Can a broiler bird live out a normal, full-length life?

[cassie]

I just read how to take care of Cornish Rocks and how EASY it is to accidentally kill them all because EVIL humans messed with perfectly good chicken genetics to make a breed that is short lived and easy to die. Its terrible....

Oh for Pete's sake!! Animals, not just chickens, are bred for a specific purpose. Cornish X are bred to eat a lot, grow fast, have high feed to flesh conversion with excellent yield and be processed at a young age. That is what they do and that is what they are for. If you want to raise heritage chickens that take much longer and eat way more feed to make it to butcher weight you can certainly do so. My broiler chickens certainly seemed content and I had very few leg problems. No, I didn't keep them a long time except for one I procrastinated butchering until he was five months old. He dressed out at over 16 pounds. You can keep them alive past their normal lifespan, but whether you should or not is another story. Personally I don't think being kept hungry and being forced to exercise is much fun for the chicken but what do I know?

 

[1cock2hens]

@Bonniebooboo Pessimism - a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen; a lack of hope or confidence in the future.

by definition it is pessimism.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I will just add my 2 cents on how I raised my rescue Cornish cross pullet. She was kept with an Andalusian pullet and 2 Leghorn pullets while I integrated them into my flock. Eleanor the Cornish cross learned to run, flap her wings, dustbathe, and be a normal chicken from the 3 other pullets. She also wouldn’t sit by the feeder and gorge herself she loved to forage in the yard with the other chickens. I never restricted Eleanor’s food. She always had access to fresh feed and water. She learned from the other pullets to only eat as much as she needed. Even with constant foraging Eleanor was heavy. She never had any leg problems and if I felt that she was suffering I would have brought her to a vet to be put down. Unfortunately Eleanor passed away from depression a few weeks after I was forced to rehome all but her and one of her flock mates. She passed peacefully in her sleep one morning and she is buried in my backyard. When she passed she weighed 14 pounds and could still run around the yard and forage.

 

[Fishkeeper]

If you have a broiler bird, watch them closely. Check that they're still walking right, that they act like a normal chicken. If they start having trouble walking, it's probably best to take them to a vet and have them put down before it gets bad. Keep in mind that chickens, like most other animals, hide their pain as much as they can. A slight limp could mean something is seriously wrong.

 

[Jennifer Cappi Williams]

ANY animal, horse, dog, chicken, or whatever that has been bred to EXTREME LEVELS that it PHYSICALLY HURTS TO LIVE.... IS AN EXAMPLE OF EVILS OF HUMANITY. I hope the OP can give that poor bird a happy life despite its genetic bombshell.

 

[cassie]

ANY animal, horse, dog, chicken, or whatever that has been bred to EXTREME LEVELS that it PHYSICALLY HURTS TO LIVE.... IS AN EXAMPLE OF EVILS OF HUMANITY. I hope the OP can give that poor bird a happy life despite its genetic bombshell.

Hurts to live??? Where did that come from? My broilers sure never acted like they were in pain. They chirped and sang just like any other chickens. The only time they seemed distressed was when I overslept and was late bringing them their breakfast.

 

[Bonniebooboo]

@Bonniebooboo Pessimism - a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen; a lack of hope or confidence in the future.

by definition it is pessimism.

That's a good definition. But I'm not being pessimistic about it but real as far as the facts go on this breed.

Reality; Quality or state of being real.
Realism; Disposition to deal with facts practically.

 

[1cock2hens]

the reality is I have tons of experience with meat birds and I know for a fact a rescued broiler house bird can live a happy healthy fulfilled life for years. so when i say people are being pessimistic by telling the op to just put the bird down before there are problems I'm being accurate. there can be and there have been and there will continue to be very long lived healthy happy meat birds

 

[cassie]

If you have a broiler bird, watch them closely. Check that they're still walking right, that they act like a normal chicken. If they start having trouble walking, it's probably best to take them to a vet and have them put down before it gets bad. Keep in mind that chickens, like most other animals, hide their pain as much as they can. A slight limp could mean something is seriously wrong.

Take them to a vet to be put down??? They are MEAT chickens for heaven's sake. If you can't process them yourself give them to someone who can.

 

[Fishkeeper]

From the look of the thread, a lot of people in it are talking about keeping broilers as pets. People often don't want to personally kill their own pet, even if it's in pain. It's not unreasonable for someone to keep a meat animal as a pet, though I wouldn't specifically hatch a bird I know might be prone to severe issues in order to keep it as a pet.
If you can humanely kill one at home, by all means do so.