Experiment Gone Wrong

[BjaJra826]

I have a cornish cross named Cream that my daughter had to have. Because she is such a gentle giant I though we could let her live with my egg layers and see if she lays. We are just past the 6 month mark mow, and my RIR is trearing her up. Cream is not laying and has not shown any signs, but she keeps trying to roost in the nesting boxes. My layers are not tolerating this. She has lost most of her tail feathers and a few wing feathers. I have been covering her wounds in blue hen healer, and we were doing prettu good. Until last night that is. Now the layers have torn all but 3 of her tail feathers out and torn her tail up pretty good. Cream is easily 3 times the size of the layers but won't defend herself. I currently have no other place for her to go. If I cull her, can we eat her with the injuries she sustained or do I need to feed her to our dogs/throw the whole carcass away? I just feel like keeping her alive longer is not in her best interest anymore( her weight is starting to cause leg issues as well). I hate to lose her as she is a very sweet chicken, but I would feel better if her death resulted in some good.

 

[Amc29]

My understanding of cornish cross is that they really aren't intended to live very long. They are butchered around 8 weeks, and can develop significant leg problems and heart problems. She is probably roosting in the nest box because she is too heavy to get herself up any higher. They can live longer, but only you can really determine the quality of life she is having. I have seen people write about how they have ones that have lived to two years, but I believe that is the exception rather than the rule. Granted, I don't have any personal experience. Best wishes to you in whatever you decide going forward <3

 

[sylviethecochin]

So long as the wound is fresh and uninfected, she's perfectly safe to eat. I would cut off the tail.

Good luck with whatever it is that you decide to do.

 

[BjaJra826]

Well, after all her wounds healed and itvhad thawed we decided to let her oyt in the run while I cleaned out the winter's deep litter. In that 2 hours my RIR torn her wing open again, despute having been in a cage in the run the whole time she healed. It was then that I realized that she was never going to be accepted into the flock, and her quality of life wasn't great living in a dog cage. After alot of talking to our kids we decided it was her time to go.. We culled her, plycjed her, and cleaned the carcass. Other than the fresh wound she was in amazing shape. We ended up eating everything but the wing with the fresh wound. After dressing she weighed 8.5 lbs, and was wonderful for Sunday supper. Thanks again to everyone. After eating her, my kids are now on board with raising out own meat, so it was a major win!

 

[cleoandtheflock]

It is your choice but she sounds like a sweet little hen and I think she would chose to live
If the other hens aren’t excepting her than you could keep her in a dog crate in the run with them until she is accepted
How are her wounds doing

 

[BjaJra826]

I got her cleaned up. She still looks awful. And the stress of getting cleaned up has her panting pretty bad. She was slowly integrated and was accepted until the layers started laying again a month ago. Her wing is worse than I thought before I cleaned it. Her tail is pretty torn. No infection yet, as it just happened last night/this morning. I know she has lived a long life for her breed. And that she was well cared for and loved. My small cage has 2 week old chickens in it right now, and she is violent towards them. On the other side, she is eating , drinking, havibg normal bowel movements, and is currently preening herself.

Trying to think of our options now. Thank you everyone for you advice!

 

[Cluckerzfamilyfarm]

It being a cross.....its time.. just my opinion

 

[CoturnixComplex]

We decided to watch her in the house overnight and decide on the am. By the morning her wounds were scabbing over, she was eating and drinking, and pooping just fine. We found an old dog cage and put it in the run, the isolated her in it. That way the other birds have a view of her but can't cannibalize her. After isolating her I noticed her holding her weight much better. Her eyes look brighter too. It may be for selfish reasons but for now I am gonna give her a chance. I know they don't breed true but I was hoping to cross breed her to make slightly smaller but home-hatched meat birds if she can tolerate being bred. Again, thank you to everyone for your help and comments. It means alot to me to have support.

I'm glad to hear she's doing better.

Be prepared for the fact that you've just kicked the bucket down the road. As others have stated, health problems caused by her weight and genetic background are likely going to take her before 2 years of age (and probably even before then by a good bit). The time until then is likely to be painful for her. She may need medication to manage joint damage if you choose to try to keep her as long as possible.

Sorry you've landed in this situation. Quite a few people have when they've fallen in love with cornish cross hens or broad breasted turkeys (same deal with them). I wish stores were better about educating people about the breeds.

 

[BjaJra826]

Glad to help! Our flock is better for it. I ended up having to isolate my agressive RIR for almost 2 months before she got knocked to the bottom of the adult pecking order. She got solitary for killing a juvenile chicken. So far her agression has not come back, but if it does we are going to send her to freezer camp.

 

[BjaJra826]

Not good. I feel bad. I've kept her alive for my benefit. I am always worried I am being selfish and not taking her into account. I have her soaking in a warm bath right now so I can assess the wounds better without alm the blood.