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

[BantyChooks]

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.

Yes, I buy quarts. I don't recall seeing any other size but that at my regular haunts.

I'll check at the bulk supply store the next time I go there for a stock up.

 

[Molpet]

​

View attachment 1867548
Yes, I buy quarts. I don't recall seeing any other size but that at my regular haunts.

I'll check at the bulk supply store the next time I go there for a stock up.

I use kitty litter jugs... my CX didn't fit in any of the 3 different sizes of used cones I bought

 

[BantyChooks]

​

I use kitty litter jugs... my CX didn't fit in any of the 3 different sizes of used cones I bought

Sounds like a great reason for me to get a cat again, eh?

 

[Compost King]

When I used a cone I used Nursery pots, I just cut the bottom center hole out slightly bigger to get the head through... Now I just cut off the head and walk away swiftly before the blood starts shooting my way.

 

[aliciaplus3]

Ok I would like to share our(my daughters) cx numbers.... this was her FFA project for fair.
Birds hatched may 21st she waited till one week old to weigh and band them. We decided to go with wing bands jiffy brand to make it easy because they dont need changing and the birds are identified for life.
She ordered 25 birds from our local co.op the birds came from privet hatchery. 26 birds arrived alive, she sold 6 birds to another fair contestant.(side note the birds she sold took grand champion in the meat bird class at fair!)
One week weights
001 4.3 oz
002 5 oz
003 4.8 oz
004 4.6 oz
005 4.4 oz
006 4 oz
007 5.3 oz
008 4.6 oz
009 4.3 oz
010 4.2 oz
011 4.1 oz
012 3.7 oz
013 4.2 oz
014 4.6 oz
015 5.2 oz
016 5.2 oz
017 4.1 oz
018 3.7 oz
Spot no tag 4.2 oz
Lost one chick day 2 so only 19 birds at week one.
Chick 014 wing band came off(due to my inexperience in putting them on) rebanded 020.
June 2, week two
001 11.1 oz
002 13 oz
003 12 oz
004 8.9 oz
005 9.5 oz
006 9.8 oz
007 12.4 oz
008 9.5 oz
009 8.7 oz
010 9 oz
011 10.7 oz
012 9.8 oz
013 9.9 oz
014 now 020
015 11.4 oz
016 13.1 oz
017 9.5 oz
018 9.6 oz
Spot 10.1 oz
020 11.6 oz
June 10th week 3
001 20.1 oz
002 23.5 oz
003 18.2 oz
004 17.2 oz
005 18.4 oz
006 18.5 oz
007 21.1 oz
008 15 oz
009 16.4 oz
010 12.3 oz
011 19.8 oz
012 19.3 oz
013 17.9 oz
015 21.7 oz
016 24.1 oz
017 18.2 oz
018 15.3 oz
Spot 21.7 oz
020 15.8 oz
June 16 moved into a chicken tractor moved once per day...DD quit weighing birds weekly.
017 was butchered first of july due to prolapsed vent, dressed out at 1.5 pounds.
July 9 016 died
July 10 009 died
July 19 015 died
July 20 003 died
It looked like most of these deaths were caused by heat or weak hearts.... also we had to triple the amount of waters offered as they were running out both morning and evening.
July 15 8 week weights
001 96.1 oz /6 pounds
002 91.6 oz /5.72 pounds
003 84.9 oz/ 5.3 pounds
004 76.9 oz/ 4.8 pounds
005 80.9 oz/ 5.05 pounds
006 90.7 oz/ 5.67 pounds
007 82.4 oz/ 5.15 pounds
008 82.8 oz/ 5.17 pounds
009 died
010 76.4 oz/ 4.78 pounds
011 96.3 oz/ 6.02 pounds
012 89.1 oz/ 5.57 pounds
013 77.7 oz/ 4.86 pounds
014 76.8 oz/ 4.8 pounds
015 in sick bay at weigh in
016 died
017 died
018 76.3 oz/ 4.77 pounds
Spot 86.2 oz/ 5.39 pounds
020 96.1oz/ 6 pounds
Whew..... these weights were used to help group the birds and decide who went to fair.
010 died july 26
Processed the birds that were left at home on july 26th dressed weights
002 77.8 oz/ 4.86 pounds
005 75.3 oz/ 4.71 pounds
006 83 oz/ 5.19 pounds
007 85.1 oz/ 5.32 pounds
012 70.5 oz/ 4.41 pounds
018 67.1 oz/ 4.2 pounds
Spot 75.9 oz/ 4.71 pounds
We did not remember to weigh these birds before processing them. The remaining 6 birds that went to fair we didn't get final weights due to the unorganized nature of the group butchering.... all in all I was happy with our weights and we learned many things about what to do next time.

