Something is wrong with chick....HELP???

[maryham29379]

We bought eight chicks about a month ago. They were all the same size when we got them. The leghorn is now twice the size of the other chicks. It's legs are fatter than my hens (Rhode Island Reds) that I have had for two years. Her legs are literally huge. She refuses to perch to the point she has worn the feathers off of her underside. She refuses to stand as well. if you make her stand she will stand for a few minutes max and then she is sitting back down. She sits to eat and drink. Is this Marek's disease that I have been reading about? Since my other hens are in a coop beside them, are they now infected? Am I going to lose my entire flock????

 

[eggbert420]

Are you sure she is a leghorn ? What color is she?

 

[Hybridchucks]

Could you possibly send a picture of her and her legs? xx

 

[eggbert420]

I looked at pics on your other post. Sorry that's not a leghorn. Its a Cornish rock ( meat bird) its getting too fat to walk it will be ready to eat soon. Good luck

 

[maryham29379]

Even though I just got it? It would be ready to eat? When I bought it a month ago it was the same size as the other chicks

 

[maryham29379]

 

[eggbert420]

They will grow 3 times faster, they butcher them at 10-12 weaks. They are used by kids at 4h shows in the meat bird class. If you wait too long they will develop hip/legg problems. And they don't lay eggs very well. Tractor supply sells them to kids because they are cute yellow birds. The sad thing about it is that they don't warn the kids that they won't live very long. In my opinion these birds have broken more hearts than any other chicken on the planet.

 

[maryham29379]

thank you so very much. I thought I was fixing to lose my whole flock

 

[eggbert420]

You can cut back on her feed/ put her on a diet, and make her walk to get it/ exercise. It will prolong her life.

 

[the poppster]

It's most likely a Cornish-Rock Cross...solid white with huge bright yellow orange feet and legs like tree trunks? I can tell you that they do not perch after they get to be a month or so old...they are usually butchered at 7 to 10 weeks old...if you let them get much older, say 14-16 weeks, they have a disturbing tendency to suffer "Flip over disease" (heart failure) you will find the bird, laying on its back, feet sticking straight up in the air, dead as a door nail. I raised a half dozen of them last summer. And due to work and weather, I didn't butcher them till I lost one...I wish I had some photos of them, so I can show you what they look like....but what you have described is exactly what they look like. I had a standard size broody hen hatch them out....by the time they were 5-6 weeks old, still trying to get under Mom for warmth and safety, they would literally lift her up, and she would be sitting on top of them! They were at least half her size! She probably weighed in at about 6-7 pounds! The hen with the chicks snuggling in her feathers, looked like a huge black and white seven headed chicken! Freaky!