# Cornish rock chickens as pets?



## Wyandotter (Dec 13, 2015)

I want to get baby chicks this year and I'm wondering if I can get a few Cornsih Rock chickens as pets not for food. Do they make good pets friendlyness wise and can they freerange?


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Cornish Rocks are chickens bred for becoming food. They gain weight super fast and most don't live past a year because either their legs won't support the weight, or they flip over from a heart attack and die. Can't you think of any other chicken as a pet?

I like any chicken but they have the ugliest chicken face I've seen, LOL I saved one once and he outgrew his skin and had large naked areas because his skin had to stretch so much. He was the neighbor's rooster and I gave him back.


----------



## Wyandotter (Dec 13, 2015)

I was wanting to get them because I could save them from being eaten by people and be a freerange chicken with the rest of my flock... Sorta like those people who save chickens from large egg factories. But now I don't think they'd be a good pet because of the being fat thing and id feel so bad about them dieing so young, thanks for telling me that!!


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Welcome. It's like they're bred to be heavy at 12 weeks. I would think no one wants a pet that will eat himself to death in a year.
It's nice to rescue chickens. You may be better off saving egg factory chickens.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I've heard of people keeping one or two Cornish Rocks as pets but it takes great effort on their part to control their feed intake to keep their weight down. They constantly want to eat. They are called Cornish X's or nicknamed Frankenstein chickens.
Cornish are ready for processing at 6 weeks and they are very susceptible to footpad dermatitis. That's because they get too heavy and their legs cant support their heavy weight, so they sit in their own soiled litter.
The only Cornish I would own is one from the grocery store ending up on my plate to eat.


----------



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Any chicken you acquire will be saved,whether you buy chicks or adopt/rescue chickens.Please don't limit breeds to be saved,all chickens deserve a good life.Meat birds have been bred for centuries to get big and fat to be eaten as soon as possible and you can't change that.Check w/ your local animal shelter,sometimes they take neglected livestock and the animals need new homes.They are vet checked and quarantined before being put up for adoption.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

You're right CQ. Regarding birds; personally I would be extremely worried about biosecurity and wouldnt adopt.


----------



## Wyandotter (Dec 13, 2015)

If I get my birds at a local farm store should I be worried about biosecurity. I think the birds are between 3-7 days old and came from a hatchery or something.


----------



## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I've never had any problems with chicks from the feed store. They are usually day old hatchlings.


----------



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I currently get mine from a feed store as well, no problems. The feed stores around here get their chicks from various hatcheries; specifically Ideal, Mt Healthy and Cackle. I've also ordered chicks from Ideal, Meyer and MPC without any problems.


----------



## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

We got ours from various hatcheries and hatched eggs from breeders as well. If I had to do it again I probably would just hatch eggs but that's not because I encountered problems, I just prefer it.

Cornish Crosses are kept to adulthood in hatcheries by starvation so they can be bred another generation. Most pet owners don't find this a great way to keep something alive... that being said my favorites were Cornish, not crosses just pure Cornish. They're heavy but not to the point of it being an issue. I had the dark Cornish and the White Laced Red and loved them. I had been told the roosters were mean as anything but I guess I lucked out - they were literally the sweetest roosters I ever had. And I can't help but love their freakishly thick dinosaur feet.


----------



## Wyandotter (Dec 13, 2015)

Wow I love that roosters comb!


----------



## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

Haha, I always thought it looked like a chewed up piece of bubblegum...


----------



## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Interesting chicken.


----------

