box of fuzzy adorable cuteness.....

[HennyJenny]

I opened my box of 22 Cornish X and my 6 BO's from Welp this morning and was just appalled at the fuzzy adorable cuteness in the box. I thought - oh no! they can't be cute - this won't work - then I fed them... they are less than 24 hours old (Welp is just a few hours east of here) and they have not stopped eating drinking or pooping since I stuck them in the brooder - fuzzy adorable grossness really. They all seem to enter a food coma like status for 15 minutes or so at a time and then they resume the aforementioned activities. Talk about hardwired! Wow! They aren't going to stay in the brooder for long - I swear some of them have feathers this afternoon that they did not have this morning!

 

[augustmomx2]

I know I thought the same thing when I received my Cornish Xs, I actually thought they were cuter than my layers I ordered! They would all breath in unison and nap together, looking like a big, yellow, velvet blanket. Then, they grew feathers and weren't so cute anymore...I have no problem eating them

Enjoy!

 

[HennyJenny]

These are my very first meaties - I had one that was an easter "rescue" but it was already at that "I've grown too much for my feathers to cover my body stage" - I was just surprised at how "cute" they were - because well - I guess I am wholly incapable of connecting all of the dots

- I helped pluck and dress that easter "rescue" a few weeks ago - but I didn't have any fuzzy cute eye contact making chick in my memory. I am pretty sure now that when they are making eye contact it's because I might look like their next meal. This ought to be an interesting few weeks!

 

[Dogfish]

Cute will stop in about 5 or 6 days.

 

[sred98]

Quote:

Yeah...isn't that when they start outgrowing their down and fluffiness and just are patchy blobs with pin feathers here and there?

Don't worry...they will get really ugly, really quick!

The only thing I hate about them, besides the whole Jabba the Hut grossness, is that they are probably some of the sweetest chickens! They'll follow you as much as they are able to, stand on your feet, and are great to sit and hold (if you bathe them!). Of course, I'm sure part of this is because they know you bring the food, and partly because the whole "Fight or Flight" thing has been bred out of them.

They are lumps, but they can be pretty sweet. But, you just have to remember that they will start dying at about 6-8 weeks, so you can't get too attached.

Shelly

 

[HennyJenny]

Quote:
That must be when they hit the "I've grown so fast my feathers don't cover my body" stage? Good to know! They have outgrown the "tenderly cared for babies on papertowels instead of shavings" stage in four hours! Holy buckets! They are going out to the coop in a cattle tank in about another three hours!

Dogfish - I was disappointed to find out that there is no entity around here that rents the set up you had for processing. That was really a good set up.

 

[Dogfish]

Yeah, they do poop a lot.

The whole dead at 6-8 weeks is a bit overblown, especially if you get them on grass outside. I've lost 2 out of a total of 35 I've grown and 5 that were given to me. I have 3 I'm growing out longer. The rooster will grow out until 10 weeks (4th of July), and the hens may last until the end of July, maybe mid August.

Yes, that set-up was great. I'll reserve it again next year, then order birds. My plan will be to raise them to 9 or 10 weeks.