Cornish Cross, possibly, has a hard time standing up.

[ajaldridge]

I am going to attempt to upload three pictures. My mother got some baby chickens for my son from tractor supply and he picked two out for me that I had been looking at the week before. We thought originally they were leghorns, but now it seems they are most likely Cornish Cross. They both are growing much faster than the other chicks are and are so much bigger than them. Scully is the smaller one and can move around but Mulder is having a hard time walking. They are approximately eight weeks old, I am guessing on this, and we noticed the change a couple weeks ago. She can stand up, but won't stand up for long and if she leans the slightest bit in any direction she will fall down. I have checked her legs out and they are fine. The only thing I can figure is that She is so big she has a hard time holding her body weight up. I say she, but in this case the SHE could very well end up being a HE. I am not sure how to tell the difference at this point. The top picture is shortly after we got them, the bottom picture is the white chicken in the back and is sitting down and looking for bugs to eat. It's hard to get her still long enough for a picture unless she is curled up sleeping in my blanket in my lap and that won't do much good here. For a chicken that can't stand long Mulder can definately move pretty quick. Does anyone have any ideas on how I might help her? I don't want to lose her and am currently working on building a coop just for her and Pip Pip, the black chick in the top picture. Mulder and Pip Pip doesn't do to good seperated, found that out the hard way, and Pip Pip is so small that I figure it won't hurt to have just the two of them alone.

 

[CMV]

CXs are known for outgrowing their legs. There is nothing you can do about it. These are meat birds and yours are at the prime age for processing. Your mother has opened an unfortunate can of worms by purchasing the wrong birds. She probably didn't know any better, but...really?!?! CXs are a strain that is highly selected for desirable characteristics in growing out animals for slaughter. They have a very limited life expectancy because they eat like horses to grow out as fast as possible. They need to produce a good sized body with few feathers. The unfortunate downside of this is that their organs are mush, especially their hearts. They are exceptionally fragile birds for all their size. They can have no stress (not too hot, not too cold, no startling, no illness) or they drop dead from a heart attack. If their hearts don't go then they get too large for their legs to carry them. Rarely, people have manged to keep them alive for a year or so, but that was through careful planning with diet and exercise. Your bird has already passed the point where it can be managed.

You are not going to like my recommendation, but get rid of them and replace them with some leghorns. These CXs are going to break your son's heart.