Raising a Cornish x with laying hens.

[Karen4Chicks]

Accidentally got a Cornish x instead of a Delaware and decided to keep it and raise it for meat. From what I've read they aren't supposed to roost on a perch because they'll get sores and you have to take their feed away at night. So how am I supposed to raise thos bird with the rest of my flock in the only coop I have?

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I raised a meat turkey with the rest of my birds she got big but never got any bigger then what she was. I might keep one of my cornish hens to breed. They do have health issues but my birds eat corn and they dont over stuff themselves with it.

 

[donrae]

Typical age of butchering a CX is 8 weeks, so the roosting is pretty much a non issue. A lot of layer chicks aren't roosting by then either. I've raised small batches of CX with layer hens and had no issues. You don't have to remove the feed at night, doing so simply slows their rate of growth. Your single bird may eat more and need to be processed earlier, no biggie. Just keep an eye on it for signs of distress, leg issues, etc. And be prepared to butcher earlier than anticipated.

 

[Karen4Chicks]

Thank you. So to update. I had to separate the Cornish x from the other 2 layer chicks because one of the layer chicks had a hurt leg and I think the Cornish x trampled it. It's only 2 1/2 weeks old and is already like 2 lbs. So I am going to put the Cornish cross out on grass in a week in a separate large dog kennel so it can't perch or anything and can't get hurt by the full grown hens I have. I am going to use some organic no medicated starter feed starting tomorrow to ween her off the medicated stuff. Is this a good plan? Any opinions?