someone told me somthing sad.. i need ur imput

[Donza]

Dear augiedranch
One thing you have to expect in life is that opinions are like noses - everyone has one (OK so I cleaned this up for PG audiences). Your roo can and very likely will live a relatively long and happy life. He is unfortunately more likely to be eaten by the neighbor's dog than he is to die of natural causes (at least in my experience).

I had a huge roo that was rescued as a chick from a pet store where he was destined to be snake food. He was so much bigger than everyone else I named him Chick-Zilla (Zilla for short).

My bantam hens weren't too fond of him because he practically squashed them but he was very sweet and lived with me for about 3-1/2 years until a passing fox grabbed him one afternoon (during the day!).

We very rarely have that happen anymore but it did. But the fact that he was a big white leghorn made no difference in any part of his life other than the fact he was originally considered only fit for snake food.

Love your guy and don't worry about when he's going to die. Every chicken has a different personality and they all are very cool people in their own individual ways.

 

[arlee453]

If he's 11 wks old and only 5 lbs, he's just a really big chicken. Not a cornish X that drop dead of heart attacks, etc.

While it may be a meat breed of chicken, that doesn't mean you have to eat him, NOR does it mean he's going to die a young and tragic death if you don't eat him.

Just enjoy him. I think he'll be fine!

 

[chicknhawaii]

I was at our local hatchery today and I was talking with the girl there who helped me reserve 2 Brown pullets and she said it's all in the diet. Cornish X can live for years if taken good care of and a lot of people don't know or believe this.

A good diet is very important ~ low-protein, low-fat, low-salt feed such as Triple Duty (or Trip-L-Duty) twice a day (no free feeding), and LOTS of vegetable scraps. Also yard food like dirt, sand, weed seeds, snails, etc. are excellent to keep our Cornish X healthy.

So is keeping them cool.

One of the girls at the hatchery has 5 Cornish X that she's raising as family members and I believe she said they are all 3+ years old.

I believe too that someone else here has a Cornish X that free ranges and is doing well.

I feel much better now ~ hope this has helped you!

 

[GloriaH]

I think he is just a big fat happy boy. Enjoy him while you have him. I read that you need to limit the intake of food for broilers to live longer...Gloria

 

[augiedranch]

gloria, hawaii, arlee, donza,fullhouse, tex


thank you. all of you!

i borrowed my nieghbors scales and am going to really weigh him tomorrow. i picked him up and then my five pound cat.. so thats how i concluded he was about five pounds.. i had another person do it to so i wasnt byast.


yall are very sweet.

i am going to try to stop being so worried about my big guy.

i am keeping him free range on three acres! so maybe he will run off the fat! lol! j/k. but like someone said up there. all the snails, grass, etc should be good for him. i also rigged the feeding quarters so he couldnt get in free choice. i know its sad but all the others can fit in cuz they are so small, and he cant.

but i honestly do not think he misses anything. i fed him some cucumbers today anda tomato i think he really liked them.

thanks again. yall are really sweet and i really enjoy this site.