Cornish rock

[Theaseelrooster1981]

I'm here to ask if theres a way to keep cornish rocks alive because I wont kill them I'll just keep them in my flock,does anyone know the lifespan of a cornish rock?

 

[sourland]

By limiting feed and increasing activity some have gotten hens to live as much as a year +. Cockerels die much sooner.

 

[aart]

I'm here to ask if theres a way to keep cornish rocks alive because I wont kill them I'll just keep them in my flock,does anyone know the lifespan of a cornish rock?

Do you mean a Cornish Cross meat bird?

 

[Theaseelrooster1981]

Yes

 

[wyoDreamer]

Not sure why you would wan tot buy a meat bird if you are not going to eat it. They eat more food that regular chickens do so they would be more expensive to keep. They also poop more since they eat more. But, to each their own. They are pretty birds and mine have all been friendly and calm.
By limiting their food and letting them free-range, you may be able to extend their lifetime some what. But, they are food hogs. If you have them with other breeds, they will eat as much of the food as they can. If you let them get too big they will have leg problems - I had one break a leg when it jumped off a cinderblock (4" of the block sticking out of the bedding).
If you raise them with other breeds of chicks, they will learn to be active and search for food and free-range. In a coop/run situation, they will tend to lay down at the feeder and eat.

 

[Theaseelrooster1981]

I'm only planning to butcher the roosters and in only leaving the hens

 

[wyoDreamer]

They don't lay very well. I had one that was laying and she laid 2-3 eggs a week for 2 months then got egg-bound and died. They do tend to have reproductive issues - part of that is their weight though.
Good luck with your project.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The Cornish Rock meat hybrid is bred to be butchered at around 6 to 8 weeks. They are not bred to live longer. Basically that is their lifespan.

You can get them to live longer by restricting their feed. You need to find that feed level where they don't put on so much weight they die but can still be reasonably healthy. A lot of research goes into how to feed and manage the parents and grandparents of the Cornish Rock meat bird. The parents and grandparents are not the Cornish Rocks but they have to have those genetics, just not in the same combinations as the hybrids.

You don't have the advantage of that research. To keep then alive you have to guess how much to restrict their feed. You are guessing on how to keep them on the brink of starvation where they will always be hungry but not starving them to the point of sickness. Having them forage for most of their food will probably work out better for you than if you providing everything if you have good forage.

It's your decision. We all have our own values. You need to follow yours, not mine or anyone else's. Just yours. Same thing with goals. Follow yours, not mine or anyone else's.

If you are trying to breed them to a dual purpose rooster to improve the meat qualities of your flock, there are people in the meat bird section of this forum with experience doing that. You might start a thread over there asking for that specific help.

@wyoDreamer I wonder if your egg laying issues didn't have more to do with diet than heredity. You would think that a commercial flock who's job it is to lay hatching eggs would be bred to lay well. Not necessarily large eggs but plenty of hatching eggs. That's the parent and grandparent flocks. I'd think some of that research would be how to feed them to get the maximum number of eggs. We don't have the advantage of that research.

 

[Theaseelrooster1981]

I'm planning on free ranging them so they eat healthy foods instead of special feed