Will Cornish X live normal lives if you don't kill them ever?

[BirchHatchery]

thats a false statement mine act just like normal chickens

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Did my husband get on here and write this? I force him to starve and exercise. I am totally keeping him alive against his will. How is that different than keeping a fat chicken alive? I've been starving since I was twelve, should someone kill me to put me out of my misery? I don't really get the controversy over these chickens. They're just birds.

Oy. Just when I was trying really hard to ratchet things down. Okay, here we go...

If we are going to start comparing the Cornish X to humans, then lets do it right. In order to be equal to a Cornish X, the human would have to be a 10 year old child who weighs over 300 pounds, with the genetic propensity to die of heart attacks at less than 8 years old, and needed less food to get this incredible weight than a normal child would to reach a normal weight.

Now imagine feeding this child so little that he would weigh just a little more than a normal child. We aren't talking hungry here. We are talking near starvation.

But of course that could never happen, because we would never purposely do that to a human being. It is a preposterous analogy. You can't really compare a human to a Cornish Cross chicken.

Which is not "just a bird." It is a very special bird. If it wasn't, all these good folks here wouldn't be raising it.

 

[jaku]

I think it's funny how people think because certain breeds weren't specifically designed to be meat birds, that they are somehow more natural. You would barely recognize the birds that modern chicken breeds came from prior to us domesticating them, and because we've bred them to have certain desirable traits that's somehow bad? I don't get it. Who cares if those traits wouldn't have occured had they been left to evolve naturally? Get back to me when birds are exposed to radiation or given huge doses of growth hormones, but until then, all of your birds have been bred for the charactoristics you want.

Buster- come on, Michelle's analogy was MUCH closer to reality than what you posted!

 

[dancingbear]

The OP's question wasn't whether the CX's are natural or not. It was "Will they live a normal life like other chickens if you don't kill them?"

The answer is: If you raise them from chicks, restrict feed and make sure they get plenty of exercise, then yes, at least for a year or two. Maybe longer, but I haven't heard of any that made it much past 2 years.

If they have already been raised on the standard rapid-growth-weight-gain diet, then you try to keep them like other chickens, probably not. They will most likely drop dead before long, though there may be some that defy the odds and thrive.

 

[Bossroo]

The jungle fowl (that domesticated chickens come from ) survive to a similar lifespan time frame as a Cornish X. under Mother Nature's care. Chickens that are under man's selection as well as his watchful protection have a much longer life span. Similar lifespan increase is true for most domesticated and/or captive animals whether in man's home, barn, enclosure, or zoo compared to those left to their own devices in the wild.

 

[sydney13]

im the same way, im planning on rescuing some cornish birds from going to market, and i think that if you feed them layer feed they will be some what healthy

 

[CheepSunglasses]

Actually, Red Jungle Fowl live about 25 years: http://www.ecoindia.com/animals/birds/red-junglefowl.html

 

[Bossroo]

That 25 year Lifespan more than likely at the zoo.

 

[BirchHatchery]

i think we all agree if kept on a straight diet and let to run and forage they will live a normal life but need to be started on the diet on day 8 and fed low protien they will probly not make it if their already fed to be showed in 4h

 

[deerman]

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NOT, I have raised them to a year, they still have alot of problem. The big heavy breast , cause leg problem. They have been bred to have alot of weight on their bodies. To much for their frame.

Holding back feed to keep something small ?? Try that with a great Dane, sure you could so it doesn't reach full size. Would starving a puppy keep it small ,YES would it be right NO!!!! same for a chicken...........