Cornish cross leg and heat issues

[JMotuzick]

We have raised both rangers and crosses for meat in the past, so we are not new. last year we took our time as we where not going far due to COVID. This year, we are planing a few trips and would like to butcher In the advertised 8 weeks. We have been using the 12 on/off feeding method rather then the measured amounts (witch always seam small) like we have used other years. Agin to speed things up, we are doing 2 tractors instead of 1. Everything has been going well for the first 5 1/2 weeks, today in 90 degree heat/humidity we lost one of the larger roo’s. After I got home from work 3pm I filled water buckets and added feed, we are moving them twice daily at this point, and started to move them. I only got a partial move as they where panting so badly. I gave them a quick cool shower with the hose and went to run some Errands after diner I checked on them again and found one passed. The rest still panting badly. Again a shower and I was able to move 1 tractor. The other seams to be have 2 with leg issues. One small and not moving much, the other large and again not moving. We have had issues in the past but always able to move the the tractor. I’m afraid to move it !

thoughts include showers every few hours.

cutting the feed back

lowering the protein (still on a 22% starter)

any advice would be helpful!

looking like 48-72 hours more heat and sun, rain starting Thursday should cool us down to the 70’s for a few days then 80’s next week.

 

[3KillerBs]

Those tractors could get hot under the tarp, maybe some shade over the tractor itself could help? Even one of those portable 10x10 picnic shades might cool them in there.

I can testify to the usefulness of a picnic fly for keeping the chicken housing cooler.

I've got 26 square feet of total ventilation in that thing (it's 4x8), and still need the shade to keep it a reasonable temperature.

 

[NatJ]

Are you serving their food wet or dry?

If you get the food wet with cold water, then they get water and coolness when they eat it.
(Obviously, don't give so much it sits around and spoils or gets hot in the sun.)

 

[iwltfum]

Picture of your set up and the birds in question might help. Hard to say what is causing them to fail. 5 week old cx could have trouble in 90 degree heat. When I lived in the desert I would run homemade PVC misters over the tractors. Seemed to work but you do have to think about wet ground which will cause bummble foot in a hurry if you constantly run them over wet ground. Obviously make sure they have access to cool water all the time. I had a problem with waterers getting hot and the chickens stopped drinking water because the water was hot. My solution was a plywood board about 2'x2' on top of the bucket with a weight to hold it down shades the bucket nicely.

 

[iwltfum]

That roo I had to move seams to have leg issues when he does walk it’s with a bit of a limp. I figured cutting back on the food will help him grow into his legs!

My experience is that once they get a leg problem, not many recover from that. But I've seen them limp along for a week or two, just able to make it to butcher day by moving the pens more slowly or removing them from the pen while you move it. I think you are taking the right steps to keep them alive through high heat. You will just have to see how it goes. Not much more you could be doing other than running a mister constantly through the day.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm in agreement with @iwltfum - though I have what is normally considered high temp/high humidity (90/90, 95/80+, etc) environment, I've not raised but a handful of CX so I can't speak from much personal experience and I free ranged, not tractored (similar but not quite the same).

Based on everything I've read, the CX simply isn't a robust bird, prone to falling over for a host of often un-diagnosable reasons, with moderately high expected flock losses under even the best of circumstances - and the current record breaking weather events are nothing close to "best". Every bird is struggling in this heat, but commercial broilers are about the worst designed bird you can imagine for these conditions - only feathered legs, black coloration, and a pea comb could make things worse.

It was on that basis I determined not to raise more CX on the property, since 90/90 is rather routine here, and focus my efforts on other, better adapted, birds for my climate. (The Dark Brahma were a mistake, too!)

I think you are doing all you reasonably can. The only thing left is to take a trenching shovel and dig them a spot about 8" deep where they can bed down, spread out, and hide from the heat of the day, using the cooler temp of the earth as a heat sink. But that seems an extreme response.

Good luck making it thru the next couple days! (and chickens, even CX, are very good at hiding injuries. Its a survival thing. If you can see a limp, the injury is quite severe, unlikely to cure itself in the coming days. Hopes it makes it to cull for you!)

 

[Parront]

It sounds like you have a date reserved with the processor and want to take all the birds at the same time. I as a small home raiser, raised the Cornish-X from Murray McMurray in the desert heat of Riverside, CA. I did not process them all the same day. I did the ones that seemed to be having a hard time walking first, they were only about 7 weeks old, if I recall correctly. It was the first batch of them I did -- 1987. I learned to give them shade Picnic table in their yard) and I had one of those portable misters that look like a cobra on the end of a hose. They would not even leave the shade to eat or drink when it was very hot. I gave them some of their feed wet, and they chowed it down!
Those tractors could get hot under the tarp, maybe some shade over the tractor itself could help? Even one of those portable 10x10 picnic shades might cool them in there.

 

[JMotuzick]

Happy to report the Water seams to be keeping the panting down and none passed today! Shade from trees have covered the tractors for the night. We just had a thunder storm come in and now the sun is back out! Once the rain stops, I’m headed out to check on them but for today I think we are out of the woods. For today...

calling for high 90’s again tomorrow.


no butcher just a bunch of us who like to eat good!
we have a camping weekend planed a week after the “butcher date” hoping to butcher at 8 1/2 weeks.

 

[JMotuzick]

We do have a couple of those “tents”, maybe I’ll put one up in the AM

 

[Parront]

Happy to report the Water seams to be keeping the panting down and none passed today! Shade from trees have covered the tractors for the night. We just had a thunder storm come in and now the sun is back out! Once the rain stops, I’m headed out to check on them but for today I think we are out of the woods. For today...

calling for high 90’s again tomorrow.


no butcher just a bunch of us who like to eat good!
we have a camping weekend planed a week after the “butcher date” hoping to butcher at 8 1/2 weeks.

Might be a couple of those guys need to be done ASAP, if they were mine I would do them when they start having problems. They will be BBQ ready by the weekend if you do them tomorrow!