Cornish Cross - Meat Birds

[Grammyloves]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[ozarkchicks]

I posted in this thread earlier about raising my cornish x chick with my other chicks. Well it turned out that he was a roo. I got them as chicks last march. For most of the summer he was very friendly and very fat. Towards late summer and early fall however he got very mean. Before that we would carry him around and he was like a big pet. He loved his hens but he was very mean to humans. He would try to attack everyone all the time. It was very upsetting to us seeing as he had been our friend before that. I have no idea why he started acting like this besides for the fact that he matured. He was killed by a dog last month. In all honesty he was getting so human aggressive that we would have culled him if the dog hadn't have killed him. I know there are always mean roos out there and this might not have been because of his breed. Just thought I'd share my experience with raising one as a pet.

 

[FlowerPower4]

My band teacher used to raise chickens and she said that the meat bird chickens don't have to be eaten and my gram were just keeping the chickens as pets and I got it for Easter and its my favourite chick.

 

[Allears]

We were just discussing this on another thread earlier this morning. I would like to throw in my 2 cents if I may. You will hear many people tell you to do this and do that. Well I am speaking from experience and if others who have actually raised Cornish beyond their life expectancy, please chime in at any time.

I will copy and paste my comments from the other thread. Sorry for the repeat.

Someone who has absolutely no knowledge about chickens "gifted" me with what they thought were "white chickens" 4 years ago. This person was so excited that they had purchased these "white chickens" for me. I asked this person what breed these chickens were and they didn't know. Sooooooooo, as the days went on, I noticed that these little buggars were kinda big and "looked" different". After doing research and calling the feed store where this person purchased these chickens, I was in shock to know that I was caring for Cornish. I was speechless. I knew what they were bred for and I knew that I could not follow through with feeding them to eat them in 6 - 8 weeks.

Raising Cornish as pets is not for everyone. It may not work for everyone, but it worked for me. My girls lay double yolks eggs. I let them free range every day and they eat the same food as the other chickens. I place the feeder a few feet away from them so they have to exercise and walk to get their feed. When I open the chicken yard gates, they come running, like horses at the race track. It is so fun to see them running around like the other chickens.....eating bugs and scratching.

My girls are too big to fly on the roost. I sometimes put them on the roosts, if at coop closing time, their eyes are sparkling with envy to get on the roost. I lift them up and place them on the roost. I have to take them off and place them on the ground the next morning. Sometimes, they just choose to sleep on the ground in their chicken house. I make their ground sleeping arrangements as comfy as possible.

I personally would be very slow at recommending this breed as a "pet". The reason is because it is a careful process that one has to be dedicated to when raising these birds beyond the butcher age. I took my time and studied the breed to find out how I could keep them around longer. Of course there was very little information to no information out there because no one really keeps this breed around a long time. There are a few other people on this forum who have raised Cornish as pets and I am one of them. My girls have an excellent chicken life. Anyone who knows me know that my animals have 5 star status in terms of health, nutrition and living arrangements. I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is what I did.
1. Do not overfeed.
2. Free range as often as possible (daily if you can). Free ranging also promotes exercise. They have to walk and run to get those juicy bugs.
3. Place feeder several feet away from them, so that they have to walk (exercise) to get their food.
4. Feed healthy snacks (fruits & vegetables)
5. Make sure that their living arrangements are functional for their needs. Some cannot fly on roosts at night. They may have to sleep on the floor.
6. Do not place them with roosters. Roosters will try to mate with them. Their legs cannot take the extra rooster weight on them and neither can their stress level.

I can give this information because I have experience in raising Cornish as pets. Please see pic below:

4 year old Cornish (after a very dirty dust bath)

Thanks so much for this info! I thought I had adopted two WLH roo's, until they started laying eggs. They are now four months old and I don't intend to eat them. Yes, they get dirty quite quickly because they REALLY dig into the dirt during their dust bathes

, but nothing a quick wash and blow dry can't fix. They don't roost, so I give them shavings to sleep on and I just clear out the dirtied shavings each day. My birds do not stink. These are pets and I only have two, so it is manageable. They are good natured birds that don't run, they gallop, they are voracios foragers and so good natured and friendly. So far, no serious leg issues, which I assume is because they are free range. No signs of heart issues either.

