Can fryers still lay eggs?

[Granolamom]

I'm posting this message for a friend of mine, who just recently got into chickens.
Someone gave her 4 pullets for free, and she did not find out until weeks later, that they were "fryers" - short, chubby, white birds with stubby, yellow legs.
The woman she got them from told her that they were rescues. They had almost no feathers, and supposedly were treated with hormones, which is why they would never be able to lay eggs.
My friend is really bummed about this, and wonders if there's a chance they will lay anyway (they've already grown their feathers back, and she's taking really good care of them).
Can they lay?

 

[bargain]

Yes, they will lay anyway, but it will cost a tremendous amount of feed to get those eggs. They were really bred to be "eaten"....Sorry to say that but it's true....Haven't heard from you in a while....All the critters say hello...Glad to see you back here at BYC

 

[danielbrown]

The hormones probably won't effect there laying.
It's getting them to live long enough to lay eggs is the hard part.
They grow so fast they often have health problems. especially when fed to be butchered.

 

[Granolamom]

Quote:
Hi, Nancy, good to hear from you, too!
I don't think my friend will care about how much they eat, as long as she can tell her husband that there's hope for some eggs from them...
She's a total sucker for animals of all kinds, like me, and will under no circumstances butcher them...

.
I can't wait to tell her the good news. Thanks!

 

[jaku]

I can't imagine why chickens would be treated with hormones to not lay eggs, unless they were rescued from a medical research lab, in which case, I probably wouldn't eat them anyway.

 

[Granolamom]

Quote:
I know absolutely nothing about raising meat birds, but can only assume they were talking about growth hormones...?

 

[jaku]

Quote:
I know absolutely nothing about raising meat birds, but can only assume they were talking about growth hormones...?

Maybe- however, growth hormones added to meat chickens is a myth. Antibiotics yes, hormones no.

 

[Kelso]

You all got me wondering if a Fryer will sit too. Good question.

 

[cassie]

Meat chickens are not treated with growth hormones and probably not antibiotics either. The extraordinary performance is due to breeding and feeding not hormones. I really question how humane it is to keep these critters, but that's me.

 

[pdpatch]

"that they were "fryers" - short, chubby, white birds with stubby, yellow legs."

I Guess you are discribing a Cornish cross.

A Cornish cross is cross between two different parents, they grow fast and big, and are not intended to grow old enough to lay eggs.

Generally there life expectancy is only 6 to 12 weeks max.

It is possible with special care get them to stay alive longer, If they did they should be able to lay eggs. But the amount of feed it would take would not be worth it.


Without special care it would be inhumane to keep them around longer then 10 to 12 weeks. They most likely will have Bone and internal organ problems.