He or she?

[Hrc1988]

Having some trouble telling if this bird is a male or female. It was suppose to be a female buff orpington. I was told yesterday it's not an orpington but a cornish cross, so now I'm not even sure if it's a male or female .

 

[sylviethecochin]

Definitely male. Who sold him to you?

EDT: Definitely CX, in case that's still in question.

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x

 

[Hrc1988]

Definitely male. Who sold him to you?

EDT: Definitely CX, in case that's still in question.

I went to tractor supply in April to buy 3 Buff Orpington chicks but they said you had to buy them in fours so I said okay and got four. Well the girl put 4 in a box and I brought them home and from that day two looked alike and the other two looked the same. And come to find out now or even sooner two were buff Orpingtons like they were suppose to be and two were the cornish x. I thought all along they were all 4 still females but my husband kept telling me that he thought that one of the cornish x if not both of them were male. I'm really kinda at a loss on what to do with the cornish x cause I just don't think I can bring myself to process them for meat although they are 8 weeks old and a good healthy size. But they were bought as my babies and not for meat. One of them still gets up and will scratch the yard with the orpington but the other I'm afraid is fading fast, it just sits all day and only moves to get to food and water. I'm not really sure what my best options is for them.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I personally would either butcher the one that's fading or get someone else to do it. If he(?)'s as badly off as he sounds, he's due to begin having real problems in a few weeks.

You might try to restrict feeding to once or twice a day, and make him(?) move around, if you want to keep him alive. Same for the other. They probably won't live for more than a year tops, though.

 

[Hrc1988]

I personally would either butcher the one that's fading or get someone else to do it. If he(?)'s as badly off as he sounds, he's due to begin having real problems in a few weeks.

You might try to restrict feeding to once or twice a day, and make him(?) move around, if you want to keep him alive. Same for the other. They probably won't live for more than a year tops, though.

Thank you for the advice! I definitely don't think the one is gonna make it to much longer but the other one will get up and move around I habe started limiting there feed so they won't get so big to too fast but it could already be to late. But I really do appreciate all the advice and help!

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Thank you for the advice! I definitely don't think the one is gonna make it to much longer but the other one will get up and move around I habe started limiting there feed so they won't get so big to too fast but it could already be to late. But I really do appreciate all the advice and help!

Is the one that's fading, turning purple in colour? That is a sign of ascites setting in (fluid build-up in the body cavities) and you'll want to send it to a butcher.

 

[RyRe2010]

We are doing our first group of Cornish Crosses, but of course for meat...everything I've read about these birds is that after about 10 weeks, they start to die on their own from multi-organ failure and other things. They were meant to get large fast for processing...not laying. The best thing for the bird is to process it...I'm sorry you got stuck with this! If it wasn't the reason you got the bird for, it is hard to process/cull :-(

 

[Hrc1988]

Is the one that's fading, turning purple in colour? That is a sign of ascites setting in (fluid build-up in the body cavities) and you'll want to send it to a butcher.

It still looks pretty healthy from what I can tell. It's cone isn't as red as the other but it does it and drink a lot of water but it is has been super hot here in Florida and humid. I think I'm just gonna have to have her processed as much as I don't want to I realize it will be the best thing for it cause it is fading.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

It looks like a cockerel, but sometimes it can be hard to tell with cornish crosses due to them getting a large comb early on.