Chronicles of Raising Meat Birds - Modern Broilers, Heritage and Hybrids

[Kiki]

Batty are you asking if because of how they were fed maybe their bones were not as strong?

 

[BantyChooks]

I wrote Delaware earlier. I meant Dominique. Barred chicken. One of the other cockerels is Delaware.
Bottom line is hatchery stock.

Yea Batty!

My CX did not have broken wings. I used a cone though.

I want one eventually. Right now I just use a loop of baling twine nailed to a tree.

Batty are you asking if because of how they were fed maybe their bones were not as strong?

Yes, I'm asking if it's a possibility.

I do know that the other people I know with CX have higher incidences of them breaking legs and wings in the plucker, which leads me to think it may also simply be an expected byproduct of a bird that big at such a young age, no matter what feed they get.

 

[RUNuts]

I want one eventually. Right now I just use a loop of baling twine nailed to a tree.

Mine was Clorox brand. I highly recommend it. The dogs ate it. I left it nailed to the tree. 5 feet up.

I'm thinking Tropicana Orange Juice next time. The round Clorox worked well for CX but too large for hatchery stock. I used zip ties and a hook today. Didn't like it. Worked well to pluck the not pin feathers. (yes, I'm still bitter.)

Put the jug handle towards the tree to get the head out farther. A nail under the jug to hold the bucket with leaves or wood chips in for the compost if you don't want to dilute it and put it straight on the garden.

 

[Bookworm0124]

Here's pictures of the big icky guys. I knew they grew fast but dang. Tomorrow is official weigh day, tonight I did one and it was 9 oz. I do think they're getting poo on themselves and that's why they're so dirty. I'll rig up a way to hang the feeder tomorrow. I did take their feed away tonight. It's dark anyway so they won't need it.
The coloring on the chicks is a little bit of food coloring to help me identify when I keep track of weights.

 

[jolenesdad]

Here's pictures of the big icky guys. I knew they grew fast but dang. Tomorrow is official weigh day, tonight I did one and it was 9 oz. I do think they're getting poo on themselves and that's why they're so dirty. I'll rig up a way to hang the feeder tomorrow. I did take their feed away tonight. It's dark anyway so they won't need it.
The coloring on the chicks is a little bit of food coloring to help me identify when I keep track of weights.

They look great. Yes it’s orobably the ducks making them “messy”.

So part of the selective breeding of Cornish is for the quick and sparse feathering. It’s for ease of processing. (@RUNuts can fell you a little about that today.... sorry... I couldn’t resist. )

Anyway, if you limit their feed or lower the protein they’ll grow a tad slower and not stretch out those bare spots so much. Either way, you’re going to see bare patches until 6 weeks or so when the adult feathers cover them.

 

[Bookworm0124]

They look great. Yes it’s orobably the ducks making them “messy”.

So part of the selective breeding of Cornish is for the quick and sparse feathering. It’s for ease of processing. (@RUNuts can fell you a little about that today.... sorry... I couldn’t resist. )

Anyway, if you limit their feed or lower the protein they’ll grow a tad slower and not stretch out those bare spots so much. Either way, you’re going to see bare patches until 6 weeks or so when the adult feathers cover them.

Thanks, I feel better. I was trying to figure out what on Earth I did wrong

 

[BantyChooks]

Mine was Clorox brand. I highly recommend it. The dogs ate it. I left it nailed to the tree. 5 feet up.

I'm thinking Tropicana Orange Juice next time. The round Clorox worked well for CX but too large for hatchery stock. I used zip ties and a hook today. Didn't like it. Worked well to pluck the not pin feathers. (yes, I'm still bitter.)

Put the jug handle towards the tree to get the head out farther. A nail under the jug to hold the bucket with leaves or wood chips in for the compost if you don't want to dilute it and put it straight on the garden.

We must have differently sized containers, because I'm over here wondering how on earth you got a CX inside the diameter of a tiny little bleach bottle. Bantams, maybe.

 

[RUNuts]

We must have differently sized containers, because I'm over here wondering how on earth you got a CX inside the diameter of a tiny little bleach bottle. Bantams, maybe.

1 gallon bleach bottle. Buy in bulk. Are you looking at quarts?

Doesn't matter. Go shopping. Buy the right chicken sized bottle. Dump out the contents and wa-lah! A free cone.

 

[Parront]

View attachment 1866874 View attachment 1866875 Barnyard surprises from hatchery stock at 11 weeks. They started to crow. This is the first 4 of 10 hatchlings. Tried to get the biggest, but the scale says 1.5 pounds each. They are small.

Pin feathers!!

Took way longer than it should have this morning. Also why other 2 are skinned. These may get skinned today too, but I’ve already spent a lot of time.

That's why the commercial birds are white! We eat pinfeathers all the time and don't know it!

 

[RUNuts]

They look great. Yes it’s orobably the ducks making them “messy”.

So part of the selective breeding of Cornish is for the quick and sparse feathering. It’s for ease of processing. (@RUNuts can fell you a little about that today.... sorry... I couldn’t resist. )

Anyway, if you limit their feed or lower the protein they’ll grow a tad slower and not stretch out those bare spots so much. Either way, you’re going to see bare patches until 6 weeks or so when the adult feathers cover them.

Yes. Schedule the processing around the pin feathers.

Last batch was during a drought. At 5 weeks it rained. The mosquitos ravaged the bare skin spots on the CX. One of the good (?) things about living in a neighborhood, the county sprays poison in the air to knock back the mosquitos. I skinned a couple of the worse, unappetizing CX. Meat was fine. Skin wasn't happening.

Expect the chest to be bare. Even the professionally raise birds are sparse feathered.