Not walking

[Sami]

Hi there. I have a meat hen who has all of a sudden stopped walking. Was fine one day then not the next. She is healthy. I put her next to the water in the morning and saw her drinking. I went to work,came back at night and she had moved to the opposite side of the pen. What do you think her issue is? Is it contagious. She is not yet 8 weeks and not overweight....,

 

[thedude]

I'm about to finish my first batch of Cornish X and have seen the same thing. The bird seems fine one day and then the next it just sits there. It will still eat, drink, poop, but won't move. Well maybe flap and scoot along.

I've posted about it as well and read as much as I could and the best I could come up with is that it's just something with the breed. I got my batch from Hoover's Hatchery. I only lost one chick out of 40, but I've had to process about 15 other birds early because of exactly what you describe.

I'd go ahead and process the bird. Get what you can out of it.

My next batch is going to come from Welp. They seem to specialize in the Cornish X and hopefully I won't have the problem.

Some things you should be sure you are doing:

1) They should only be fed twice per day. Take food away to prevent them from growing too fast, developing problems, etc.

2) Consider supplements. There are some that are specific to meat birds. Since they are fast growing the added nutrients can't hurt.

3) Have you tried Fermented Feed? There is a very very long thread on it. It is healthier for the birds and will cut down on your feed cost. Here is a shortened version of the thread: http://tikktok.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/fermented-feed-faq/

 

[Sami]

Thanks for your reply. This is the second year that I have raised meat birds but this did not happen last year to any of mine. I have 17 of the lazy meat birds and only feed them once a day. I did this method last year and had great success. I couldn't process at the 8 week mark as they were still on the small size but I was fine with that as they were not having leg issues or any health issues...

I can't believe how much of little pigs they are. I fill the feeder to the top in the morning and then they can waddle around looking for interesting left overs in the afternoon. I wanted them to free range on the weekend but they wouldnt come out. I had their door open for 5 hours and not one of them could drum up the energy or enthusiasim to venture out. Soooo different then my layers.

Do you think I should process this weekend or let her get a bit fatter. I dont want to be cruel and extend her life if she is in pain but if she is not in pain I would like her to get a bit plumper....

 

[Sami]

Well this morning I went down the the meat run and she was in a corner by herself. She looks so pathetic. Last night she was sitting with two other birds but I picked her up and moved her to the watering can. She drank a bit but then the other piggies wanted to know what was going on and came over as well. One of the healthy ones kinda stood on her as she is not able to push her way around the crowd and just lays there with her head down.

I decided that the best course of action is to process her early even though she is not at the desired weight. I can't watcher her suffer and i can't get emotionally attached to her trying to make her better to in the end process her

Do you think the meat will be okay for consumption? I'm just paranoid that she has something else other then legs not wanting to work.

 

[bobbi-j]

You are making the right decision in processing her. This seems to be pretty common for meat birds. Unless you see or smell something funky when you're butchering her, I'd say the meat is safe to eat.

 

[thedude]

Well this morning I went down the the meat run and she was in a corner by herself. She looks so pathetic. Last night she was sitting with two other birds but I picked her up and moved her to the watering can. She drank a bit but then the other piggies wanted to know what was going on and came over as well. One of the healthy ones kinda stood on her as she is not able to push her way around the crowd and just lays there with her head down.

I decided that the best course of action is to process her early even though she is not at the desired weight. I can't watcher her suffer and i can't get emotionally attached to her trying to make her better to in the end process her

Do you think the meat will be okay for consumption? I'm just paranoid that she has something else other then legs not wanting to work.

Yes, I've seen them just lay there and other stand on them. If you don't process this bird, she'll just keep getting stepped on, get really dirty, laying in her own poop, etc. I tried to help a few of them along but it doesn't get better.

The meat will be fine unless you see something that is "off".