I am a newbie at raising Cornish X- any advice?

[saltoftheearth]

I am getting some cornish X chicks and have been doing a lot of research on them so I can take care of them well. Just wondering what bits of advice people may have. Also, do they need a brooder for as long as normal chicks do?

 

[vtsarahb]

I raised cornish x for the first time this summer- I thought they were pretty easy. I lost 2 out of 25, which I think is pretty good for a first try

Some important things (in my opinion):
1. put vitamins in their water (any hatchery that sells cornish x will sell these too). this may save you from having to deal with leg problems later on.

2. take their food away at night. if they eat too much they will start to accumulate fluid in the body cavity and die.

3. keep their bedding nice and clean- they eat, drink, and poop MUCH more than regular chickens.

4. they drink A LOT of water! (I raised mine in July-August, so that might be why...)

Mine only needed their brooder light for 2 weeks- they feather out much faster than heritage breeds so will not need the heat for as long.

Hope this helps- good luck!

 

[saltoftheearth]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[acbear93]

Quote:
I have raised cornish-x also, and I never added vitamins to their water, so I wouldnt know to comment on that, but I definitely agree that steps 2, 3, and 4 are absolutely true. Have you ordered them already? You will, or should get instructions from where ever they are coming from, I am pretty sure after the 5th day is when you start taking their food away each night. It seems that all they do is eat, drink, and poop, and they do lots of each...come butcher time I am usually ready at that point for them to go!