Dark Red and panting Cornish

[Keno]

I lost a CornishX today that was 5wks old.

I had fans running in coop and it was around 70deg inside. The bird felt warm and was panting and not wanting to move. When I picked it up is when I noticed it was warmer than usual and the skin was a dark red color instead of light flesh color . A few hours later it had expired when I checked on it. I noticed another that was acting similar when I found the dead one. I'm feeding them the starter / broiler combo feed and the first batch of birds did well on it.
If these birds show the dark red and panting is this the heart problems I've read about and will they still be worth processing if caught before expiring ? I have eight of them left and was hoping to wait a couple more weeks to process.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Some people describe it as a purple color. It may very well be heart problems, especially since the whole flock didn't do it at once. The color can be cause by heart trouble, but the panting can be caused by the heat alone.

Is it hot there? What temperature is it? What is the temperature forcasted to be in the following weeks.

If the temperatures are due to jump up even higher in the next few weeks, you may want to consider processing them early to avoid higher losses to stress, overheating, and heart troubles.

It's just my opinion, there is bound to be someone else here that can help.

-Kim

 

[arlee453]

70 degrees is not that hot. I would not think that those temps were a significant factor.

You are getting pretty close to processing age - I'd just process any that show those symptoms earlier than the rest. It's just the nature/breeding of the birds to have cardiac issues young.

 

[Keno]

Its been getting in low 80's but the coop is shaded by trees and I have a couple of fans running during the day and it feels a lot cooler inside coop than out. I'll be keeping a close eye on them. The Jersey Giants and Brahma pullets dont seem to mind at all , they are wandering around outside in the run but cornish dont even bother with coming outside .

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Ah, I didn't read the temperature part of the initial post. LOL. Sorry. It does sound like they are just having heart troubles if you are only in the 70's & 80's. It happens with them, they were designed to die young.

I think it would be fine to process the birds that are starting to look like their heart is failing. Don't process after they are dead. I could be wrong, but it is what I would do.

-Kim