Can someone tell me which breed this is please? The farmer we got them from raises them for meat...

[Bibbianna]

 

[sourland]

I believe that they are Cornish X meat birds. They are bred for rapid weight gain and generally have a relatively short life span. By limiting feed intake and excessive weight gain their life span can be expanded somewhat.

 

[WhiteLeghorn2]

They look to me like Cornish X's. They're usually raised for meat and grow rapidly. I do not have any experience with them personally, however from the research I have done, it seems to me like as long as you take care of them like a regular chicken that they can be raised to be a regular member of a flock. I've read that sometimes they have heart failure due to having unhealthy parents. If you're raising them for eggs, you could try treating them just like any other bird and hopefully they'll lay a few eggs a week per chicken. I'm not experienced, so I can't tell you that my information is accurate, but hopefully someone with experience can correct me if I'm wrong. Hopefully that was helpful! Have a good one!

 

[donrae]

Cornish cross meat birds. Not really the best choice for a pet or backyard chicken due to often short life spans. There are threads here about folks keeping them past a year or so, you can do some research to see how to manage them.

Or you can eat them.

 

[Sphinx]

Yeah, I wouldn't get attached to them. I've heard horror stories of people who tried really hard to limit their food intake to get them to live longer. I haven't really heard of one living much past a year though.

I'd eat them and then get a good dual purpose bird as a pet- they'll live at least 3-7 years if cared for properly.

 

[CCCCCCCCHICKENS]

Cornish cross meat birds. Not really the best choice for a pet or backyard chicken due to often short life spans. There are threads here about folks keeping them past a year or so, you can do some research to see how to manage them.

Or you can eat them.

X2,

 

[ramirezframing]

DH order 25 as chicks, well we didn't get all done up on time. Lost most of the remaining hens at around a yr old to egg laying. The two roosters we had died of heart attacks around 1 1/2 yrs old. Had one hen make it to 3 yrs old. I lost her to heart failure as well. If you can get them to breeding age and cross them to a dual purpose breed, the offspring tend to do better and grow decently. I crossed mine to black sex links and buff orpingtons. I weighed all of the meaties just before a yr old and most weighed 25 lbs, one hen weighed 20 lbs. I just fed them like the rest of my birds, and they were in with the rest of my birds also. I scatter my feed so its not in a feeder that can be blocked by the dominate birds, this meant the meaties had to walk around to get their feed. This was my experience with them. I wouldn't recommend them to someone who can't eat what they raise or is wanting a long lived chicken. Good luck

 

[Bullitt]

Did the farmer you bought them from not know what type of chickens they were?

Did you buy them or did he give them to you?

The Cornish Rock cross is the worst choice if you want laying hens. I would suggest using them for meat.

 

[Bibbianna]

We visited the farm and my children wanted to bring a baby chick home... So I said yes... At first we had 3... But 2 of them turned out to be roosters so we exchanged them for a female, so we only have 2 now... I was going to wait t'ill the spring and ask him for more chicks but didn't want my female to be lonely. The kids love them and so do I... So we'll do our best to take care of them as long as they live. The farmer is my neighbor but we live in a french area and he couldn't give me the name of the breed... Just that they were meat chicken. Thx for all the information! Will definately help me do some research knowing which breed they are