pop door measurements for cornish x

[kickinchicken]

I rescued 3 plump cornish x gals from the local market. I am working on a 4x4 coop at the moment...I really need them out of the basement...boy do they have stinky poo!
I originally thought they'd be ok with my bantams but I hear they are eating machines and will clear out the 3 gal feeder in no time. So now I am making a home for my big gals.
Any other considerations for the cornish gals I should know about?

Ashlee

 

[chickenology]

Hi Ashlee,
we raised 7 cornish cross chickens this fall, and processed them at about 8 weeks. They were housed in one side of our coop with a standard sized door (I think 10 by 13 inches). They didn't have any problem fitting through, but I don't know how much bigger they get if they are allowed to continue growing. They were too big to roost, and too big to step up into the coop. There is about a 6 inch step to get into the chicken coop and they could only get in using a ramp. The birds were not very active but definitely preferred to be outside in the sun. Toward the end I would catch them inside lying down in front of the feeder eating. We picked up the food at night after the first week so they wouldn't continue gorging themselves. They were very sweet birds, and I was sad to see them go, but they sure do make a mess! There are some postings on the meat bird forum about keeping cornish crosses as pets, apparently you will need to restrict their food intake so they don't get too fat and lame. Hope this helps and good luck with your new pets!