effects of chemicals on meat chickens

[tingle]

I have recently realised my dream of relocating to Egypt,I couldnt wait to start a flock and have visited the local souk for the past 2 weeks and bought in total 20 young fayoumi.I have always liked the fayoumi but havnt come across any in England but last week I bought 4 hens and a cockerel from the meat seller,these chickens are pure white and look like an orpington type I am led to believe that they arent kept as such and are only bought to butcher for the evening meal they were very heavy and had dificulty walking due to their weight I would guess they are around 12/14 weeks from what I am led to believe (the language dificulty) they have been fed chemicals to get them to this grotesqe weight and stature but this last week they have slimmed down and are happy freeranging my intention is to breed with them but I have been told they are only for eating and if I dont butcher them they will still die they seem a lot happy and healthier than when I bought them.Assuming that they thrive is there a possibility that they could be infertile because of the feeding regime they received before I bought them?Does anybody have any experience or knowledge of these white meat birds Thanks in advance

 

[patandchickens]

I do not know about "in Egypt" but in Europe or North America I would instantly say you've simply got garden-variety meat chickens, so-called CornishX (Cornish Rock, lots of other names). Yes, they are like sumo wrestlers

, but they are what produce supermarket chicken type carcasses. Normal chickens produce very 'rubber chicken' looking, scrawny, carcasses. If they ARE cornishX, then they do not generally live long due to heart and leg problems from their size; some people manage to keep some for pets, at least for a year or two, by severely restricting feed intake and encouraging activity. I do not know if this works to keep them alive longer if they were initially grown to 'eating weight' in the normal way, though.

Honestly I have no idea how common CornishX meat chickens are in Egypt, but I would bet that probably *is* what you've got. In which case they do not get chemicals to get them to that size/shape, it is just how they're bred to grow.

Good luck, have fun, welcome to BYC,

Pat