My very first chicken!

[BokBokChoi]

Hi everyone! Im new here, I am from Adelaide, SA, and I just got my very first chicken!
I was in the local fodder store, and they had "meat birds" there that were advertised as babies, and I saw this one and as a spur of the moment decision, decided he was not going to be a "meat bird", he was going to come home with me! lol.

I dont know much about chickens. I do work with them at my work, but Im learning as I go. Any ideas as to what kind of chicken this is and if it is a boy or a girl? The man told me its about 6 weeks old. Its twice the size of the ones we have at work at that age!

I have named him/her "Bok Bok Choi" and its living in a very large hutch/coop in my entertainment area at night, and is free-ranging my backyard during the day. I have a grower crumble that I was given, and its been eating that, and also likes to pick out the green bits in the bale of hay that I store outside for my bunnies. Its not really scared of anything, will happily come up to me for a look, and likes to chase our dog (very large Kelpie) around the backyard.


Any info you can share with me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nurse_turtle]

I don't mean to rain on your parade...
but, meat chickens don't live very long. They are genetically engineered for eating. The bird will become so obese, it will not be able to walk. These birds are usually processed at 7-8 weeks of age.

 

[BokBokChoi]

Oh no! really?! Bugger, I was really looking forward to a pet chicken and thought I could give Bok Bok Choi a great life. What can I do for him? I dont want to take him back. Is there a good diet I can feed him on? I really want to do whats best for him/her.

 

[featherz]

Oh no! really?! Bugger, I was really looking forward to a pet chicken and thought I could give Bok Bok Choi a great life. What can I do for him? I dont want to take him back. Is there a good diet I can feed him on? I really want to do whats best for him/her.

You can look around on the forums - although it's not recommended, there are a few people here that have managed to keep a meat bird here or there for a year or so by limiting feed and making sure they get lots of exercise. If given free access to food and not free ranging, a cornish X will just eat themselves into obesity and die, as unfortunately they were bred to do (hey, I'm a vegetarian lol).
So it is possible to do but will require some effort on your part.

 

[farmerChef]

looks like a red sexlink male. can you post a better side view pic? Either way, you should get at least 1 one more chicken, he will get lonely, chickens are flock birds.