Bald birds....ugh!!

[Tugger1]

Our cornish giants are now 2 1/2 weeks old and thank god are getting ugly and gorpy! I notice thought that their cute little yellow feathers are going away and their white adult feathers are coming in but they are pretty bald. Are they lacking something or is this just a phase? They are still in the coop with a heat lamp,but maybe its too hot in there (It's around 70 degrees). I want to put them outside soon but if they don't have feathers I don't think I should.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Dogfish]

If they look bald and their butts look like there is a golfball in there, you are good to go. They stop being cute early, about the end of week 2. They start to feather out around 4 weeks, and by 6 weeks they'll look somewhat normal.

 

[Tugger1]

That is exactly what they look like!!! Totally forgot about their bums.

One more question.....when do you harvest them? When they look about the right size you want?

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

yep, when they are are the size you want 6-8 weeks is the norm . . . love the term gorpy, gotta start using it! lol!

 

[Dogfish]

These guys are heading to the freezer tomorrow.

They would be 8 weeks this next Monday, if they managed to escape. They do start to look a lot better as they get to 6 weeks and beyond.

 

[justbugged]

They still don't seem to act like real chickens though.

 

[CoopCrazy]

Yep they are supposed to look that way .. I thought the same thing with my last batch... And No they are not real chickens they are FRANKENCHICKENS!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dogfish]

Quote:
But they taste just like chicken.

 

[becky3086]

 

[Corporate Farmer]

What's with their big butts? My cornish x's are about 3.5 weeks old now and they have huge bold butts. Gross.