The only ones that tight featheredMiniechickenmama, Of your flocks, are the cornish the only hard feather breed? I think they would use more calories/energy to maintain normal body heat, even more to fight an infection than the fluffy soft feathered birds. Just a thought?
I have also run this by the breeder I got them from. The Standards, it seems can just have some issues, one being that they sometimes don't have the strongest immune system. In a way, they are an extreme breed, so with that is always some undesirable traits to have to suffer through. I have culled weaker birds and thought I had the strongest, healthiest ones to use for breeding, but maybe they weren't. The good news is I still have breeding stock. The better news, I have others who are not as good of Cornish, but are something I can add in and work with the bring in some hybrid vigor, so to speak, and maybe can help make my offspring stronger. I may need to work a few years with those birds, but I have time and the culls are well worth eating.
In cutting the birds up, I also noticed that their hearts seemed a bit larger than I have seen in other birds, and there was a lot of fat around the hearts, although, I didn't see any sign of damage to the organs. I don't mind learning lessons, but why I have to learn them like this? It is just tough to swallow sometimes.
Thanks everyone. It is good to have folks with these birds to discuss these matters with.