Did I get meat hens!?

[Lady of McCamley]

Unfortunately I agree with the others. They are commercial Cornish X meat birds bred selectively to come to table at 8 to 12 weeks which means they have been selected for genes that makes them grow very quickly (too quickly) with over sized breasts at the sake of their health. Which means they often grow so large they cannot walk well, have heart problems, and other internal organ problems.

I know it's disappointing, and boo on the people who sold them to you as white layers...hopefully they were simply misinformed rather than trying to be deceitful.

You've gotten good advice if you desire to try to keep them, but you will have to plan for an early demise for them all as the health problems will overtake them.

It may be kinder to simply let someone else process them and donate the meat to a soup kitchen if you cannot bring yourself to eat them.

If you want good natured white layers, look at getting Delawares or Light Sussex or White Rocks. They will be good natured birds that will grow into fine layers for you and you won't have all the health problems you will have with these poor birds.

Lady of McCamley

 

[Ghenri]

I love my birds and would hate to part with them. They were support to be white rocks I think, NOT meat birds. These were really helpful posts, I just thought they might be overweight white rocks, but I guess that's out of the picture. I have grown very attached to them and don't know what I'll do know. But some of them are starting to show leg and breathing problems, I don't want them to suffer. Thank you everybody for your kind supportive advice. I will be calling the place where I got them to see what they have have to say about it.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

I love my birds and would hate to part with them. They were support to be white rocks I think, NOT meat birds. These were really helpful posts, I just thought they might be overweight white rocks, but I guess that's out of the picture. I have grown very attached to them and don't know what I'll do know. But some of them are starting to show leg and breathing problems, I don't want them to suffer. Thank you everybody for your kind supportive advice. I will be calling the place where I got them to see what they have have to say about it.

As sad as it is, I personally would have them processed before they slowly die. If you can't bring yourself to eat them, look into using a USDA inspected processor, and then you can donate the meat to a soup kitchen. Then they'll do some good rather than being waste.

(I don't know the rules for donating meat--I know some hunters donate deer carcasses, etc--so you might want to check if meat donation is possible. I know that you can sell the meat after it's been processed by a USDA inspected facility, but you can't sell it if the facility isn't inspected.)

 

[aghiowa]

cornishX

 

[Ghenri]

Thank you so much for your help. I will look in to what I can do for them. I was hoping that they were just overweight white rocks. Your comments were helpful

 

[aoxa]

They do look like cornish cross, meat birds. There have been threads here where folks have raised them as pets or bred them, but they seem to max out at around a year, even with limited feed and free ranging. It can be really hard when you've gotten so attached, but you should start deciding how to handle things if/when they start to fail (actually, everyone who owns chickens should have a contingency plan for putting an ill or injured bird down....). It's a far better gift to your pet to give it a humane death than a slow death by chf/suffocation, which seems to happen with these big girls a lot.

Delisha on here has 3 year old CX hens. She is very strict on feed.

I am trying it, but even with restricted feed, at 15 weeks they are HUGE. I'm going to have to do an intervention here.. lol

 

[aoxa]

OP: you should PM Delisha and ask how exactly to bring them back to a healthy weight. You want to definitely cut back on feed. Even if they are screaming they are starving> CX do that.. even if they are full..

you can keep them alive. They won't live as long as heritage birds, and the feed conversion ratio is terrible for egg layers, but they are such sweet girls. If you can lean them out, they will have a great life.

 

[delisha]

Your birds are beautiful..first
Your birds are a little fat ..second and it can be fixed very easy
I raise rocks and cornish to an older age..they are both meat birds.


This is what you have..a rock..
Cornish are much wider in the legs and have thick thick legs

If you had a cornish with free feeding they would be 20lbs by now
Can you keep them for years? ..yes you can..both breeds. Cornish do not live for a long time even with strict feeding. They gain weigh even with free range exclusively. They are genitally engineered to do so.


this is a cornish over view of A 5 year old hen

2 year old rooster



the chicks they produce


I need to know where you live and the amount of space they have to forage..I have to do research of your area
What are you presently feeding?

your feed dish needs to be put up to where your other birds have free access and the rocks do not. They are too fat to fly so put your feed up on something like a picnic table
rocks are also a meat bird. They eventually will get up on the table, but for now make sure they can't.

Your rocks can live a healthy life for years. They are young and can get to a better weight with a little work on your part.

You will need to make them work for feed

http://www.chickenhuggers.com/products/treats-chickens/chicken-treat-ball

I have strung vegetables on my fence to make them jump to get it.



restrict treats to vegetables/greens and raw meats

no more BOSS..
before giving treats do research on the fat content.
greens are better..like cucumbers/spinach/oregano..you get the idea

 

[delisha]

as far as egg laying..be grateful the eggs are small. Your birds abdominal cavity's are filled with fat and a large egg would get stuck and you would have birds with egg peritonitis. Think small egg until you get them to a good weight.

You can do it!

 

[Ghenri]

If I did get them on a diet would they still be in pain from breathing or walking problems? I don't want them to suffer but getting them to a healthy size would be great. How did you do it? If you can give me some steps or tips that would be great! Was the chicken in the first picture a meat bird? She looked very healthy! Thanks