cornish cross fryers

[sitka53]

Have these birds and 3 are getting sick at 6 weeks old, what to do?

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Have these birds and 3 are getting sick at 6 weeks old, what to do?

How are they acting? I would need to know symptoms, but Cornish Cross chickens are designed to die. They are obese, inbred, and usually have deformities and bone issues. It’s likely that these birds are suffering from genetic abnormalities and deformities that will continue to get worse as they gain weight.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What are the symptoms? Cornish Cross (CX) are bred to be harvested between 6 to 8 weeks old. They grow so fast that they can die of heart attacks or they can become crippled when their skeleton cannot support their weight. It is fairly common to withhold some food later in their short lives so they are less likely to have these health problems. A heart attack is usually instant death. Are they showing signs of being crippled?

They are chickens. It is possible they can be affected by a disease or parasite, like any chicken. Coccidiosis can be pretty common in CX because they poop so much it can create wet conditions. So how are they showing signs of getting sick?

CX are not generally obese. Obese means fat. CX are typically mostly meat, very little fat. And they are about as far from inbred as you can get. Four different grandparent flocks produce the parents that will breed the CX we eat. That's a lot more diverse and less inbred than the majority of the chickens in our dual purpose or decorative flocks. But they can gain weight so fast they outgrow their skeleton's ability to support that weight so they can have skeleton problems. That's a big reason they are typically butchered at 6 to 8 weeks of age.