Keep a cornish cross (ross28) hen to laying age

[VanUnamed]

Hello,
I bought 10 chicks of a cornish cross breed, (ross 28) for meat, but I really like one cute pullet, they are all 8 weeks of age, 4 are at 7-8lb, she is at 5lb, (my other normal pullets are at 4lb) she is super active, I named her "gimme" as in "gimmesomething" she always comes or follows me making a cute face like "do you have some for me???" I would really like to spare her and keep her, but now they all hang out eating their 17% feed and free ranging eating all kinds of stuff, veggies, grass and stuff, She forages a lot. How can I restrict her feeding without isolating her from the others??

Thanks!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Move her in with your other pullets and let her exercise and free range a lot.

 

[Morrigan]

I haven't done this myself, but I've read of people limiting their CX's access to feed by putting the food dish in an area only accessible through a door that is too small for the CX to fit through.

The other solution is to not leave food out at all. Just put it down at designated times for the whole flock to eat, and watch to make sure she's not crowding out the other birds.

The exercise she gets from free-ranging should help. A lot of folks have held back a "meaty" or two at processing time, and some have lived for several months or even years.

 

[VanUnamed]

tThanks for your replies. I don't keep feeders around, I come every couple of hours where they hang out and put feed on the ground and watch them eat it, All I can do is that when I come to feed, I'll let her follow me elsewhere and feed a certain amount of it. she isn't a lot into feed, she always wants tomatoes, courgettes and other tasty things. Is it much 5lb for a pullet? Also how much should I feed ? about 4 oz a day?