How do I help my pet CornishX lose weight?!?!

[lunaticfishboy]

I have a sweet Cornish cross hen named Lucy that I kept as a pet from my last harvest because she was just so darn cute and affectionate. But now she is getting so fat no matter what I feed her, layer feed, worms, and just letting her forage, she just keeps getting chunkier, I can only estimate she is about 13 lbs now. her friend, Daisy, is skinnier than her. I have no clue how. I really don't want Lucy to die from her fatness, I would be so heartbroken.. I always think about it since she is about 5 months old now and waddling a bunch. She is the sweetest chicken I've ever met out of all the chickens I've had. She knows her name and loves to come up to get pets and cuddles. I can always hear her audible heavy breathing, and it makes me feel so horrible. She is one of the highlights of my life and I want to help my sweet chicken. How do I get her to lose weight? She is such a cute chicken and I don't wanna lose her any time soon.. I'm not ready..

 

[sourland]

In the long run, quite sadly, her genetics will win out. You can perhaps gain her some time with reduced feed and increased exercise - by scattering her feed so that she has to forage/move around.

 

[cassie]

This comes under the heading of just because you can do something it doesn't mean you should. Being starved and forced to exercise isn't fun for anyone, and that includes chickens. Do you think she would choose having a longer life at the expense of being miserable or a shorter one and being happy and contented? I know which I would prefer

 

[lunaticfishboy]

i look back and this and smile. Lucy is 1 and a half years now and somehow she did not kick the bucket some time after this post, I was for certain her last days were in the works.. but now she has such a strong soul and a stronger will to live and she is very much at the top of the pecking order. She runs a lot, fights off roosters and wants to eat before anyone else. She is still so sweet and chunky but I think she may have gotten stronger. Her breathing has gotten quieter than it was before so I'm glad she is acting like the other hens on a day to day basis.

 

[Evadig]

I’m glad your chicken is doing better!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Can we get a pic of your sweet Lucy?

 

[lunaticfishboy]

Can we get a pic of your sweet Lucy?

Here is my chunky girl. It has been raining so she's a little frizzled right now. She's the sweetest thing ever

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I saw on another if your threads that you have a CX that's about a year and a half old. Seems like you should do with Lucy what's been successful with that hen.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Which, incidentally, is pretty amazing!

 

[Lovesarita]

i look back and this and smile. Lucy is 1 and a half years now and somehow she did not kick the bucket some time after this post, I was for certain her last days were in the works.. but now she has such a strong soul and a stronger will to live and she is very much at the top of the pecking order. She runs a lot, fights off roosters and wants to eat before anyone else. She is still so sweet and chunky but I think she may have gotten stronger. Her breathing has gotten quieter than it was before so I'm glad she is acting like the other hens on a day to day basis.

I’m so happy to hear this! I have a Cornish cross as well, her name is Buster. My family got a bunch of chickens & noticed two of them were a lot bigger than the others. I didn’t know about the breed until one of them died (probably from a heart attack) and I did my research to figure out why and how to prevent that from happening to Buster. She has been through a lot and after her friend died the other chickens tried to eat her alive! I nursed her back to health and put her on a diet and she seems healthier every day. She is the best she’s ever been! She’s only 4- 5 months old. I take her out of her fenced in area & she runs and chases me when I run from her and I do that to exercise her. If she isn’t motivated enough I jingle food in front of me then I have her follow me back to the coop. The other chickens still won’t accept her or at least a couple of them won’t so she can’t stay with them but sometimes I let them merge together and she pecks some of them and takes charge (until the two bosses come to defend their flock). She is my only chicken that lays eggs currently! I take care of her and she takes care of me and I am so happy that I didn’t give up on her and she is able to lead such a good life.