Chick that can't stand up

[JohnC]

:?: Very New to Chicken Ranching - Got a cornish rock hen that can't stand up any more. Was fine a couple of days ago. Eats okay. Drinks okay. Just falls back on its butt when it tries to stand. It's legs seem to splay out but I don't think anything is broken. Any ideas????

[JamesC]

John:
Cornish X Rock crosses often have leg problems as they get heavier. Their weight gain just works against them. I think it's time to butcher this one. How old are they?

James

[msodooly]

My Cornish Rocks did the same thing.

The Cornish Rocks I had are bred for meat production. Because they grow so fast, sometimes they develop leg problems. We would take their food up at night so they couldn't eat so much, but they still grew extremely fast. Very lazy birds, all they want to do is eat, drink, and poop. If the feeder was too low, they would just lay there to eat. To make them stand and try to strengthen their legs, we would raise their feeder so they would have to stretch to get their food. It seemed to work for some of them, but most just developed calluses on their legs from laying around all the time.

Maybe someone else will have some better ideas of what to do.

[JohnC]

:wink:
Thanks for the info on my Cornish hen.

I'm guessing, but I think the chicks are between 7 to 8 weeks old. Have no idea how old they were when we bought them and brought them home. We're about ready to put them outside in the poultry pen. Maybe the "fat" hen will get off her butt when she has to chase insects and gets some exercise.

Again, Thanks for you input.

John C.

[DaveJZ]

I have 4 cornish... I agree they are lazy... I did notice that after I got them in the coop/run they became a bit more active. Specially running around with the mix of others I have.. they seem to keep them going.