Not pleased with Cornish X

[KelsiNS]

I wanted to love the Cornish X. I really did. I read about the differences in caring for them as opposed to other breeds of chicks.

So they started fermented feed, extra vitamins and probiotics in their water, they aren't fed 24/7, we pull feed for 12 hours.

I was unprepared for how frequently my brooders need to be cleaned. Lots...and lots...and lots of poop. On average, I'm removing chicks and completely scrubbing my brooders top to bottom pretty much every other day. I mean...so much poop.

Well, now it seems like they are all just prone to health issues, and I don't mean leg or heart problems. We have had a sudden outbreak of pinkeye. All I can figure out is someone had a face itch and scratched with a footfull of poop. Well, eye issues led to respiratory issues so now all of my lovely organic chicken is on antibiotics.

I have literally never had so much death or disease in a brood of birds, and I have raised over 500 in the past few years.

I wanted to adore these birds and order new ones every year...but I highly suspect I will be saying my final goodbyes to the breed on process day, which cannot come soon enough.

So...lovely people...Dark Cornish next year?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Or freedom rangers.
They eat more so they poop more.
If you had to clean the brooder that often, stocking density was too high. High stocking density will lead to the health problems you observed.

 

[KelsiNS]

2 sq ft per bird for week old chicks? Makes no sense that they would be this pitiful when I have brooder triple the quantity of an array of other breeds in the exact same brooders.

 

[CrazyTalk]

What are you using for bedding?

Pulling food for 12 hours isn't really restricting food IMO.

 

[Bossroo]

As the old Scottish proverb says ... " The eye of the master fattens the cattle ! " ... The Cornish X is just NOT your average chicken ,it was developed to grow at a very rapid pace to market weight on the least amount of feed to maximise profit therefore it needs lots of feed in that short period of time which equates to lots of manure output during that period of time. So this crossbred bird needs better as well as more concentrated husbandry practices until they reach market weight than the other less efficient breeds. One just can't blame the CornishX for these health issues that was caused by human error. To find the true cause of the health issues , just look in the mirror !

 

[KelsiNS]

I never said they were fat, or gluttonous, or growing too fast to keep up with. I said they were unhealthy by far in comparison to any other breed I have raised and generally disgusting birds.

But I have been off this site for a while and suddenly am reminded that nobody is allowed to say that this breed of bird is an atrocity for any reason whatsoever.

And also why I left the site to begin with.

Good day folks.

 

[enola]

Raising these chicks on wire, allowing the manure to fall through, will eliminate most of these problems.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I never said they were fat, or gluttonous, or growing too fast to keep up with. I said they were unhealthy by far in comparison to any other breed I have raised and generally disgusting birds.

But I have been off this site for a while and suddenly am reminded that nobody is allowed to say that this breed of bird is an atrocity for any reason whatsoever.

And also why I left the site to begin with.

Good day folks.

You are allowed. I don't think anyone disagrees with you that they are generally disgusting birds. They are an atrocity and not a breed at all but a hybrid that satisfies the need to feed animal protein to a largely urban populace worldwide.

On a related topic.
http://www.onekind.org/take_action/campaign/better_food_labelling