 

[jolenesdad]

Tomorrow is processing day for the remaining birds. I’ll work on a wrap up post before processing today, and then a final post for these birds this weekend.

Some thoughts:

I’m going to change the name of the thread to just meat birds and remove Cornish, because I won’t be raising them again. For a modern broiler, I’ll only be raising the Robust White again, and working on other breeds. There are a couple of Cornish that range with the other birds, but more that don’t leave the feeder. There are at least 1/3 of the Cornish that are what I would consider genetically messed up. Bad feet or legs that prevent them from moving. They can move, like if someone is stepping on them they can scurry around. But that’s it.

My personal thoughts are that it is not fair to the inevitable “slow” Cornish that are in every bunch to raise them with my methods. The things I don’t like are that without a tractor, some never even see grass. I also don’t think it is fair to those birds to be raised with non-Cornish cross birds. They get trampled and pushed around, and can’t enjoy their short lives.

I’m holding back two Robust White females that range with my layers. I’ll be crossing them if they can make it to both a slow growing Delaware Cockerel and if they make it to the spring, a fast growing Delaware Cockerel.

They’re pretty, clean and big, but not too big. Nice, CLEAN butts, which hopefully will mean they can breed.
They’re just slightly larger than all my mature laying hens, I’ll weigh today but I assume about 6- 6.5 lbs.

 

[jolenesdad]