 

[MysteriaSdrassa]

We were just discussing this on another thread earlier this morning. I would like to throw in my 2 cents if I may. You will hear many people tell you to do this and do that. Well I am speaking from experience and if others who have actually raised Cornish beyond their life expectancy, please chime in at any time.

I will copy and paste my comments from the other thread. Sorry for the repeat.

Someone who has absolutely no knowledge about chickens "gifted" me with what they thought were "white chickens" 4 years ago. This person was so excited that they had purchased these "white chickens" for me. I asked this person what breed these chickens were and they didn't know. Sooooooooo, as the days went on, I noticed that these little buggars were kinda big and "looked" different". After doing research and calling the feed store where this person purchased these chickens, I was in shock to know that I was caring for Cornish. I was speechless. I knew what they were bred for and I knew that I could not follow through with feeding them to eat them in 6 - 8 weeks.

Raising Cornish as pets is not for everyone. It may not work for everyone, but it worked for me. My girls lay double yolks eggs. I let them free range every day and they eat the same food as the other chickens. I place the feeder a few feet away from them so they have to exercise and walk to get their feed. When I open the chicken yard gates, they come running, like horses at the race track. It is so fun to see them running around like the other chickens.....eating bugs and scratching.

My girls are too big to fly on the roost. I sometimes put them on the roosts, if at coop closing time, their eyes are sparkling with envy to get on the roost. I lift them up and place them on the roost. I have to take them off and place them on the ground the next morning. Sometimes, they just choose to sleep on the ground in their chicken house. I make their ground sleeping arrangements as comfy as possible.

I personally would be very slow at recommending this breed as a "pet". The reason is because it is a careful process that one has to be dedicated to when raising these birds beyond the butcher age. I took my time and studied the breed to find out how I could keep them around longer. Of course there was very little information to no information out there because no one really keeps this breed around a long time. There are a few other people on this forum who have raised Cornish as pets and I am one of them. My girls have an excellent chicken life. Anyone who knows me know that my animals have 5 star status in terms of health, nutrition and living arrangements. I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is what I did.
1. Do not overfeed.
2. Free range as often as possible (daily if you can). Free ranging also promotes exercise. They have to walk and run to get those juicy bugs.
3. Place feeder several feet away from them, so that they have to walk (exercise) to get their food.
4. Feed healthy snacks (fruits & vegetables)
5. Make sure that their living arrangements are functional for their needs. Some cannot fly on roosts at night. They may have to sleep on the floor.
6. Do not place them with roosters. Roosters will try to mate with them. Their legs cannot take the extra rooster weight on them and neither can their stress level.

kuntrygirl pretty much says it all,,, I would add to point 3.... place waterer several feet away from feeder,,, this also forces them to excersise,,,,, otherwise they are known to just sit close to food and water and not excersise
these birds will turn out to be not only big birds,, but HUGE,, i have seen some go the size of small turkeys
also,, don't confuse standard white cornish with the cornish cross,,, the standard white will get nowhere near as big as a cross, nor will they have the problems associated with crosses
finally, although you can get some good years out of cornish crosses,, i have kept a few over the years,, usually smaller ones that were on the tail end of butchering that just ended up with the laying flock for some reason or other,,, don't expect them to live nearly as long as any standard chicken

 

[Allears]

My girls. 5.2kg and 4.9kg at four months. They are on diet now. Cornish Rock I was told. Beautiful, sweet-nature. They are part of a mixed flock and everyone gets along very nicely. They all share the garage when the weather it gets too wet to leave them out. 1 embden, 1 muscovey x, 1 yellow billed duck and 14 egyptian geese goslings

 

[Free Feather]

My girls. 5.2kg and 4.9kg at four months. They are on diet now. Cornish Rock I was told. Beautiful, sweet-nature. They are part of a mixed flock and everyone gets along very nicely. They all share the garage when the weather it gets too wet to leave them out. 1 embden, 1 muscovey x, 1 yellow billed duck and 14 egyptian geese goslings :

