Cornish Rock chick - raising as pet?

[CLSranch]

If you just give them a small amount of feed thrown out on the ground. Make them walk to get it and not have to much. They can live much longer. Rocks will sit next to a feeder and not move except to waddle to the waterer. Until they cannot move or they stroke out. So you want to make sure it can't reach the other chickens feed.

 

[HeiHeisMom]

It’ll probably die of heart failure at an early age seeing as how they are fully grown at 6-8 weeks. Not a good breed for a pet.

 

[HeiHeisMom]

Not true.
Yes if left to feed 24 hrs a day.
But with right exercise and food regiment Broilers can live productive happy, although shorter, lives.
I have a 1 year old hen who lays double yolkers consistantly, she lays about every 24-26 hours.
She runs, jumps, flies, roosts with all the larger hens and her only problems are over saturating on water ( she's a drinker), and not understanding why she cannot be a shoulder chicken! Lol

 

[HeiHeisMom]

Found this on an old page. Might not live long but here’s something you can do.

Love love love!!!

 

[HeiHeisMom]

While I would never choose to raise CCXs for the fact they are what thry are, meaties, I did find myself loving four beautiful birds that weren't the Orpingtons we thought we purchased!
Any way we have one gal left and, yes, she has become a pet.
She's almost 13 months old and still a young at heart, spry, healthy sweetheart.

"Who says I can't be a shoulder chick?!"
She definitely is Queen of the coop...of the farm and of the house when she can sucker her way inside!

 

[HeiHeisMom]

Our suprizes:

Queen Reese

Reese (left) and Allison next to cushions.

Penny (sitting) and HeiHei the King of the coop.
HeiHei was a wonderful Cockerel, although he only lived there five months of age he took care of all the hens and wasn't afraid of anything!
We Nick named him the Hulk because he was 18.7 lbs his final vet visit, and would growl with wings forward and down at the big dogs.
He was a love roo.
He enjoyed sitting in laps and being petted.
He was still a youngster though.
Miss my HeiHei

Napping after a bath with his favorite pink primate.

 

[HeiHeisMom]

IvI' got to tell their story again! Sad, but sweet...

HeiHei chose Penny as his Queen and rarely left her side.
They both lived to 23 weeks.
Penny died of a heart attack during early morning hours last July.
HeiHei sat down beside her and placed his neck across hers and cried...yes, cried, the most mournful sounds.
He died of a brokenheart two hours later...he mourned his beautiful Queen Penny to death.
They were a wonderful pair and will remain King and Queen of Dos Hensley Chook Coop as long as it stands.
We buried them together under a Persimmon tree ( they loved Persimmons).
I fly my Hufflepuff Banner High today in memory of my precious angel Chooks.

 

[Iguanahunter]

I have three girls that free range every day, and they are as happy as any other chicken in my farm. They love to jump, run, "fly" with the ducks, and although they weigh about 6 to 8 pounds, jump off of the roost and scare the others. I feed them once a day about a liter of food for around 30 chickens/roos and they free range all day. The food is enough to fulfill their base nutritional needs, but not enough to fill them, and it forces them to forage all day, helping them maintain the weight. They are about 6 months old, and have stopped gaining weight once I let them roam. They are very food-motivated and will do anything to gorge themselves, so leaving food out in a feeder is a big no-no. My advice is to raise it on a very limited feed regimen, and have lots of space for it to roam and play. It should have a place to dust-bathe and shade to get out of the sun. For food, get it on low-protein, high nutrient feed, 14-16% would be best. This helps against excessive weight gain. You need to monitor the weight and adjust the food accordingly, and, if possible, feed it a raw diet rich in nutritious veggies and grains. Here's a picture of one of my girls after playing in the dust.

 

[Lyndssxo08]

I had a meat bird hen that we kept and she lived to be two or three. I think she was similar to a cornish rock, meant to grow very fast. She was very heavy and I don't know that she laid to many eggs but she had a happy life.
She did die of a heart attack though.
We also had a rooster that was the same kind of meat bird. he lived to be at least two or three also, but he was so mean that we had to kill him. I'm pretty sure he would have lived longer if we hadn't. He would do all kinds of bad stuff, the biggest thing I remember is him chasing my 3-5 year old brother around.
Good luck with your chick, I hope he/she has a good life, even if it's only two or three years long. Do you know if it's a he or she?

That's good to hear!! So sorry she died of a heart attack though I'm not sure if its a he or she though! Thank you!!

 

[Lyndssxo08]

There's a sanctuary I know that has several cornish rocks. They live because they are on daily heart medication I believe.

hmmm I will have to look into that! Thank you!