meat chickens??

[onecent]

hi, one of my friends , well, her husband, raises chickens for perdue, she is gonna give me 3 pullets, to put with my small flock, i have 2 white leghorn hens, & 2 cornish x hens & a big RIR roo all of those are a yr. old & the hens lay very well!, will these chickens also lay eggs? i believe they are meat chickens, i also have some babies (silkies & barred rocks)in the brooder, anything else i should know about?? oh, i am gonna put the new pullets in a separate pen, for a week or so, so as to quarantine them, my friend says i dont need to do that , because her chickens are very "up to par"very strict standards with perdue, vaccinated & all, what due you experts think??

 

[Wolf-Kim]

This is probably a post for the Meat Birds section. LOL

If they are raised for commercial meat then they are likely Cornish Crosses. They truly are designed to be meat birds, I don't think they will make the laying hens you're hoping for. Do not let me discourage you by all means, you are welcome to try. Someone else may say different. There are people who have these birds as pets, it just takes a little more extra care than other breeds because they will overeat and are prone to early deaths, according to many accounts I've read on them.

I would put them in quarantine regardless. Better a little safe than very sorry. It's not saying anything against their previous owner, this should be a requirement for any newcomers to your flock, regardless where you got them from.

Post in the meat bird section and see what those more experienced than I say.

-Kim

 

[silkiechicken]

I guess since you have two meat birds already, and just want to add these two, I'd still give them a month quarantine. Vaccinated for this and that but growing up in a "sterile" environment, they need to get used to your local bugs and bacteria to build up their immune systems. Every flock has a different balance and getting their immune systems up to par before stressing of integration would be what I'd do.

 

[onecent]

hi , im sorry if i posted in the wrong section, but i wasnt sure if i had "meat chickens" my cornish x's dont look anything like the ones my friend brought to me!! & my x's lay very well, & they are not fat like these chickens, these are so fat & have such big legs, they can hardly move!!& they are only about 10 or 12 weeks old, my friend didnt know what breed they were, she told me they have some that lay double yolked eggs, but these are some really fat birds!! when i get my camera , i will post some pics!!

 

[Miltonchix]

I would think they would lay like any other chicken. Or else where would THEY come from.

 

[silkiechicken]

Are you sure you don't have regular Cornish? The meat birds your friend got from the meat plant are cornish x's, which is short for cornish x rocks. They are a hybrid breeding and do not breed true. They come from two special parent strains which are reared in their own lines, crossed, and result in these fast growing "monsters" which reach market weight at like 6-8 weeks old. The crosses often die from heart failure and so on due to their massive size and may not ever lay well, as they were bred for meat. I suggest you check out the meat bird section for more info on the Cornish x type birds.

Cornish and cornish x meat birds are not one in the same.