Can broiler hens live a normal life?

[LittleRedRanch]

These hens are 2 months old. Not overweight. Not having any visible problems right now. They walk and RUN. Their legs are not breaking under their weight. They fly up about 3 to 4 foot high. They are foraging with the rest of my flock on 4 acres. I've read some forums that said exercise and less food are the best for a longer healthier life but no one has personal experience. They are super sweet. Take great selfies of themselves. I was just wondering if there is anyone out there who had sucess. I've seen "rescue" stories on YouTube but they don't go into detail.

 

[ChickenLeg]

I had a friend who was given a boy meat broiler, he just needed a rooster and didnt know what he was getting. Aftr about 3-4 months old (I cant recall), I kept telling him every time I visited the rooster needed to be culled because, unlike yours, he was very over weight and huge. My friend wouldnt let me because the rooster was the friendliest one he'd ever raised. Well by about 6-7 months he was mainly sitting on the ground all the time, weighed more than any chicken I had held, and I looked at his feet and they had open wounds. My friend understood then that he needed to be culled. So he was culled then placed in the freezer until my friend wanted soup later that winter.

All that being said, even just with a normal diet and lots of room to run, his pin was about 900sq feet or more, his genetics still forced us to cull him. Hope these ladies dont succumb to the same fate. Best of luck!

 

[Folly's place]

It's very unlikely that these chicks will do well for more than a few months, and please be ready to act when they are failing.
I think it's just wrong that this 'meat bird' hybrid has been developed to such an extreme level of awfulness, but because, for almost everyone, meat grows in Styrofoam at the store, so price is everything, and there's no understanding about what makes for 'cheap chicken'.
Rant over, for now.
Mary

 

[Geggs]

Keeping them separate is likely unnecessary because it is highly unlikely that most meat roosters will be physically able to tread a hen.

My understanding is that all of the chickens are standard birds except for these two 2 month old meat type hens and thus they do deserve protection from roosters who can be expected to do what roosters do if they get the chance.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I think it's very generous of you to be willing to take this on. It speaks highly of your level of compassion. However long they live, I am sure they will be happy.

I have had these same questions in the past. I thought about doing the same in hopes of "rescuing" some chickens from slaughter. I know, I know... Such a sap... But it is my religion that dictates it. I never found the answers, so I went the typical route and got birdies by mail.

Please, please, please keep us posted. I may still take this on if you find joy in it.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I think it's just wrong that this 'meat bird' hybrid has been developed to such an extreme level of awfulness, but because, for almost everyone, meat grows in Styrofoam at the store, so price is everything, and there's no understanding about what makes for 'cheap chicken'.

Preach it, sister! I agree! Profit at the cost of humaneness.

 

[OldEnglishGameBantam33]

I know the time will come when you have to end their life. I don't know much on the topic but, I am sure you will give them the best life you can give them.
Crossing my fingers they live as long as they can.

 

[LittleRedRanch]

We are prepared incase they go downhill and I know they will grow rapidley fast as they are the 3X the size of the other chicks I got same age with them. Thanks for all the positive comments. I know there is no magic pill to make their genetic health problems go away. With proper diet and exercise I'm hoping to extend their life as long as they are healthy. I had some local 4H kid tell me the ones that didn't make the cut for show their family just put out in a goat pasture and well 3 years later most are still alive, they sold some, butchered some and some even lay eggs! They lost all the extra weight so there is some hope for my girls and that's good enough for me.

 

[townchicks]

Please keep us posted as they grow. Good luck with them.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

My understanding is that all of the chickens are standard birds except for these two 2 month old meat type hens and thus they do deserve protection from roosters who can be expected to do what roosters do if they get the chance.

What pray-tell do roosters do when they get the chance?
Here let me help you with that.
FYI, Roosters act like Gia or Mother Nature commands them to act, nothing more and nothing less. If you have a problem with the natural world then come out and say that you intend to change the basic nature of chickens, perhaps you intend to change the chicken something along the lines of how we have changed broiler-fryer chickens. Let me illustrate.

Without a single drop of growth hormone or any other hormone for that matter the above image illustrates (depending on your point of view) how much the chicken has advanced or devolved in about 60 odd years.