So I finally got around to posting these pix of my neighbor's chickens. Seriously, the pix don't do these girls justice. They are all 18-20+ lb chickens! The one on its side is too fat to talk far and just hangs out....where else? next to the feed!
These are cornish crosses that were born in April. Now they are pets :)
Here is my hand on one, to try to give a little perspective.
okay I'm dumb. This is a horsey outfit I made for my other neighbor's baby. Now I can't figure out how to change the pic to the real picture, so I'll post that one next.
This message was edited Nov 27, 2006 9:40 PM
Okay, here is the last picture
It's okay, Hens! Horses are livestock! (And that's adorable!)
That hen could terrorize my cats and dog very easily. How big do they normally get?
I have no idea. I think most are killed off by 8-10 weeks. Anyone know? I don't do meat birds. But THIS is what happens when they live on. Seriously, I almost pulled my back out! LOL
boy oh boy i love those fatso hens
i love the horse outfit too.
thank you for the pix they are treasured
sheri
Wow, I'm surprised they are remaining healthy after getting so big and heavy. Those look like the way to go for nice meat birds.
Yeah, they've had a couple of them die off in the recent cold snap. Those were too heavy to even walk! these are the cornish crosses from murraymcmurray. They are BIG GIRLS!
I've been trying to get my hens fat but they just won't. I've had my oldest one for about 1 1/2 years, but it's no fat. I tried buying chicken grower for them, but no pounds were added. What can I do? Also, what is the treatment thing oyster shell mean, I've heard it alot?
Thanks
Well, they aren't doing anything special. They are just feeding them the normal food and letting them freerange. These are the murray-mcmurray broilers. They are cornish crosses, whatever that means. So I think it is mostly genetic and not how they are caring for them.
True. I believe they are specially bred to grow so big and fat. The average chicken won't grow like that, even if fed very well.
Exactly. It is actually pretty disturbing in person!
.Eric19
I bought what i thought were xcronish crosses from Tyler Hatcherie in Texas
last spring. I think I was sent the same birds you have.
They are the scrawniest, boniest, toughest, leanest critters this side
of the Pacific Ocean. I don't think there is a speck o' fat on em. Let alone
some meat. They are fast and tall and can spot a bug at a 100 yards.
I think what we got were some of Disneyland Cartoon Chickens. "I say boy...
is you a chicken or is you a mouse"? LOLOLOL
Oh well. they have more feathers than body.
this year we will order from McMurray, and also, I will keep looking and
figuring out some place to buy some really *good* quality Dominiques
and some fatso broilers.
sigh.
your partner in skinny chickens,
sheri
They look pitifully miserable. So big and uncomfortable.
I bought one of those little tiny cornish hens at the store this week. I don't buy them often, but wanted to get one to remember what they were like..........................since I'm giving some thought to ordering some x cornish rocks this spring. Do you think what they sell at the store are the same ones, only butchered very small ? They seem to be so tender and plump. But one whole chicken makes only 2 servings. If I could grow them that good, I'd rather raise my own so I'd know what they've been fed etc. I'd grow mine a little bigger though, maybe 3 servings per bird.
WEll my neighbors butchered most of them at around 8 weeks and they were regualr chicken sized. I think the cornish are crossed with some bigger bird to get these gals. They are huge.
Now, the roos are regular sized. They are not fat at all. OUr of 40 birds they got 30 ish hens about about 7-10 roos.
Hmm. I wonder what kind of chickens are the little tiny ones they sell at the store as cornish hens. And where I could get them. These little things are less than 2 lbs........sure are good.
FYI PEggie :) FOund this on the internet
Cornish game hen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Cornish game hen, sometimes simply called a game hen or a Cornish Rock, is an immature chicken of the Cornish variety, or of a crossbreed between the Cornish chicken and another breed. The Rock Cornish game hen, the most common game hen crossbreed, is a crossing with the Rock chicken. As is common in the poultry industry, storebought game hens may be either male or female specimens, despite the common usage of the word "hen" typically denoting a female.
The Rock Cornish game hen was originally bred by Jacques and Alphonsine Makowsky in Connecticut in 1950. By crossbreeding the short-legged, plump-breasted Cornish chicken with various other chickens (including the White Plymouth Rock variety) and game birds, the result was a small bird with all white meat, enough for a single serving. Originally marketed as a temporary substitute for a flock of guinea hens that the farm lost in a fire, it soon became more popular than the guinea hen.
Despite the name, game hens are not hunted as a game animal, and are instead raised in chicken coops as are normal chickens. They are, in fact, chicks that are fed a highly nutritious diet and slaughtered four to five weeks from hatching. The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that all chickens sold as Cornish game hens be no more than 2 pounds in ready-to-cook weight.
Thanks BackyardHens, that's exactly what I needed to know. You answered my questions very well.
Now I can know what I'm ordering.
As far as dressing out a chicken, I can see where the smaller ones would be much easier to do.
And we certainly know that they are going to be more tender. The older I get, the more arthritis I have in my fingers. So the smaller ones will be much easier for me to handle.
Only problem I can see, is that I always think the young chickens are so cute. It might be hard for me to want to butcher them at such a young age. I'll have to work on my mind-set between now and the time I order. lol. Thanks again for the great info.
Yeah, they are cute, but these are actually a little gross. They are really obsese and clearly not meant for a long life. They look totally full grown at the 8 weeks, if that helps at all :)
Oh my, I never thought of that. They probably don't stay young and cute looking very long at all.
That will probably help.
Do these folks ever breed their own, .......... or are these ones they have ordered ? Seems they would be too large to breed. Are the ones they have kept for pets old enough to lay eggs....and do they lay ?
They do lay eggs, but not s regularly as the egg girls do, especially this time of year. They have some roosters, too. THe roos are regular roo size, not obese at all. Poor girls!
