Completely Amazed and Conflicted

Remember those cute little chicks from a week ago?

Well they've grown.

All of them have grown, but the Cornish Cross have really grown.

As a matter of fact they weigh half a pound already!!!  It's completely amazing to watch them grow.  The White Leghorns have all their wing feathers.  The Dominiques, as expected, are not growing as fast and don't have all their wing feathers yet. 

But I find myself in a delimma.  The Cornish are growing so fast that their legs can not support their weight.  I knew this was a problem with these guys but I thought it would happen closer to slaughtering size.  As of now, some have lost all the fluff on their undersides from dragging themselves around.  However amazing their growth is, their condition disgusts me.  I'm mostly disgusted with myself for buying them and disgusted with those who breed them.  While they are not genetically altered, they are bred to be this way.  I'm not sure if I agree with creating such an animal just because it can be done.  Yes we get fast growing food, but at what cost?  These animals are not living as God intended them.  I will grow these birds out and process them, but I doubt I'll ever get another set of them.  It tears me up.  We did start taking their food away at night and a lot of them are doing better.  But I'm still conflicted.

My other delimma is the chicken I sell to others.  They are the same cross.  It is really good chicken, they are free range and processed minimally, but do I want to contribute to the production of such grossly mutated animals?  So many questions to ponder.  What do you think?