How long will a cornish x live

[cluckingoodtime]

Help! I am in love with a cornish x we accidentally acquired at a feed store. Since all of our girls are my daughters pets, we would never make them into dinner. She is 7 weeks old now. I understand they grow large and heavy fast. How long will she survive? I can't bare to butcher her.

 

[smokeykk]

It would be very painful for your chicken to live too much longer, its legs would have alot of weight on them. I suggest you find a procceser near you and get them to take care of it. you can always get another chick right? I know it won't replace that one but still, you don't really want it to live in misery do you? Your daughter needs to understand if she loves it she will let it go.

 

[cluckingoodtime]

Anyone live in the Roanoke,Va. Interested in a (gulp) meaty?

 

[key west chick]

I have had chickens that have fallen off the chicken truck live for about a year. They can live short, but good lives if they are not overfeed. mine always had free range of the yard so got plenty of excersize and the joy of catching bugs and the sun on their faces. Dont be so quick to make nuggets out of it. Hens actually turn out to be nice layers, with double yolkers common.

 

[Zaxby's2]

Quote:
We had a chicken fall off a chicken truck. She turned out to be a great layer, she lived a year and a half but sadly was killed this very morning by a dog.

She could fly really far for a fat chicken, especially when food was involved. I say go for it! My hen lived a happy life. She will be remembered.

 

[Zaxby's2]

Quote:
Oh, and

Hope you enjoy it here!

 

[cluckingoodtime]

Thanks for your words of encouragement. We won't give up on her yet. We have a raised coop with a narrow walk which she is too wide to walk up and I am so afraid if I don't get out to put her up early enough she will try to go up herself. If she fell it would be disaster. She spends most of her time lying on the ground even when she is free ranging. She waddles like a duck, is that normal for this breed?

 

[key west chick]

Sounds pretty normal. They are rather large so they do waddle. Mine lived in a dog house so they didnt have to walk up anything. They do rest a lot and seem to prefer to hang out in the shade when it got real hot. Im pretty sure when they get about a year, their heart just gives out. I never had any types of leg problems with mine. One day they were fine, the next day their combs started turning a blue color and the next day, they were dead. I usually found them the next morning, in their doghouse. They are funny birds and Im always looking for one on the side of the road that needs rescuing.

 

[mychookschick]

Well, I will say that I had someone give me four meat birds (aka Cornish X) and they were WAY overgrown. We had planned to butcher them right away (they were going on like 9 months old)... But decided to keep them for a few days to make sure they were ok (they lived in a dirty area, and hence were really dirty)... Well thank goodness we did, because it turned out that those birds had a bad case of Cocci (they would die in the next few weeks) and MAJORLY bad bumblefoot, which would make us sick if we ate it.

That being said, you could probably keep her for awhile if you limited her feed, but she will continue to grow, and it will become painful for her to simply breathe.

 

[eatmorechicken]

I would recommend Cornish Cross as pets over any other breed. With the right diet they will live several years. They are easy to handle (granted they are heavy), very docile and lay lots of jumbo eggs. I get a few broilers every year, and they follow me everywhere even after stuffing themselves at the feeder trough. I can pick them up without chasing them, and they seem to prefer my company, that can't be said for my other birds. Mine are three months now and I keep them with my reds and games. They are very active and doing well, they run the perimeter of the fence just for the sake of running. No breathing or leg problems here. Seems to me if anybody has something bad to say about raising broilers obviously hasn't given them a real try. They are fantastic birds! Keep it! just don't let it over eat.