anyone keeping cornish rocks as pets

[mom wewantchicks!]

we got two cornish from tsc when we got our chicks, didnt know what they where. long story short,its only 2 and im thinking maybe we should just keep them. idk,because they are the happiest most friendly thing ever, when they are not hungy. but yesterday my daughter wanted to let them out with us in the yard, well i said wait a minute they need feed,before i could feed them my 2 year old goes over and gets a very big bite! his poor little finger was all red and swollen! so im thinking how do you keep these birds if they will be acting like this. my dh will freak if i tell him! he has no tolerance for any of my pets hurting the kids! and is more than happy to butcher the chicks for me!

 

[Hotwings]

You can try keeping them as pets but I am afraid the end result would probably end up with the cornish x dieing of heart failure. You have to remember these birds were bred to rapidly gain weight and have a juicy breast. These birds constantly eat and eat to the point where they will literally eat themselves to death. They will eventually have health issues like excess panting and not moving as much. At 8 weeks these birds are ready for market. You can prolong their lives by restricting their feed and letting them free range. Your bird probably pecked your 2 year old because he was hangry. In all honesty any bird can peck your child. You have to remember chicks can be very fragile and no todler should be left alone with them unless supervised. A chick or any chicken can't be compared to a dog or cat. They will do these things cause they were programed to be that way. I would let your meat chicks grow and try to keep them healthy untill market time. In my opinion meat birds don't have much personalty as it is.

 

[jenmckin]

I have done some research on these the more I've heard about them. They really are for eating. Not keeping. Everything Hotwings said is dead on. The only thing that I think was left out is that these birds usually don't live over one year. I'm afraid they would make better additions to your freezer than your pet. Sorry

We chose to get dual purpose birds to as broilers. I just think watching an animal that I raised have broken legs and such because they are so heavy is just horrible. So we didn't want to do that.

Good luck with whatever you do and let us know what you decide.

 

[mom wewantchicks!]

well we had already decided we could eat them,but idk i quess im to girly and started getting attached! i know any and im sure all chickens will peck but omg! these things are all nice a good for about an hour after you feed them i myseld am a little scared when i go to feed,they where still in the cage when my son went over and im quessing put his finger in! the other chicks will have will just run off but the cornish came right up and tried to eat him!!! anyway i was just thinking, 2 birds, is it really worth the mess? but my hubby says he'll take care of it soooo,heres to 2 more weeks with the piggy birds!!!!

 

[jdr250]

I agree with everyone else, they are for food. I think if you tried to keep them as pets their quality of life would be terrible. I am new to chickens but I have 12 chicks total (five 3-week old red sexes, two 2-week old light brahmas, one 2-week old EE, one 2-week old white leghorn, and three 2-week old Cornish X's) and when you have other regular sized, regular growing chicks to compare them too their activity level is so low and when they do try to run after the other chicks, they have to lay down after about 3-4 steps, they can only roost on the lowest roost. All these things that I see show me that if they're already at this kind of disadvantage at 2 weeks, it certainly isn't going to get better as they grow.
As for the pecking, honestly all of mine run to which ever side of the cage I'm on waiting for something to come through the bars for them to grab, but that's because while I'm sitting watching tv I will sneak them bits of crust off my sandwich and stuff and they may not love me yet but they know I've got the goods...lol
Chick nibbles aren't nearly as bad as the ones I've gotten from my vicious male cockatiel, he's drawn blood and he's only about a 10th the size of my chicks. So you can definately feel the difference between is this food or I hate you and want to tear you limb from limb.

 

[DTchickens]

i just wanted to say.. NO MATTER. how much people say "cornish are for eating.. thats what they were made for". Actually no.. Cornish are gamefowl from iran. or..... pakistan. anyway somewhere up in there. Now. you could keep a cornish as a pet. I dont see any problem with them. besides they are really fat birds. But people often get them mixed up with a Broiler. Which is Part cornish. part Plymouth rock. which is the bird bred for only eating (breaks its legs by about 10 weeks old if lives that long.) most people. will get Cornish bantams, for show. and pets. due to being smaller and all. i guess they dont have as much trouble with heart attacks.

EDIT>... never mind. I see it is Cornish X Rocks. which would.. indeed be broilers.. I thought it was just Cornish. anyways.. In my post above. i posted what happens if you keep a cornish rock.. (broiler.)... Legs break.. AND They are filthy filthy chickens from what i hear. heard they will make you never want to eat another chicken.