CX runt ?

[SteveH]

I had three CX that were smaller than the others as day olds . One can no longer be identified , having caught up to its hatchmates . Another stayed small , went down on its legs 2 weeks ago , but is back up and still staying fat and slowly growing . The third has the typical heavy breasted CX build but is far less than half the size of the other CX . The one on good legs weighs much more than but is otherwise the same size as my EEs of the same age . I've noticed both of these small CX are still in down over their head and neck at 5 weeks while the rest are all feathered in those areas . Are they just lacking the fast growth gene of the CX or will the healthy one never grow out to the giant size ?
The crippled chick will be processed if it ever grows big enough ; the full sized will be used to breed . I'm wondering if the healthy runt should be culled or used to breed to see if it produces slower growing but heavy breasted chicks . { If I decide to breed it the chicks would be segregated from the other's }

 

[Bossroo]

These small chicks carry defective genes and are weak and infirm as well. Mother nature eliminates the weak and infirm on a regular basis from the breeding pool. So too, I would never use them in any breeding program if I wanted to harvest a reasonable amount of meat as one of my goals.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Yeah , I originally planned on culling the three smallest . The crip was eliminated last night ; looks like they were sleeping under the shade cloth when a storm dropped over two inches of rain real quick last night [ three and 3/4 total ] . They had moved , now soaked , to under the tarp roof by the time I went out to check on them around midnight . I gave them dry bedding in the corner they were huddled in and at the time the crip was on the outer edge ; looks like it got under the others and suffocated . The others were dry and healthy this morning .

So too, I would never use them in any breeding program if I wanted to harvest a reasonable amount of meat as one of my goals.

As far as a reasonable amount of meat , the one small bird now probably weighs half again to twice as much as the straight cornish [ hatchery type ] and has the same broad breast , thighs , and thick shanks as the other CX ; just growing slow like the EE and straight cornish . If the hatchery offered White Rocks I would think they slipped one in by mistake , though I doubt you could get one this meaty . Useing it to breed certainly would not likely increase the speed of growth of the crossbreds , and I do want to substantially increase both speed of growth and size of the crossbreds .​

 

[Bossroo]

Steve... you answered your own question, now invite it to dinner.

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
Actually , and depending on how it continues to develope , its probably exactly what some others are trying to develope : a Cornish body type taking 16 to 18 weeks to grow out . I believe I'll keep it