Cornish cross won’t move with tractor

[CedarRanch]

Hey y’all! This is my first year with meat birds. We decided to go with 30 Cornish cross. We had one die randomly at a couple weeks old. Another stopped walking at 5 weeks and then got attacked by a raccoon who reached under the tractor. Another (the smallest of the batch) was sickly and also got attacked & killed. So 3 losses out of 30 birds. I don’t like those numbers, but we ended up putting an electric wire around the tractor. Hopefully we won’t lose anymore. But right now, we are on coming on week six and I have another who doesn’t seem to be able to walk. It’s not even the biggest one we have. Is it just bad genetics? Is this just part of having CC?

But anyway- huge problem we are having which is stressing us out, is that they refuse to move when we move the tractor. They went out at week 4 and it’s been almost 2 weeks. We put the food in the front of the tractor, and some of them come running but about half or more just don’t move. We have to go in and shoo them forward while the other person pulls. But this thing is HEAVY. It’s not easy to move so when my husband pulls he has to try to get a good foot forward with each tug. But some of them are dumb and run straight to the back and then nearly get squished. Even when we pull with the tractor and do a steady, slow pull forward, they will literally lay there and get ran over before they move. Then I have to help them get out. We have wheels on the back that when locked in place brings the tractor a couple of inches off the ground. They will lay there and not move until they are stuck under the 2x4. We’ve tried doing it without the wheels to prevent the gap and they still just sit there and freak out when they get pushed. Or they’ll get stuck under the corner braces. They can all walk, except the one I mentioned earlier. When I get in there they all take off. So it’s not an issue of immobility. How do we fix this? It’s driving us crazy.

 

[FunClucks]

Hey y’all! This is my first year with meat birds. We decided to go with 30 Cornish cross. We had one die randomly at a couple weeks old. Another stopped walking at 5 weeks and then got attacked by a raccoon who reached under the tractor. Another (the smallest of the batch) was sickly and also got attacked & killed. So 3 losses out of 30 birds. I don’t like those numbers, but we ended up putting an electric wire around the tractor. Hopefully we won’t lose anymore. But right now, we are on coming on week six and I have another who doesn’t seem to be able to walk. It’s not even the biggest one we have. Is it just bad genetics? Is this just part of having CC?

But anyway- huge problem we are having which is stressing us out, is that they refuse to move when we move the tractor. They went out at week 4 and it’s been almost 2 weeks. We put the food in the front of the tractor, and some of them come running but about half or more just don’t move. We have to go in and shoo them forward while the other person pulls. But this thing is HEAVY. It’s not easy to move so when my husband pulls he has to try to get a good foot forward with each tug. But some of them are dumb and run straight to the back and then nearly get squished. Even when we pull with the tractor and do a steady, slow pull forward, they will literally lay there and get ran over before they move. Then I have to help them get out. We have wheels on the back that when locked in place brings the tractor a couple of inches off the ground. They will lay there and not move until they are stuck under the 2x4. We’ve tried doing it without the wheels to prevent the gap and they still just sit there and freak out when they get pushed. Or they’ll get stuck under the corner braces. They can all walk, except the one I mentioned earlier. When I get in there they all take off. So it’s not an issue of immobility. How do we fix this? It’s driving us crazy.

Losing 3 out of 30 is actually about expected. And predator losses don't count - so that's 2 out of 30 - those are good numbers so far. Some loss for CX is expected. Having their legs go out and no longer support their bodies is a thing that happens sometimes with CX. Just butcher the bird and move on. Try not to scare them too much with the lawn mower or predators, etc. when they're large or they may get green muscle disease. You can still eat most of the chicken but discard the green affected breast muscle. And don't let them get soaked by the rain - they get hypothermia, come down with pneumonia/respiratory issues and die much quicker than normal chickens.

I'm not at all surprised you're having trouble moving them. That's why I don't raise mine in a tractor. You can try a couple things. Standing where you want them to move away from - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Placing food where they are moving to (also, if they have no food all night, put the food out in the morning and move the tractor then, the morning rush should encompass everyone). CX don't move away from things. Every time I went to turn their mulch in the covered run I raised them in, I used a gravel rake, and had to push the chicken out of the way, then rake the mulch towards me, then push the chicken out the way again to repeat. I used helpers to move more than one chicken, they had shovels and rakes too. Gently, but you really have to push.

You can try and move all the chickens to one side of the tractor, install a physical barrier that will stay vertical and is not connected to the tractor, then move the tractor up until it hits the barrier. Then remove the barrier. an old piece of metal roofing on a few stakes ought to do it. You will still need to physically push all the chickens forward, and may need multiple folks to do this.

Good luck! It's a pain, but you should only have a few weeks left before processing day. And they yield so much more meat than any other variety of chicken. Your freezer and tummy will rejoice once all the work is done. If you want more active birds for about 30% or so less meat, consider Rangers or 3 month broilers, and take a look at Freedom Ranger hatchery offerings. Or just take a different setup approach next time. The first time you raise CX is always the hardest, cause you'll learn and improve your setup each time.