Can I raise 2 Cornish Cross safely?

[pixie_bit]

So my first batch of meat birds arrived a few hours ago and it did not go well....unfortunately all but 2 perished in transport. I wasn't thrilled with the packaging and shipping and am unlikely to purposely purchase from that vendor again. (I have had much better shipment on my laying chicks from other sources, but they don't sell the Cornish X.)
Assuming the 2 I have left live (1 looks great and the second concerns me but is looking better after a couple of hours of hovering and care...), can I reasonably raise them to harvest date with only the 2 birds? I was planning to use a small-ish tractor for this group, and kind of assumed that like my laying hens, they would use each other for some amount of warmth and such in the evenings of September if needed. I will need to decide if I want replacement birds or a refund, so knowing if raising 2 alone is a reasonable thing to do will be necessary to make that decision.

 

[NatJ]

can I reasonably raise them to harvest date with only the 2 birds? I was planning to use a small-ish tractor for this group, and kind of assumed that like my laying hens, they would use each other for some amount of warmth and such in the evenings of September if needed.

Yes, you can probably raise two birds.
If one dies, the other will not be happy alone, but chickens CAN live alone.
Or, if one dies, you could just dispatch the other, and then you wouldn't have it lonesome.

Needing warmth in September? How cold does September get where you live? I would expect 1-2 Cornish Cross, that will be 7 weeks old at the beginning of September, to be fine.

 

[pixie_bit]

Thanks!
It doesn't get TERRIBLY cold - I'm in Missouri (barring any additional "it's 2020, so crazy stuff is a thing!") but I am just used to my laying hens at least having the OPTION of kind of piling up on the roosts or all in one laying box inside their coop - not that they ever do this so one lone bird feels worrisome to me. Since I am just using a tractor with a covered area and roosting space, they won't have the warmer coop situation my layers have access to - which SHOULD be fine with the weather, but I was again factoring in some amount of crowd warmth if needed...
I'm super annoyed that so many didn't survive shipping and don't want to decide to do something that would be cruel for their short 8 week lifespan. I don't think I can put them/her in with my layers since they need different feed and the whole ordeal of getting her integrated for such a short timeframe and such...so probably, I'll end up deciding to risk another shipment I suppose.

 

[NatJ]

I grew up in Alaska. As long as the birds are fully feathered and can get out of the wind, I would expect them to be fine down below freezing (as in, you find ice in the water next morning, but the chickens are fine.) Even if there's just one chicken.

If you expect a real cold snap--you could just butcher early, rather than worrying. A 6-week cornish cross certainly does have some meat, although it's also true that a 10-week cornish cross has a lot more meat.

You could consider getting a refund from this hatchery, and ordering new ones from a different hatchery. If the new chicks are only a week or two younger, and the new chicks outnumber the older chicks, then you should be able to combine them with no trouble at all.

 

[iwltfum]

You could consider getting a refund from this hatchery, and ordering new ones from a different hatchery. If the new chicks are only a week or two younger, and the new chicks outnumber the older chicks, then you should be able to combine them with no trouble at all.

Agreed. Make sure you get a refund (or replacement birds). Almost all hatcheries offer that. In my experience, one batch of dead birds in the dead middle of the summer means they probably sat in a hot car/van/truck for way too long or somehow else were not taken care of properly by the post office. No hatchery can survive as a business by sending chicks that don't make it on a continual basis. I have received boxes of chicks in the past with similar death rates and have had the same hatcheries send me more chicks the same day and they have all arrived perfectly fine. The new ones would only be a couple days behind the first two. Raising two cornish cross could work perfectly well, but two meat birds in a separate tractor is no efficient. You would spend those weeks that you are growing them caring for them every day (twice a day? depending on how your system functions) for two meals - that wouldn't be worth it to me. I would order more asap and just throw the first two in with the next clutch that arrives. Don't give up on the system yet. It is usually the postal service's fault.

 

[pixie_bit]

Sadly, I am now down to 1. Chick 2 could not hold water down, could no longer walk properly, etc. and had suffered too much damage to recover. The remaining chick still seems healthy, but I am very concerned about having the hatchery (which is in Iowa, a state dealing with serious health issues) send another batch - I'm worried that the situation there and with the post office led to shipping delays and rough treatment of the package. When I got the ship notice I called the post office man times yesterday so I could get the birds quickly to their brooder and they didn't have it. When I looked at the tracking detail it was actually set to come in tomorrow - so a Monday ship, Thursday arrival. That is obviously just too long for the chicks to survive in a unregulated environment even without any jostling. I think I may just need to wait for spring to find another hatchery (many I looked at were sold out, which is why I used this vendor) and hopefully better shipping conditions.

 

[iwltfum]

Sadly, I am now down to 1. Chick 2 could not hold water down, could no longer walk properly, etc. and had suffered too much damage to recover. The remaining chick still seems healthy, but I am very concerned about having the hatchery (which is in Iowa, a state dealing with serious health issues) send another batch - I'm worried that the situation there and with the post office led to shipping delays and rough treatment of the package. When I got the ship notice I called the post office man times yesterday so I could get the birds quickly to their brooder and they didn't have it. When I looked at the tracking detail it was actually set to come in tomorrow - so a Monday ship, Thursday arrival. That is obviously just too long for the chicks to survive in a unregulated environment even without any jostling. I think I may just need to wait for spring to find another hatchery (many I looked at were sold out, which is why I used this vendor) and hopefully better shipping conditions.

Hmm. That's a bummer. I have been forgetting that the problems that we all experienced in Feb and March are slowly coming back You are right to be wary of potential shipping delays. Well I hope you have tried calling them and getting your money back for the chicks. Seems like the best you can do. I know how much it sucks to pick up a box with dead chicks in it. Sorry that you had to deal with that.