Experiment Gone Wrong

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.
 
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. :hugs
 
I'm so sorry you find yourself in this situation.

Departing from much of the flock here, to me it's obvious that both you and your family see this chicken as a pet. Don't worry about wasting the carcass any more than a dog or cat owner does, because your relationship here is more or less the same at this point. Get the animal avian vet care and pay for the vet to do the euthanasia if it comes to that.
 
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!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom