Really strange question

[schmoo]

Okay I have 27 little chicks and last weekend my brother in law was over and said he used to raise chickens (to eat). Mine are strictly egg/pet chickens.

Heres what he said- "oh it looks like you have some meat chickens in the bunch". I was like HUH?! They are supposed to be large laying pullets. He continues, "well sometimes they get big really fast and then they are meat chickens, because they will just fall over and die from a heart attack from being so huge"

What on earth is he talking about? I've never heard of that. Not to say it's not true. Thats what I'm asking. True or not true?

 

[Freebie]

Yes there are meat chickens that are breed to just grow real fast(they are ready to eat at like 8 weeks old) and if you don't butcher them, then they will end up just dieing at a very young age of a heart attack or something.

Last year I raised some up, and man that 8 weeks flys by. I had 3 just die. I had no idea what was going on, and was almost freaking out. But my friend Hotwings set me straight and off the rest went to the butcher. they were yummy too.

 

[justusnak]

I would say he is talking about Cornish X. It is true...they grow MUCH faster than they others...they are white...they have THICK yellow feet...and yes....they are prone to heart attacks because they grow so fast. They were bred for the freezer...and not to live much past 8 weeks.

These CornishX are 7 weeks old.

If you bought egg layers, I doubt you got CornishX. Where did you get your chicks from?

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

If you have Cornish Rock or Cornish cross, then yes.
They are bred to be dressed for meat at about 6 weeks of age.

They have extremely wide breasts, have very thick legs, the most common color is white, but come in red & black varieties also.
They grow so fast that their hearts can't take the stress of their large bodies for an extended length of time. They don't fly when they get bigger, you have to limit their feed intake or they will eat themselves to death.
I have known people who have some on strict diets & exercise, which have lived for a year or so. They are not good egg layers.

There is a Cornish breed that is used to produce the "broilers" as they are called. These do not grow as fast or get as large.

Do you know what breeds you have? Do you have any that are growing extremely fast? The meat birds will outgrow your others by leaps & bounds.

Check out the hatchery websites & compare them to your chicks.

Sorry if I'm the bearer of bad news, but these chickens were bred by man for a specific purpose, fast growing, a lot of breast meat, large drumsticks. They were not intended for a long life.

You may not have this type of chicken, a lot of people see a large white chick & assume it is a meat bird.
There are a lot of other breeds that are large, like the White Rock.

I hope you don't have these, since you want pets/egg layers.

I hope I have helped, and not frightened you. There might be members on this forum that have raised meat birds successfully by diet & exercise that can give you more information if this is what breed you have.

Jean

 

[schmoo]

Heres a couple of pictures of them, I am not positive on the breeds because it was the hatcheries choice. I just told them I wanted standerd size layers all pullets. I know some may be roo's but you know how that goes.

I sure hope he was wrong........

 

[schmoo]

Oh rafter thanks -

I THINK I remember the lady saying some may be white rocks.

Edited to add.......This is them at 2 weeks and they all seem the same size (pretty much)

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

At 2 weeks, you should already see a big difference in size.
I don't see any in your picture.

What hatchery did you order from? They should have a list of the breeds they offer in that special.

I doubt that you have any, unless the hatchery made a mistake. Meat birds shouldn't be in an assortment of layer pullets.

Like I said, a lot of people see a large white chick & assume it is a meat bird.

Cute chicks, by the way!



Jean

 

[JudyMcKinn]

I am not an expert, but at 2 weeks, it looks to me like you just have some white, heavy egg layers, like White Rocks, as mentioned above. There are several heavier breeds that are good layers, but not considered "light" breeds, like leghorns, etc, which are good egg layers and will live long lives, but also are large enough that they will make a good eating bird if someone wanted a dual-purpose eating and laying chicken. If you specified egg layers then surely they didn't give you any of the Cornish, etc. Good Luck.

 

[schmoo]

Thank you so much Jean and Judy. It was a local hatchery and I checked their website and they only have 2 kinds of broliers and I don't think mine are it! It says they have White Rocks and White leghorns for layers, so that must be what the white ones are. whew!

I think my bro in law just assumed becuase they were turning white.......

And I am totally new to the whole chicken world. Thanks again.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Im not the brightest bulb in the group but these look like my black sex-links and RIR's when they were little. Except for the really yellow ones. Don't know what they are