Were they fed like a meat bird before? They look pretty good.
I have had several that were fed like normal before I got them as pets. My current pullet is over seven months old now. I had sent all her friends to a sanctuary a month after I bought them off of a guy selling them live for eating. I had them on a diet, free ranging, and they looked pretty good - two were the size of yours at five months, and two were regular chicken sized. Those four went to the sanctuary, and I kept one that had been bit by a dog and was badly skinned and had chunks missing, then got flystrike. I got her healed up and named her Foxy. She is the size of a regular hen, but is really big-boned, with far apart legs and a thick, muscular neck and body - no fat. She can run and fly and the works, but she has bad vision. I think it is from her injuries. Her restricted diet is keeping her from sexually maturing, though. Her comb is small and light pink. I just started increasing her feed today. I had been giving her just a couple tablespoons of grower a day, sometimes less, sometimes none at all to keep her very active and slender. Now that it is cooling down and there is not much to forage for, I will probably give her a fourth of a cup of layer with birdseed in the evenings. Sometimes I keep her with the rest of the flock, but she does not much like it because they are not nice to her because I guess she is ugly to them, and she is not the brightest. I will probably put her in with the other hens this Winter, depending on how much she hates it. I am not sure what I will do to keep her active, though.

 

[Allears]

I've only had chickens for 4 months (city girl) so I just threw out corn, like you see in the old Westerns

They got pasta and mealworms as treats now and then. They free range for the rest.
You were so fortunate to get Foxy healed of those injuries, I hope she finds some company with your hens this winter. I'd like to hear that she's doing well come Summer.

Your hens may be jealous because they know what a beautiful bird she will become

 

[FloridaChick45]

We were just discussing this on another thread earlier this morning. I would like to throw in my 2 cents if I may. You will hear many people tell you to do this and do that. Well I am speaking from experience and if others who have actually raised Cornish beyond their life expectancy, please chime in at any time.

I will copy and paste my comments from the other thread. Sorry for the repeat.

Someone who has absolutely no knowledge about chickens "gifted" me with what they thought were "white chickens" 4 years ago. This person was so excited that they had purchased these "white chickens" for me. I asked this person what breed these chickens were and they didn't know. Sooooooooo, as the days went on, I noticed that these little buggars were kinda big and "looked" different". After doing research and calling the feed store where this person purchased these chickens, I was in shock to know that I was caring for Cornish. I was speechless. I knew what they were bred for and I knew that I could not follow through with feeding them to eat them in 6 - 8 weeks.

Raising Cornish as pets is not for everyone. It may not work for everyone, but it worked for me. My girls lay double yolks eggs. I let them free range every day and they eat the same food as the other chickens. I place the feeder a few feet away from them so they have to exercise and walk to get their feed. When I open the chicken yard gates, they come running, like horses at the race track. It is so fun to see them running around like the other chickens.....eating bugs and scratching.

My girls are too big to fly on the roost. I sometimes put them on the roosts, if at coop closing time, their eyes are sparkling with envy to get on the roost. I lift them up and place them on the roost. I have to take them off and place them on the ground the next morning. Sometimes, they just choose to sleep on the ground in their chicken house. I make their ground sleeping arrangements as comfy as possible.

I personally would be very slow at recommending this breed as a "pet". The reason is because it is a careful process that one has to be dedicated to when raising these birds beyond the butcher age. I took my time and studied the breed to find out how I could keep them around longer. Of course there was very little information to no information out there because no one really keeps this breed around a long time. There are a few other people on this forum who have raised Cornish as pets and I am one of them. My girls have an excellent chicken life. Anyone who knows me know that my animals have 5 star status in terms of health, nutrition and living arrangements. I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is what I did.
1. Do not overfeed.
2. Free range as often as possible (daily if you can). Free ranging also promotes exercise. They have to walk and run to get those juicy bugs.
3. Place feeder several feet away from them, so that they have to walk (exercise) to get their food.
4. Feed healthy snacks (fruits & vegetables)
5. Make sure that their living arrangements are functional for their needs. Some cannot fly on roosts at night. They may have to sleep on the floor.
6. Do not place them with roosters. Roosters will try to mate with them. Their legs cannot take the extra rooster weight on them and neither can their stress level.

