questions about raising Meat ckicks

[tomsgonefishin]

I went out to see my meat birds and one of the 7 has a sore leg. They will be 5 weeks old on Wed. The leg doesn't seem to bend as well as the other leg, and he is kind of hobling around.

I suspect that I might need to take him early since he seems to be in pain.
Shouldn't be any problem eating him, right? He is only about 3.5 lbs at this point.

Or should I let him go a little longer with the bum leg. I have never seen leg problems before so I don't know if this is what I have read about or if it is something different.

Any suggestions. I looked at the leg and doesn't seem to have any sores or other injury.

Thanks
Tom

 

[silkiechicken]

If it looks like it hurts, I would eat it now. Could be a slipped tendon or something if the leg got swollen and then stiff. Just think of it as an overgrown "cornish game hen" even though those are just 4 week old babies they butcher and sell for insane prices.

The propensity of leg problems and so on will depend on the strain of meat birds. Some strains do better than others on different types of rations. The number you raise at one time will also make a difference as more will give each bird less personal time and increase you rate of catching "a bad one."

 

[HobbyChickener]

Great Info! Chicktionary should be the new name for here.

 

[tomsgonefishin]

Thanks, I think I will go ahead and do it on Friday or Sat unless the bird is too uncomfortable. What is really cool is that we have the 7 birds in a pen in the workshop and I have a color video camera mounted so we can easily check on them with out having to go out back. Kind of fun just watching chick tv (that's what we call it). One quick glance on the TV and I can tell the birds are safe, whether or not the lights are burned out, etc.

Thanks
Tom