.


We have "rescued" birds as well! They are definitely NOT the same as real chickens. BUT We love ours

Our first ever chickens were rescue birds so while I knew the rescue birds were dumb, I never realized how dumb until I got 3 day old layer chicks and they were smarter than our 8-12 week old rescues ever were!

It took a LONG time for our rescues to learn to move around. (If you get them when they are only 3-4 weeks old they do better than at processing age/size). Our first white rescues were rejected so they were either too sickly or too swift to be taken for butchering, so we took them from the chicken houses. Over the last year+, we have lost the 1 here and there. The last 2 died of heart attacks (we found them laying on their back with their feet up in the air). In the beginning they were clueless and only wanted to sit and eat. I never knew you had to limit their food so they over ate for a long time. So the first thing you should do is keep food away from them!

Mine were also scared of the light. They weren't use to so much bright light.

They lacked muscles tone so they seemed like they had bad legs but they improved with time (until they hurt themselves flying). They finally learned to move, walk and run and eventually fly. I think reducing their food so I could feel breastbone not just plump meat/fat helped

It took forever to get them to go up their ramp to roost (like months and months).

They are dirty birds. Their poop is all over, yucky and stinky no matter what feed I try, etc. Some feeds do seem a bit better though.

Ours finally learned to free range and eat bugs BUT they were prone to impacted crop too. I swear they are part goat as I have found where they have been pecking my window a/c unit so it is missing plastic and God knows what else (I only found the damage while inside and haven't ventured out to check outside due to it being dark). But in the beginning they only eat feed - no grass, no bugs, just feed. But they always act like they are starving.

One thing someone never told me was that they pull their chest feathers before they start laying eggs (I thought some did this when they were broody but not just b4 laying any eggs!) So one by one my chickens pulled out their feathers and started laying HUGE brown eggs. Over time the eggs have gotten smaller (about an xlarge size).

In April (in N. GA) they couldn't stand the heat of being out in the sun and kept hiding under the greens (collards?). I was hoping they would help clean up the garden but they were too lazy, but mostly too hot.

They definitely have legs issues. They didn'tt learn to fly for a long time. Even then they don't fly higher than 2-4 feet except one of mine which had to have her wings clipped as she kept flying over to the other "baby" chickens. She liked to eat their food but also, laid her eggs in their pen/coop area. Even after clipping one side she still managed to fly in, somehow, so I clipped both wings. I dunno what her deal is as she is as these birds are huge and kept growing for months! Flying is not recommended - or even jumping as mine have slowly hurt themselves but with that said I still have several without leg issues too. It seems to just vary. And you can't just stop them from trying though you could get rid of any coops, etc.

I was told they would lay eggs as the folks who raise them for a commercial company have also rescued them and raised them for eggs. They lay great when it isn't hot, but it seems to take its toll on them quickly (though these are the only birds I have had but their legs seem very light for the length of time they have been laying).

Always remember - these birds will kill themselves. They are just so clueless. At times they would eat nothing but the calcium. Most the time they will eat the ground, all day long so that the sand I did have, is gone and there is nothing but clay. In the winter they run around more but since I put up an automatic feeder (as we aren't home everyday due to taking care of some family members) they just lay near it waiting for it to dispense food. They use to hop up and peck at it so I had to raise it higher. For 6 birds I was feeding them about a gas station plastic cup full of feed, divided up morning and night. I can't remember how many ounces that is but I think it is 32. So that would be about 16 ounces in morning, 16 at night. They love the feed but were clueless about eating fresh veggies. They like bread, seeds, and some of them like bugs or worms. They liked the collards right off the plant too.

They are dirtier than regular chickens. Their bum is always nasty (they often "roost" on the ground or a flat surface, esp. when younger).... and they get their water dirty all the time. They even had trouble figuring out their water in the beginning. I use to try an wash their bums. Even when they roost they still have dirty bums from watery poo (don't handle heat well). The other chickens are more dainty and position themselves so they don't get dirty. I had no clue there would be a difference but there is! They apparently don' t know how to be dainty chickens like my others, lol.