Ok I would like to share our(my daughters) cx numbers.... this was her FFA project for fair.
Birds hatched may 21st she waited till one week old to weigh and band them. We decided to go with wing bands jiffy brand to make it easy because they dont need changing and the birds are identified for life.
She ordered 25 birds from our local co.op the birds came from privet hatchery. 26 birds arrived alive, she sold 6 birds to another fair contestant.(side note the birds she sold took grand champion in the meat bird class at fair!)
One week weights
001 4.3 oz
002 5 oz
003 4.8 oz
004 4.6 oz
005 4.4 oz
006 4 oz
007 5.3 oz
008 4.6 oz
009 4.3 oz
010 4.2 oz
011 4.1 oz
012 3.7 oz
013 4.2 oz
014 4.6 oz
015 5.2 oz
016 5.2 oz
017 4.1 oz
018 3.7 oz
Spot no tag 4.2 oz
Lost one chick day 2 so only 19 birds at week one.
Chick 014 wing band came off(due to my inexperience in putting them on) rebanded 020.
June 2, week two
001 11.1 oz
002 13 oz
003 12 oz
004 8.9 oz
005 9.5 oz
006 9.8 oz
007 12.4 oz
008 9.5 oz
009 8.7 oz
010 9 oz
011 10.7 oz
012 9.8 oz
013 9.9 oz
014 now 020
015 11.4 oz
016 13.1 oz
017 9.5 oz
018 9.6 oz
Spot 10.1 oz
020 11.6 oz
June 10th week 3
001 20.1 oz
002 23.5 oz
003 18.2 oz
004 17.2 oz
005 18.4 oz
006 18.5 oz
007 21.1 oz
008 15 oz
009 16.4 oz
010 12.3 oz
011 19.8 oz
012 19.3 oz
013 17.9 oz
015 21.7 oz
016 24.1 oz
017 18.2 oz
018 15.3 oz
Spot 21.7 oz
020 15.8 oz
June 16 moved into a chicken tractor moved once per day...DD quit weighing birds weekly.
017 was butchered first of july due to prolapsed vent, dressed out at 1.5 pounds.
July 9 016 died
July 10 009 died
July 19 015 died
July 20 003 died
It looked like most of these deaths were caused by heat or weak hearts.... also we had to triple the amount of waters offered as they were running out both morning and evening.
July 15 8 week weights
001 96.1 oz /6 pounds
002 91.6 oz /5.72 pounds
003 84.9 oz/ 5.3 pounds
004 76.9 oz/ 4.8 pounds
005 80.9 oz/ 5.05 pounds
006 90.7 oz/ 5.67 pounds
007 82.4 oz/ 5.15 pounds
008 82.8 oz/ 5.17 pounds
009 died
010 76.4 oz/ 4.78 pounds
011 96.3 oz/ 6.02 pounds
012 89.1 oz/ 5.57 pounds
013 77.7 oz/ 4.86 pounds
014 76.8 oz/ 4.8 pounds
015 in sick bay at weigh in
016 died
017 died
018 76.3 oz/ 4.77 pounds
Spot 86.2 oz/ 5.39 pounds
020 96.1oz/ 6 pounds
Whew..... these weights were used to help group the birds and decide who went to fair.
010 died july 26
Processed the birds that were left at home on july 26th dressed weights
002 77.8 oz/ 4.86 pounds
005 75.3 oz/ 4.71 pounds
006 83 oz/ 5.19 pounds
007 85.1 oz/ 5.32 pounds
012 70.5 oz/ 4.41 pounds
018 67.1 oz/ 4.2 pounds
Spot 75.9 oz/ 4.71 pounds
We did not remember to weigh these birds before processing them. The remaining 6 birds that went to fair we didn't get final weights due to the unorganized nature of the group butchering.... all in all I was happy with our weights and we learned many things about what to do next time.View attachment 1867998 View attachment 1868004 View attachment 1868005

What awesome detailed notes!!! Congrats to your daughter!!!!

 

[aart]

I’m holding back two Robust White females that range with my layers.

They’re pretty, clean and big, but not too big. Nice, CLEAN butts, which hopefully will mean they can breed.
They’re just slightly larger than all my mature laying hens, I’ll weigh today but I assume about 6- 6.5 lbs.

Do you know the cross of the Robust Whites?
How old are they?

 

[Molpet]

Do you know the cross of the Robust Whites?
How old are they?

Robust White Broiler Chicks - Moyer's Chicks

https://www.moyerschicks.com › Moyer's Chicks Catalog › Broilers › Specialty Broilers
Our Robust White is a cross between a colored and a Conventional WhiteBroiler. This broiler grows slower than the Conventional Broiler but faster than our Imperial and Royal Broiler lines. .

 

[jolenesdad]

Do you know the cross of the Robust Whites?
How old are they?

Nope. Not at all!

They’re 12 weeks old.

When I asked Moyers they said I would get various barnyard chicks with no traceable traits if I bred them together.

I’m going to try and start officially working with the Delaware breed. I’ve sourced one line, and working on two more. And I’ve still got two SLOW growing Delawares, that are from a great line but I probably won’t include in the program. My plan is three or four clans and spiral mating of my own Delaware flock to where I don’t have to bring in outside blood. Since I’ll have those pens, I think I may setup one with hybrid meat birds.

I think you’re the one that always says “you can eat ANY chicken” so I may be making a lot of stew, but we will see. The Robust whites are still a 4 way hybrid from corporate genetic stock, so I may never find a way to get anything consistent, but I am curious to play along with it while working on the Delawares.