Did Tractor Supply give me turkey?

[nuthatched]

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Cornish X cockerel, you have to process him soon or give him to someone who will, he's pretty big. I'm sorry

 

[brit1454]

Thank you all! That makes sense and I spent some time looking at the cornish hens and they have the same sporadic feather patterns. I sent my 8 year old to the brooder for that photo so it’s not the best haha. Now wishing they were turkeys!!

 

[FunClucks]

Thank you all! That makes sense and I spent some time looking at the cornish hens and they have the same sporadic feather patterns. I sent my 8 year old to the brooder for that photo so it’s not the best haha. Now wishing they were turkeys!!

You can process them anywhere from 5 weeks to 10 weeks. I recommend no later than 8 weeks or they could die from heart attacks and such prior to processing, and by 5-6 weeks they make a great roaster. They just aren't bred to live long healthy lives. Even the ones folks try and restrict the feed and force them to free range to make them live longer rarely manage more than 1-1.5 years.

I'd recommend not naming them if you're going to process them, and consider feeding them meat bird food. There's lots of good info out there on how to feed cornish cross - they are quite different from eggers and need 3x the water, ~3x the food, and make 3x the poop. Might need to brood them separately from your eggers due to chick size and food aggression - I'd keep an eye on that. The Meat Bird forum has a wealth of info if you're interested. I processed 21 in March and they are delicious! Good luck!