Fat chicken trouble walking

[sheila3935]

I'm glad you boy is doing better. but as everyone else said he will not live long. He is not bred for a long life. How old is your daughter? I think the best thing to do is to get your daughter some more chicks and let this little man go before he really starts to suffer.

 

[janinepeters]

After taking the advise my rooster is up walking around this morning and his foot is fine.

I switched his food 4 days ago and it must have been something amiss with the food because that is when the hobbling began and when I tried switching him to the other food the foot issue cleared back up on it's own and he is walking around good as new this morning. I have read lots of horror stories about certain food making feet do terrible things but I had never seen it for myself. I thought it might have been his weight causing it but boy was I wrong.


Thanks everyone for the advice.

If he is really a cornish rock, he will soon develop leg and heart trouble and die of heart failure, anyway. It's in the breeding, not the management. Sorry.

 

[aoxa]

After taking the advise my rooster is up walking around this morning and his foot is fine.

I switched his food 4 days ago and it must have been something amiss with the food because that is when the hobbling began and when I tried switching him to the other food the foot issue cleared back up on it's own and he is walking around good as new this morning.  I have read lots of horror stories about certain food making feet do terrible things but I had never seen it for myself. I thought it might have been his weight causing it but boy was I wrong.


Thanks everyone for the advice.

I have never heard of these things about feed and leg issues being related. Mind backing that up? I have a couple of roosters limping. I did not change feed.. It is very likely that it is from fighting, but if it is something I could be giving them that they don't have, that would be good to know.

Glad he is feeling better. Are you SURE he is a cornish X? Is he not just a white rock? Why did you get meat birds if you weren't planning on slaughtering them?

 

[cluck1saurus]

I am in the same situation. Our cluckie is able to run but her feet do not look right and she has become heavy. We believe it is more of a fat issue than the muscle because her legs and feet look soo thick (the yellow part).

You mentioned that someone gave you tips on what food to use and other health tips. Would you please email me privately at [email protected] with that info PLEASE ASAP. We love our sweet chicken and will do whatever helps if it is true that there is a way other than putting her down to make her life enjoyable again for a while.

 

[polp]

cluck1saurus it might be something else too, some other health problem.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

In the last few weeks my cornish rock rooster has gained a lot of weight very quickly by eating his (plus everyone else's portions.)

Now he is what I consider overweight and can barely walk. He just waddles a little, gets exhausted, and falls back on his hind quarters.

I have had to separate him from the others in case he hurt himself.

He has his shots and is wormed too so I don't think it is a disease making him hobble but if it is his weight causing it how long should it take with me cutting him back down to half the amount of food he has been gobbling down back to his normal weight?
Several weeks or?

He is a free range bird but he acts like he has had a stroke in his foot or hip or something so now I have him inside in a large box away from the herd. I don't think the other rooster got a hold of him.

Would helping him lose weight help him to walk again or will he be like this from now on even if he loses weight?

It is genetically impossible to correct the weight, or to reverse the damages caused by many generations of intentional modification to the natural development of these birds. <-- Period. You cannot "undo" the development that has already occured, and any attempt to do so would simply be cruel:

​

Note that this is clipped from a study of genetics, and that it's this breed being discussed, and that the highlight outlines the problems that have been created by the industry's desire for quicker development of much larger birds ... it's simply hard-coded w/in the breed, and would require many generations to breed back to where it began (it took 'em 60 years or so to get 'em to this point )-;~

​

Although I'd clipped more, I've seen your post in regard to your daughter, and your thoughts to attempt what another suggests, so as to make this bird more lean, but ... you simply can't. And, in this clip, the farmer speaks of that very same problem he had w/ his own daughter. So, no more clips req'd.

Mainly, 'cause I just saw your post where he's all better? Already?! Wow ... that's some fine diet that "keeps his chickens lean and active for sport" but ... what 'sport' do chickens play? Clearly, you're gonna do what you're gonna do, just like he's gonna do what he's gonna do, 'til somebody chooses to do the right thing: Choose to to the right thing.

 

[Zigmont]

One of my chicken's appeared to be getting fat and had trouble walking. When I examined her, it became clear that she had a severely impacted crop. We nor the vet could empty it. We lost her. Now I check their crops every morning to make sure they are empty.

 

[Boichik86]

I would like to commend you on your successful efforts in getting your roo to walk again. Not everybody has the same positive outlook and determination as you have shown. The fact of the matter is, is that the oldest I have ever heard of a cornish x rock getting is 3 yrs old. They don't tolerate heat well, and put on more flesh than their poor little hearts can handle, as i'm sure you've been told. If you want to keep him alive, you need to really free range him as much as possible. you must also give him as little feed as possible, really just supplementing his diet with it. Try trowing his feed in to the grass where you want him to scratch. Make sure he is always hydrated, this is very important. swimming is beneficial, if you can get a kiddie pool and fill it with tepid water, he will love it on hot days.

 

[helpme]

Give him smaller portions and more water.

 

[ClnMry]

I was researching the issue with "overweight" cornish hens and stumbled on this feed, always get great advice from Backyard Chickens. We recently got some cornish and were concerned about the rapid weight gain of these birds... I have read these posts and am not pleased with what I am reading... my chickens are penned but on weekends roam our yard. I have them for eggs not for meat. If these birds are only supposed to live 3 months then how are they reproducing, listed as good mothers, foragers and brooders. 3 months is not long enough to reach maturity to lays eggs to hatch. Is it just the roosters that are short lived? My cornish are approximately 6 weeks old, have gained massive weight that has me concerned as this is my first encounter with these type of birds.