Raising our 1st set of CX meaties

Angelicisi said:

50 CX chicks arrived this morning!



Have 30 full grow birds to process tomorrow.

And processed 32 week before last

Along with 6 rabbits.

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Looking good, Sweetie. I wish I had your energy. Got eggs hatching today. White Plymouth Rocks. Bought from on here and assumably pure bred, not hatchery and to grow out BIG. Uh huh. Two have hatched and are really dark with brown undertones. Probably mixed breed. I didn't pay a lot but feel burned. That's okay because I'll just use as meat chickens. Grrrrrr. I could have raised CX's.

50 more peeps arrived last Thursday!
At 120 chickens...150 more in 2 weeks (100 going to a fellow ) and then a final 50 by Halloween

Swimming in peeps.
Went to pick up a half ton bag of feed today. We will probably need one more half ton.

We built a large rabbitry. Kicked rabbits out of old rabbitry. Cemented the floor and added a drain and ammended the auto waterer to hold poultry cups.
I have a brooder 3ft off ground for 1st week. A brooder on ground indoors for 1-2 week olds and then a 15x30 covered netting area for Ariel predator protection and by 3 weeks they range.
So far nature has brooded every batch thru summer and so far into fall. No lamps, lightbulbs or heaters. Just element protection. No losses yet either! Great healthy chicks so far. Happy to have finally found a good breeder.

Starting to ferment feed for peeps and will take pics for a post on it here to see how I feed.

I'm a lil nervous of falling down in coop at breakfast time and never being seen again

Have been insanely busy!

Lets see, short version and I can elaborate if anyone needs it lol

Built another coop.

Added a cement floor and drains to old coop.

We now have 150 (50 2 week olds, 50 3 week olds and 39 1 week old chicks) on ground and 50 more day old chicks arriving next Friday.

We had a predator attack 2 nights in a row.

We released one set of chicks from brooders to ground early because some zombie creature was eating them :'( wish I was joking. Killed and ate just brains. Ew I know, think we got it tho everyone was safe last night and evil traps were gone. Yes, gone lol so bigger than a rats trap.

So hopefully now that the predator is gone we can relax a bit before next processing time because Daaaang this is A LOT of chickens...

Chicks get breakfast and dinner only after 2 weeks old. They range for the rest. So I get mobbed. Cute now. Scary at 5 weeks and up lol

Angelicisi said:

50 more peeps arrived last Thursday!
At 120 chickens...150 more in 2 weeks (100 going to a fellow ) and then a final 50 by Halloween

Swimming in peeps.
Went to pick up a half ton bag of feed today. We will probably need one more half ton.

We built a large rabbitry. Kicked rabbits out of old rabbitry. Cemented the floor and added a drain and ammended the auto waterer to hold poultry cups.
I have a brooder 3ft off ground for 1st week. A brooder on ground indoors for 1-2 week olds and then a 15x30 covered netting area for Ariel predator protection and by 3 weeks they range.
So far nature has brooded every batch thru summer and so far into fall. No lamps, lightbulbs or heaters. Just element protection. No losses yet either! Great healthy chicks so far. Happy to have finally found a good breeder.

Starting to ferment feed for peeps and will take pics for a post on it here to see how I feed.

I'm a lil nervous of falling down in coop at breakfast time and never being seen again

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They do tend to get eager for their breakfast. I'm so proud of you. You have just exploded with business. My daughter runs a dog grooming and boarding business. They just finished expanding for the third time. Busy lady.

Angelicisi said:

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Love it, love it, love it. I just made a 5 gallon bucket today. It will be ready tomorrow. I'm going through a bucket in just over 2 days. I'm thinking about doing it like Beekissed did. A good sized ice chest. Make it in that and keep it in the coop. Nobody can get into it. Keeps it cooler in the heat and warmer in the cold.

We have a very large rubbermaidtub I started this week. LOVE it. Just a big 30 gallon rectangle tub about 18 -20" high. Wal-Mart- $8. The covers snap closed but are not air tight so it keeps it breathing and keeps pests out.

LindaB220 said:

Love it, love it, love it.   I just made a 5 gallon bucket today.  It will be ready tomorrow.  I'm going through a bucket in just over 2 days.  I'm thinking about doing it like Beekissed did.  A good sized ice chest.   Make it in that and keep it in the coop.  Nobody can get into it. Keeps it cooler in the heat and warmer in the cold.     e

Click to expand...

Angelicisi said:

We have a very large rubbermaidtub I started this week. LOVE it. Just a big 30 gallon rectangle tub about 18 -20" high. Wal-Mart- $8. The covers snap closed but are not air tight so it keeps it breathing and keeps pests out.

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Yeah, I have several of the 18 gallon containers. That could be my go between for when I start getting more chickens. For now with only 10 I'm sticking to the 5 gallon bucket. Eggs come soon though. And my SFH's are on day 18 right now and ready for lockdown.