I need help with the math (MEAT BIRDS) - Page 2

I read the manuel from Welp, and its same as regular chicks start at 90 and raise lamp(lower temp) each by 5 degrees till 70 degrees, just these things will be half grown by that point.  I was thinking start april, send some end of may all done by mid june, and if it all works out good think of doing it all again in sept/oct/nov.  Or finish in june and never think of doing it again. 

Whats the worst thing that can happen, I lose 25 chicks, chaulk it up as experience and move on.

Just send me a big pack from OHMAHA steaks, and I will put in the chickens and get some Dry Ice and get them in the mail to ya.   Porterhouse and T bones please

Do they have to be from Omaha Steaks or will some grass fed beef from down the road be ok? 

Tell you what - I'll open the gate at a set time and you come through town REAL fast in a BIG truck - You can have the WHOLE cow!

I haven't done 30 at one time, as for me that is space and other types of chickens I want prohibitive... but I just keep them inside for about 24 hours to make sure everyone eats and drinks, then they move to the brooder outside. I have one 100 W bulb over them for the first 3 weeks, and then just slowly turn the dimmer down on the bulb and kick them to the big coop with a 15W fluorecent because they are heat machines. Having a low roof over where they stay helps them keep warm. I usually finish the last batch off at the beginning of june. Not like summers get hot out here though either! Highs of 75! :p

The feed consumption is entirely related on how long you keep them. How long you keep them will determine their finished weight.  If you 'forget' and keep them a week longer than you thought you would, you'll be rather surprised by how much food they'll gobble down during that extra time.  It can really affect your economics.

Here is how to roughly estimate how much food they will eat.

a)  The least efficient chickens possible, laying breeds, will convert 3 pounds of food into 1 pound of body weight.  This is called a the "Food Conversion Ratio" or FCR.

b)  The most efficient meat chickens, the super hybrid jumbo monster Cornish Cross, have a FCR around 2.2.

c)  The freedom rangers are advertising FCR's around 2.5.

So, if you always estimate you'll need 3 lbs of food for each pound gained, then decide on how heavy (live weight) you want them to be, you'll know how much food to order.

Now don't look too deeply into a, b and c above... it would take most laying breeds an eterinity to reach broiler size (even with a FCR of 3:1, they won't eat nearly as quickly as a Cornish X).  The same is true with Freedom Rangers.  They have a very good FCR, but it takes them an extra 2-4 weeks longer to get to the same weight a Cornish X broiler would.  But, I find it to be a very good trade-off.

I figure a quarter pound of food per bird per day.  It'll obviousaly be less when small, but more when almost done, but that's a good agreage.

Bob