I can give this information because I have experience in raising Cornish as pets. Please see pic below:

4 year old Cornish (after a very dirty dust bath)

 

[FloridaChick45]

We were just discussing this on another thread earlier this morning. I would like to throw in my 2 cents if I may. You will hear many people tell you to do this and do that. Well I am speaking from experience and if others who have actually raised Cornish beyond their life expectancy, please chime in at any time.

I will copy and paste my comments from the other thread. Sorry for the repeat.

Someone who has absolutely no knowledge about chickens "gifted" me with what they thought were "white chickens" 4 years ago. This person was so excited that they had purchased these "white chickens" for me. I asked this person what breed these chickens were and they didn't know. Sooooooooo, as the days went on, I noticed that these little buggars were kinda big and "looked" different". After doing research and calling the feed store where this person purchased these chickens, I was in shock to know that I was caring for Cornish. I was speechless. I knew what they were bred for and I knew that I could not follow through with feeding them to eat them in 6 - 8 weeks.

Raising Cornish as pets is not for everyone. It may not work for everyone, but it worked for me. My girls lay double yolks eggs. I let them free range every day and they eat the same food as the other chickens. I place the feeder a few feet away from them so they have to exercise and walk to get their feed. When I open the chicken yard gates, they come running, like horses at the race track. It is so fun to see them running around like the other chickens.....eating bugs and scratching.

My girls are too big to fly on the roost. I sometimes put them on the roosts, if at coop closing time, their eyes are sparkling with envy to get on the roost. I lift them up and place them on the roost. I have to take them off and place them on the ground the next morning. Sometimes, they just choose to sleep on the ground in their chicken house. I make their ground sleeping arrangements as comfy as possible.

I personally would be very slow at recommending this breed as a "pet". The reason is because it is a careful process that one has to be dedicated to when raising these birds beyond the butcher age. I took my time and studied the breed to find out how I could keep them around longer. Of course there was very little information to no information out there because no one really keeps this breed around a long time. There are a few other people on this forum who have raised Cornish as pets and I am one of them. My girls have an excellent chicken life. Anyone who knows me know that my animals have 5 star status in terms of health, nutrition and living arrangements. I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is what I did.
1. Do not overfeed.
2. Free range as often as possible (daily if you can). Free ranging also promotes exercise. They have to walk and run to get those juicy bugs.
3. Place feeder several feet away from them, so that they have to walk (exercise) to get their food.
4. Feed healthy snacks (fruits & vegetables)
5. Make sure that their living arrangements are functional for their needs. Some cannot fly on roosts at night. They may have to sleep on the floor.
6. Do not place them with roosters. Roosters will try to mate with them. Their legs cannot take the extra rooster weight on them and neither can their stress level.

I can give this information because I have experience in raising Cornish as pets. Please see pic below:

4 year old Cornish (after a very dirty dust bath)

I'm new at this so I hope I'm doing it right. I adopted 5 Cornish crosses after the processing stage and could use some advice on caring for them. I've had them for 3 wks and tried researching info about them but couldn't find hardly anything past the processing stage. I have 2 roosters and 3 hens, I can tell 1 hen is younger than all the rest. I realized pretty quickly they don't walk far or very much at all so I had been taking food (scratch grains and calcium pellets) out to them and making sure keeping water filled up. After about a week and a half I put them in a closed pen so they would be safe from the predators in the woods surrounding my property, it's a large pen plenty of room for them to wander around and attached to an outdoor run that I open in the morning and close off at night, AGAIN, protection. But I notice they are breathing very hard and fast and I don't know how much I should be feeding them because they are always hungry and I can't stand feeling like I'm not feeding them enough while trying not to feed them too much.. if you have any advice I would love to hear it!