My Experience with Cornish X

[burgerusmc]

I got 25 from moyers a week ago, what temp do you guys keep the brooder at for them? I've looked online and can't find anything. I don't want the guys to get heat exhaustion or be too cold

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Your experience is typical. Far too often the person with poor preparations is also the loudest with their complaints about raising Commercial Broilers.

 

[lazy gardener]

I just can't understand the complaint about the CXR pooping too much. Poop is an ADDED benefit of keeping poultry. More poop = more healthy soil. (WHEN managed correctly)

 

[wvhomesteader]

My biggest problem with CX so far has been keeping their butts clean.

My birds seem to be very lazy so they will poop all the time no matter what position they're in at the time (sitting or standing)

After a day or so, their butt feathers are sticking together and have a whitish crust on them. I know this is the amonia from their excrement.

My question is how do you guys keep their butts clean?

I actually culled two early because I was afraid they'd get an infection.

 

[burgerusmc]

That's a problem I'm having also. Good question. I'm also worries about the temp of their brooder.

 

[wvhomesteader]

I quit worrying about brooder temps, to be honest. They are so active during the day that they stay warm I guess. I only turn it on at night for them and I raise it up every week to lower the temp.

I'm more worried about their butts. They're not pasted over to where they can't poop but it's hard to keep their bottoms clean.

 

[Eliza1313]

I am glad that this information is out there, and that some are having a good experience with raising them. My experience was not horrible, but I know I most likely won't raise them again. I picked up 2 from TSC, they were labelled just as broilers and not the usual Cornish Cross, so I was hoping they would have been one of the slower growing varieties. I had them in with other breeds, ended up with a major problem with them getting pecked. Most likely a combination of them being a bit slower than the smaller birds and the only all white birds. Probably started with a broken blood feather. They had been doing great up until then. Did not have the space for second large brooder, but they were doing ok with just the 2 of them in the smaller brooder. Had to separate them at about 5 weeks, at that point I started removing the feed at night. The other birds did manage to get in to the trough with them, but did not pick at them in there. We did try to integrate them back in when the others made the move out, but weather did not permit it. They just couldn't get to the roosts to get out of the mud and were getting chilled.

I know part of the problem was that they were not as active as they should have been. At the same time, they had the best personalities out of all the chicks, so it would have been harder to harvest them had they not started having the shortness of breath and heat intolerance issues. I prefer a dual-purpose bird, but the crosses could be the right bird for others if they take the time to research the different methods of raising them beforehand

 

[burgerusmc]

I quit worrying about brooder temps, to be honest. They are so active during the day that they stay warm I guess. I only turn it on at night for them and I raise it up every week to lower the temp.

I'm more worried about their butts. They're not pasted over to where they can't poop but it's hard to keep their bottoms clean.

Have you tried petroleum jelly on their Butta for a little bit. How old are they?

 

[wvhomesteader]

Have you tried petroleum jelly on their Butta for a little bit. How old are they?

I have not tried the jelly. There's 7wk now but this has been an ongoing thing.

 

[burgerusmc]

Are you going butcher at 8 weeks? If so, I'd just clean their butts everyday, until they grt killed