Amelia - Learning Experience #2,082

We have finally settled into having the five remaining chicks from my coworkers original gift in November. I've rehomed 6 and 1 died out of the original 12. Not bad and I'm very happy with the five remaining. As we've tried to figure out the gender/breeds, it's certainly been an adventure and one of our favorites, Amelia, it turns out is not what we had thought. I was determined that she was either a White Plymouth Rock or a Leghorn. As she has grown, she has gained quite a bit of weight, then her ears showed red, I thought making it clear she is a White Rock, for sure. Last weekend I noticed Amelia didn't have much feathering on her breast area. Out of concern, I posted a couple of pictures on www.backyardchickens.com (their forums are an amazing source of information) and quickly got a reply pointing out that she looks like a Cornish X (see pics below).

Amelia looking all gorgeous in the yard.

Amelia's lack of feathers on her breast.

This is not good. A Cornish X is a meat bird, specifically bred to harvest between 4-8 weeks and grow very fast and large. They are not kept as pets or layers generally, as they start having health issues soon after 8 weeks if they are not harvested due to their fast weight gain. Heart problems and leg issues start usually around that time.

One thing I've read about Cornish X that is not the case here, is that they have no personality and just eat and eat. She clearly eats quite a bit, but she's also the mother hen of the chicks. She's their leader and the other 4 follow. When I need them all in for the night, I pick her up and carry her in and they all follow. If I picked up Turtle, it would take them a little bit to notice, except that she would squawk like mad. Amelia is very mellow. When I pick her up there is minimal complaint and she immediately settles into my arm. Weighing her was very easy, as she just stood on the scale and looked at me, waiting patiently. She's a very sweet girl.

Unfortunately, since I have figured out Amelia's breed a little late, she already weighs 6 pounds and does a lot of sitting around. I do free range her when I can and she walks fine right now, with only a little more of a waddle then the other chicks. I have been feeding her chick starter along with the other chicks as well. But this all needs to change and quickly. If I'm keeping her as a layer, she needs diet restrictions and exercise, stat.

So, here is the plan, this weekend is a 4 day weekend for me and I'm going to make some chicken changes.

1. More free-ranging which means fixing this one place in the fence where the chicks could fit through and visit the neighbor who thinks chickens are delicious.

2. I'm going to start to ration feed to certain times of day. I have had feeders out at all times for all the chickens and this hasn't been an issue until Amelia. She's just too big and shouldn't be allowed to eat whenever she wants.

3. Fix an area where Amelia can be away from the other chicks so they can have more access to food and try to go ahead and integrate her with the larger hens sooner than later. They free-range more often and her size keeps her from escaping the fence like the little ones can. Right now though, they would peck her, because they're jerks. They're getting better, but Amelia's brothers getting pecked was my last big learning experience. So, they've been around each other the last few weeks, just separated by fence, I'm going to babysit while they spend a little more time together and see how it goes.

I'm bracing myself for Amelia to not live very long. I understand the risks of keeping her as a layer instead of finding someone to harvest her. I won't let her suffer, so if her legs start to go or she seems to be uncomfortable, I'll have to put her down, but at this point, she seems happy and needs some extra rules.

Crossing my fingers. :-)