Minnesota!

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Anyone else in the area raise cornish cross?

I raise about 50 every year. I get them from Welp or Sunnyside hatchery.

 

[farmrDAN]

I got 16 from WELP through LandM. Lost two the first night and I just had to cull one because it couldn't stand up or balance and just started wasting away the past week. Another bird just started showing the same symptoms last week. They are 6 weeks old and the other 11 are doing very well. Have you had any problems like I described with your cornish? It's like all of a sudden they just lose their balance and sit down on their butt and roll back with their toes up in the air and can't seem to right themselves forward and it gets worse from then on. I had them on vitamins and trace minerals in solution for 4 weeks and no improvement. I haven't given the one with recent symptoms any vitamins and minerals. It's really depressing to see these guys suffer. It makes it even harder having to cull them knowing they have been suffering to no avail. I don't think I'll get the cornish again. Probably some freedom rangers next year.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

Are you feeding them around the clock? They should only have access to feed for 12 hrs/day.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Actually, BlackBrook, even though I agree that they shouldn't have feed 24/7, many people do feed CRX that way.
Being that CRX are a freak of sorts, they come with plenty of issues. What FarmerDan described it sounds like "Flip" but you don't usually see that happening until it gets pretty hot out. They have heart attacks, they have leg problems, those come with having birds bred to their extremes the way these are. I feed once a day so they don't grow so fast, and honestly, they come out just the size I want at 8-weeks, which depends on the strain(hatchery) you are buying from. I get them around 4.5-5.5 and within that range from Stromberg's CRX which are drop shipped from Privet down in NM via TX.

I don't love raising the freaks, but I do enjoy eating them as does my family. I still think that purebreeds give a better flavor to stock and when canned, but for a roaster, I like the CRX.

 

[farmrDAN]

I feed twice a day. Once at 6 am the second at 5 pm. They are not over fed, trust me that's not the issue. I did enough research on the problems these birds experience to try and counter act some of those problems.

 

[farmrDAN]

I don't think it's sudden death syndrome which is what I think your referring to as FLIP because the symptoms last weeks. The bird I just culled had the symptoms since week two. And they are 5 and a half weeks old today.

 

[BlackBrookPoultry]

I've never had problems with the broilers from Welp. Just curious, why wouldn't you just order the chicks directly from Privet, instead of having Strombergs in the middle?
Chicks are only $1.19 from Sunnyside.
They're about the same price wholesale from Welp.
I feed mine a soy-free organic ration, free choice. Their feeder is always full. And I haven't had a problem.

 

[farmrDAN]

I order through Land M so I don't have to pay shipping as well as order the minimum of 25. Mine are also given all organic starter. I tried giving it to them for 12 hours a day when I first got them but they became to lazy to utilize the other side of the coop. As I feed them they are all up running around and healthy looking. It's just the 3 birds I've had a problem with. All the others are doing awesome. I'll post pics later of the healthy birds and the sick remaining 2. They are the same age and from the same order.

 

[farmrDAN]

Healthy birds

 

[farmrDAN]

No healthy