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

[Buster52]

Quote:
I guess I misread the OP, because here I thought she said "Would they be able to live their lives (and I mean for years and years) without dying/ leg/ heart problems? I am just wondering."

Sounds to me like she is asking for information and advice. That is all we are giving here.

By the way, the answer to that question is clearly "no, they can't."

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Yes, and in fact, I was told that I was "getting close to flaming," one time when I suggested that it might be "a little crazy" to do so.

They do it because they are pets, and want to keep them inside the house without them pooping on the living room couch.

Keeping chickens as pets is not my cup of tea, but I see no difference than keeping a dog or cat for that purpose, if you really get right down to it. Dogs and cats can be house trained. Chickens apparently can't.

I don't see it as crazy or insane at all. Different strokes and all.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
I am talking about people ,starving them so they stay smaller to live longer. I also feed mine 12 hours aday so they live to butchering age.

If you feed these birds what they need they will get huge, not obese. Still to big not to have trouble. Can we say 25 lb chickens, that cant fly off a roost, more like falling, even hurting their legs.

Is it cruel to raise chicken longer, if you know after 6 month they will have a hard time living??????????? to each their own....

Is it cruel to starve one to keep it small ????

They are not the same as the parents either, mothers are white rock which can live a normal chicken life, fathers are cornish ,large legged to hold their weight, the cross get the body mass from the father, but not the body frame...

Yes, they are very similar to their parents. The cross your describing is the first cross in a four cross system. Many start with great grandparent stock (like the ones your describing) to produce the grandparent stock.... then the parent stock..... then the finished product. The point is, the final product is very similar to it's parent stock. You can buy males or females from either line that is not used, such as the male by-product of the female lines. If these males are fed a normal broiler diet they are dressed out in 6-8 weeks just like any broiler.

Don't fool yourself... these birds are not small by any means. The breeders of these broilers are huge, hens on average are a few pounds heavier than DP hens at laying age. They are not being starved by any means.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
You would be better to save the life of some of the spent laying hens........

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Quote:
You would be better to save the life of some of the spent laying hens........

Yep, I agree.

 

[Kazzandra]

Quote:
Yes, and in fact, I was told that I was "getting close to flaming," one time when I suggested that it might be "a little crazy" to do so.

They do it because they are pets, and want to keep them inside the house without them pooping on the living room couch.

Keeping chickens as pets is not my cup of tea, but I see no difference than keeping a dog or cat for that purpose, if you really get right down to it. Dogs and cats can be house trained. Chickens apparently can't.

I don't see it as crazy or insane at all. Different strokes and all.

I'm glad someone said that so I didn't have to do so.

Chickens can be house trained but it is dangerous to them. If they are not consistently given their "poop prompts" every hour or so, they will suffer kidney damage and die. It's much safer to get a flight suit ("diaper") or just put them on a surface that can be easily cleaned. It's the same with parrots, really.

As to the OP's question, I would say that the way it was stated, the answer would be "no." Those birds have been fed in such a way that their organs are not going to last them a lifetime. I agree that she should see about saving some spent laying hens if she's interested, but spent leghorns used to a factory farm life are not going to ever be fulfilling pets. There might be moments of joy, but you won't be a part of the flock, I would bet.

As to the rest of the questions raised by the OP question, everyone is somewhat right. But people who have pet birds are not anymore crazy than those that raise birds for meat. It's just a different choice of lifestyle, and both have something to say for humanity.

 

[2pinkmom]

My horse vet was out the other day, and popped into my tack room to look at my chicks. Her partner raises poultry and sells the live birds through the local country store. She was telling me that she once necropsied a Cornish X that was about 12 weeks old. She said that she was blown away at the absolute lack of connective tissue in the bird's joints. The joints looked like they belonged to some old, arthritic animal. After hearing that, I would assume that it would depend on the genetics of the individual bird, but it isn't likely that it would live very long, or have a normal life at that.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Chickens can not be house trained.... if you have to put a diaper on a chicken.... it's not house trained.

 

[chiknlady]

I currently have a Cornish Cross who was born 8/29/08...she is still going strong and is a layer. She was supposed to be processed Halloween of that year--but she was too sweet.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I have two cornish cross pullets that I reserved from butchering with my other four last spring. They are almost a year old and to act like normal chickens, they fly, roost, scratch around and eat like my other chickens do. They are large but not a whole lot larger than my Colored Ranger pullets. They are healthy and active, in fact one of my Cx pullets is the most agile and ready to fly of all my birds. When i toss food down she always takes flight (albeit, not very graceful LOL)

I am planning on a breeding project of them wth my Colored Ranger rooster, seeing how this would be a hybrid breeding I think the results will be very interesting indeed.

Here are my two Cornish Cross ladies being "regular" chickens dust bathing.