Lost 3 seven week old cornish X in 24 hours!!!!

[hawtchick]

I am not sure where to start, but this is our first go at meaties, and I thought we were doing ok....but.....
here are the details:

7 weeks old
eating a mix of game bird/chick starter crumbles (no med) 26% protien
mixing with grower/cal mash 14%

we are mixing the 2 grains together just to lower the protien a bit since they are huge.

Symptoms are lethargy in one bird with a pale comb.... not dead yet, but very quiet but able to be with the others. Haven't seen her eat or drink.
one bird we culled b/c we were afraid it was suffering. lethargic, bluish comb, barely breathing.
Other 2 birds were dead as doornails when we went into feed them, and did not appear sick previously.

I have noticed no blood in stools and no mold or anything like that in their grain.

I am wondering if it because they are too big and ready for slaughter or if it is just random like heart attacks. My husband said the heart in the bird he culled was much larger than he would have expected it to be. (size of golfball approx) of course we only have store chicken hearts to base this on since this was the first chicken he culled and opened.


Just very concerned about losing them all before slaughter day which is schedule for 2 weeks.

HELP!!!!!!!

Thank you!!!!

 

[Beekissed]

I'm sorry about your birds and will await any replies, as my CX are approaching this age in a couple of weeks.

 

[Dogfish]

Slaughter that bird that is slowing down. Culling is part of the deal.

 

[al6517]

Yeah the longer you wait the more you will lose to their inherant physical problems, if they start to look as though they aren't thriving process them ASAP.

AL

 

[hawtchick]

I knew that culling was part of it, I guess I can't believe how they were dying all at once and before D Day.

Just sad and frustrated because we don't want them to suffer... and wanted to make sure it sounded like it was ok to process them while they were in a failing state that's all.
Thanks!

 

[CoopCrazy]

Yep i had the same thing happen.. I intentionally let my birds grow out slower to try to counteract the negatives.. Sadly at 7 weeks I too had to process some and a few were defenitly on the down side...

 

[hawtchick]

ugh! at the rate I am going I wont have any to process on the big day. I was really hoping we could wait till 9 weeks.

 

[Dogfish]

They just become smaller chicken dinners. Nothing to fret about.

 

[Bossroo]

Slow down their growth rate by restricting their feed for 12hours per day at night. Full feed for 12 hours during the day and no feed for 12 hours at night should do the trick.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Ya.... you have to slow them down. IF you are not restricting them.... you need to. At least for 6 hours.... also too... you're feeding them way too high of a protein. At 5 weeks they should be on nothing more than a 20% diet. I do not even feed my turkey's 26%.

Best thing to do is cull any of them that have dark combs and are lethargic otherwise you will lose them all. Also you must restrict their feed, especially at this age. Last.... get rid of the gamebird feed you're just wasting your money. Get yourself a 15% grower and just wait them out for two weeks. If you do this, you won't lose any more.

Good luck...