Cornish Cross being pecked by other birds

[HaywardHomestead]

I am a new chicken owner and I bought what I believed to be White Leghorns but they turned out to be Cornish Crosses (thanks TSC) and I know they are meat birds but I'm raising them for eggs just like the black sexlinks and the one random that was also supposed to be a Leghorn....

Anyway, I had 4 Cornish X, one died randomly....no clue what happened found her dead, no marks in the coop one evening. Now 2 are being pecked heavily, missing feathers on wings and back, and one is just fine. Can meat chickens (who I am not currently prepared to butcher) live with my layers or am I going to have to sell/butcher?

Really worried about my ladies.....

 

[sourland]

Sadly they are genetically programed for rapid growth and weight gain. Their chances of a happy life are limited. Limiting feed and 'forcing' them to forage may help expand their lifetime. It may be necessary to separate them from the rest of the flock to assure that they are not pecked/cannibalized. Good luck with them. Our local TSC is bad about misidentifying birds.

 

[Chaos18]

It all depends on your other birds. I currently have a group of 19 Cornish Cross chicks that are about 6 weeks old. They have there own run and coop. I only let them out in to there run but inevitably some escape it and will free range with the rest of my chickens. The other birds pay them no mind.
Yes, it's fairly common for CX to just suddenly die. Like Sour said they are genetically programmed for rapid growth and maximum weight gain. Sometimes there bodies can't handle it and they just fall over dead.
If you plan on raising them for eggs you will have to restrict there feed intake. I feed my CX a certain amount once a day, anything after that they have to forage for.