But with all this said - we love our meat rescue birds. I would def. rescue some when younger, but not sure about when older (like some of ours were) as those seem to be the hardest to train/untrain. If you have the heart I would cull them when younger (maybe 4-6 months if you want them really big but they may not live that long due to heart defects - not just overfeeding issues). I have yet to figure out how to integrate my rescue chickens with my 3.5 month old chickens. I have the yard separated with temporary fencing, in hopes they could integrate but I don't know how to feed the big meat (layers) their food and let the other have theirs. Sometimes the little ones get in with the big ones and I find feathers on the ground, but most times the little one is out in the grass (not near the big feeder) staying safe but panicking, wondering how to get with the 19 other chickens. But once I have found the rooster in their with the meat birds and his feathers on the ground. He managed to sleep on their coop and survive until I found him the next morning. So it seems they even pick on the roosters, lol. Since the regular chickens will never be the same size as the big meat bird, rescue chickens, I doubt they will ever get along well and since the big ones will literally eat themselves to death, I plan on keeping the flock separate until I have the time/heart to cull the meaties. They were laying eggs, even if just 1 egg a day (not one for each chicken but just 1 egg out of 4 layers due to the heat). But the last 3 days, nada.

I too have been worried about diseases as I never tested my meat birds and their poo is so nasty (and lots of it!!) unlike the other chickens. But they only have a fence between them and so far no issues that I can tell. (fingers still crossed on this one!)

Mainly - don't expect the meat bird to be like the others.

My meaties also like to eat humans! In time I have ended up bleeding as they started trying to eat us after 6-9 months of having them. After they started laying eggs they turned back into sweet birds until the first of June and they got all mean again. So they were nice for only 4-6 weeks, lol... except when they were little. But then I was always worried they would die of heat stroke, over feeding, under feeding, leg injuries, etc. But I am here to say we made it! The 5 I have left (out of 7 or 8) are still alive. 1 has never laid as she has always been too sickly, but her comb looks alot better than it did when we got her and it was so pale!! Now it is just drier and smaller than the other hens. It just takes them forever it seems to lay or learn to be chickens. Around 1 yr to lay, and many months to forage or roost. We had to teach them to eat worms but my baby chickens took to jumping after flying insects from the first day they were big enough to go outside!
And since my other chickens are still young, I am still learning how different these rescue birds are from layers, but I will try to answer any questions you have. Just wanted to let you know it is possible, to keep them alive, even when you have never had chickens (like us!) but if I had raised chickens before, I would not have been prepared for how different they are, in my opinion.

 

[1schaefermaqks]

Such a wonderful thing you did. I hope you are able to enjoy watching her blossom into a happy hen

 

[carollmcarlson]

Interesting thread. Since the world is full of Cornish Cross, there must be some egg layers around. ;-) Once quarantine is over and she's integrated, I hope your kindness is returned in some form, even if it's just a happy hen. I think space and activity may extend her short life a bit. Hope you'll keep the thread informed.

 

[americanmutt1]

We were given 6 Cornish rock chicks about 5 years ago. They were our first chickens ever.They were messy and totally ripped up their yard area.We then mixed them with 6 Easter eggers. The Cornish hens were great layers and the last one passed away a couple of months ago. I'm assuming they are the same type. They usually sell them at Tractor Supply.Our remaining rooster is also a meat chicken we raised from a egg.His foster mother was a white little silky. He is Huge but is now 4 years old.I would have done the same thing. No matter how short her life is you cared.

 

[skai47]

Your kindness brought tears to my eyes. I don't have a problem with harvesting animals that have been raised with kindness and lived a happy life but this girl obviously hasn't. I appreciate that you are going to allow her to enjoy herself for awhile. I am surprised her beak hasn't been clipped since that's usually done to chickens raised commercially. Don't allow yourself to get too emotionally involved with her because CC hens don't usually live too long or you may have to put her down if her legs give out. From what I've read, some people extend their lives by severely limiting their food. That doesn't seem very humane to me and that would require that she be kept separate from your other hens forever, also unkind since chickens are such sociable creatures. After a reasonable quarantine period, I would just let her live her life out and deal with whatever happens.