The Reality of Chicken Farming

CRX Rooster at 7+ weeks

The reality of raising chickens, or any livestock for that matter, is that some of them are going to die, and I have to tell you, it sucks.  We've been very fortunate.  Our mortality rate for all three flocks of Cornish Rock Cross has been ridiculously crazy low, and as of the beginning of this past week, we were still 42 of 42 birds for an unheard of 0% loss at seven weeks of age.  We've been feeling pretty fantastic about this state of affairs, actually bordering on the smug.  But all that changed with the loss of three (THREE!) birds in the last week with two going feet up in on the same morning.  Two of the deaths were not unexpected since those chickens showed signs of illness or injury and had gone off the feed; we chose to cull them from the flock as it seemed more humane since they were suffering.  The other death showed all the signs of a heart attack for which this breed is known.

So this is the deal:  if you're raising Cornish Rock Cross, generally you can expect mortality rates of 10-15%, with 20% or higher not being entirely possible.  Most deaths will be in the first 2 weeks of life when weak chicks tend to expire and in the last 2 weeks of life when their voracious eating habits lead to heart attacks or leg injuries that render them immobile.  Our belief is death rates can be decreased by treating your birds well by giving them top quality feed and water, allowing them plenty of space, putting them on pasture, and in general treating them like real chickens instead of mindless eating machines.  We're not claiming to be experts on chicken raising, especially since this is only our third flock in two years, but since we're boasting a mortality rate of less than 6% it's possible that we may be onto something.