Cornish cross as a pet?

thechickgal

Songster
7 Years
Feb 23, 2016
116
33
134
Indiana
I recently purchased 2 guineas, 2 turkeys, 1 new Hampshire red, 1 is brown, 2 dominique, 2 English blue orpington, and a mystery yellow chick. All were purchased at rural king besides the orpingtons those were at a local farm. The turkeys I had got to eventually eat. The rest are all for pets. As they all started getting feathers and growing I noticed the little yellow one growing really quickly weighing double what the others weigh and still barely growing any feathers. I realised I have a cornish cross, as I've had 2 in the past. At first I was devastated, already being attached to her/him. I know their life expectancy is short due to health issues of growing too quickly. I'm determined to help her/him stay healthy. I plan on monitoring feedings, and once shes done eating take her out and watch her run around the yard on her own for excersise. Please any advice about this breed or your own experiences is much appreciated.
 
Cornish X rule as pets! Mine lived for two years, a dog got her, but she was in a molt process and running around with her hilarious fat legs. I do NOT EVER use bowls, bowls kill! I throw the food in the grass and make them look for it. She followed me around and they try to fool you to overfeed them. Feed just the Cornish X about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup as a full grown chicken. Sometimes they get overweight and it kills them. Watch her weight, legs, and movement. Then, she should be fine.
 
Monitor/limit feed intake, encourage free ranging with other birds and you can extend their lifespan somewhat - especially the pullets/hens. Cockerels tend to break down physically somewhat sooner. Good luck.
I agree, definitely free range, and cockerels do seem to go down quicker, I loved my hen!
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Cornish X rule as pets! Mine lived for two years, a dog got her, but she was in a molt process and running around with her hilarious fat legs. I do NOT EVER use bowls, bowls kill! I throw the food in the grass and make them look for it. She followed me around and they try to fool you to overfeed them. Feed just the Cornish X about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup as a full grown chicken. Sometimes they get overweight and it kills them. Watch her weight, legs, and movement. Then, she should be fine.
Thank you so much this helped me feel a lot better. :)
 
My mother has a cornish x cockerel named Marshmallow. He is enormous, but gets around just fine and keeps up very well with the flock. She allows all her birds to free-range, and I know that's a huge help. I'm a little concerned about winter approaching because the birds don't get out as much. We try to let them out as much as possible, but we get some nasty lake effect snowstorms that keep them in sometimes for days at a time. Hopefully we have a mild winter with no issues! :fl
 

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