Are your Cornish X dirty?

[Chickie McFly]

We didn’t buy her but found her. We are not raising her for meat so I guess she is our pet. We just let her roam around the backyard. She has a pen at night. She used to eat a lot like she was famished but not anymore. She eats breakfast, lunch and dinner but grazes the rest of the day and we don’t have her eat during the night. She really isn’t dirty except her behind! She is friendly but pecks us. She is quite entertaining.

 

[CNJ]

The Cornish X I raised in a pen with pine shavings were dirty with poop stuck on their stomach, but the Cornish X I raised in a coop with a 1 inch screen floor were clean. The poop falls through the floor, so they are not sleeping on it like the ones on the ground.

However, the problem with raising them on a screen floor is they need to be processed at 8 weeks old. The under side of their shanks start showing abrasion when they get too heavy, so a plastic screen floor maybe a better choice.

 

[CNJ]

but you'll probably want to rinse them before you scald them because otherwise your scalding water will be very dirty very fast.

Yup, this really grosses me out. I pluck the caked on poop feathers off before scalding...................

 

[Chickie McFly]

Yup, this really grosses me out. I pluck the caked on poop feathers off before scalding...................

Thanks for your ideas. Not quite sure how that would work. Would her feet get stuck.

 

[CNJ]

Thanks for your ideas. Not quite sure how that would work. Would her feet get stuck.

You must be asking about the 1/2 inch x 1 inch screen floor.. Their feet don't get stuck and they don't have any problems up to 8 weeks.. The problem is they keep growing after 8 weeks and the excess weight on the back part of their shanks gets irritated.. However, not all of them have this problem at the same time, it starts with the really big ones, so its weight related.

They spend 1 month in my brooder and 1 month outside, so everything happens really fast. I can raise 12 to 15 Cornish X in a 4 ft x 8ft wire floor pen with out any problems.

 

[cassie]

I'm just curious whether or not your Cornish X are dirty? I've noticed that mine don't really dust bathe or maintain themselves at all. While my White Leghorns are perfectly white and clean virtually all the time, my Cornish X seem to always have dirt on them.

This is my first time raising them, so I am trying to figure out what the best management techniques are. I tried to raise them on grass, but I only have a limited amount of it (most of my property is wooded) and they didn't cooperate when I tried to move the tractor. They would hunker down against the back edge and sometimes get a let or something stuck under the edge. I have since started keeping it in the same spot and adding/turning mulch every other day to keep the area fresh. I don't really like that method either.

How do you manage your Cornish X?

I don't remember my Cornish being dirty. I do remember them being funny looking when they outgrew their feathers and had big naked spots. I bedded them on shavings. Lots of shavings and their bedding was always dry. Because they were in a dry well bedded area meant they didn't smell either. Probably wasn't the most economical way to do it but it worked for me.