Cornish Rock chicks from TSC

[mdulik]

I was pulling chicks from the bins at TSC and took 10 Cornish Rock chicks. (I liked the picture on the box..

) Ive had them about a week and a half and then heard that they are a "Broiler" chicken. Does that mean that they are the hybrid ones that are used for meat birds? if so, any help on this would be appriciated.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Yes and they are not pet chickens at all. They will die if they are kept too long.

 

[OSUman]

You need to hold feed from them for 6 hours of the day for them not to get to fat that they kill themselves.

 

[mdulik]

Also, how long is too long to keep them? If I have to use them for meat birds, how old should I do the deed?

 

[Hippie Chickie]

Freezer camp day is at about 8 weeks. head over to the meat birds section to read all that you will ever need to know on that subject. Home grown birds are truly yummy.

 

[jossanne]

7 or 8 weeks is the time to butcher, if they're fed a high-protein feed, like turkey mash. If you don't withhold feed for 12 hours of the day, they'll eat themselves to death and they'll go down on their legs. Their legs won't be strong enough to hold up their quickly growing bodies.

If you feed them a lower protein feed and tend them carefully, you don't have to butcher them. Many people keep them around as long as possible, even a year or two. Use the search on here and you'll find a lot of posts about it.