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No Chad they aren't born big per say, they will lay on bone mass first then muscle, then another bone spurt then the final touch of mass and shape. True good breeder or show stock may take in upwards of 18 mo before they really look good. I try not to even think about culling the good ones till at least a yr old. You can go out to the pen one day and then another day your like whoooaa there we go. And to get a rooster to top hen's & crow may take 8 mo, their good true colors also won't take shape till their first realy strong Molt and is almost a must for the birds with lacing and tail position.
AL
Thanks Al, Some animals develop from their original shape and size. (More muscle at birth means more muscle when grown or big bone at birth means big bone when mature). So I was wondering if it applied to chickens. Cattle are much easier!!
I'm a novice , but I can tell you my hatchery sourced WLRC looked promising as day olds , with wide stance and fairly thick shanks . I don't believe they ever going to live up to that promise .
My two Dark Cornish cockerals looked and felt huge at just under 6 and 7 months ; they were pugnacious and crowing when I put them in my pens . They still appear healthy judging by feather ; but both have lost weight and attitude now that they're living in an unheated , open faced coop with subzero temps , and eating layer crumbles boosted to a little over 20% along with my pullets .
