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

[RUNuts]

Is the EE skinned and the other plucked?

Yes. I thought there was something wrong with the EE, but everything appeared fine. She laid thin shelled eggs and was acting off and thin.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Yes. I thought there was something wrong with the EE, but everything appeared fine. She laid thin shelled eggs and was acting off and thin.

Was she older? My hen is starting to get like that, but she's almost 5. Her latest egg today was so thin a part of the shell stuck to the membrane and broke inwards. Egg was whole and solid but there was a hole.

 

[Compost King]

I have CX at 3.5 weeks old. I have only been feeding them 18% feed because I keep screwing up and buying the wrong feed. Actually its not the "wrong" feed because many people who buy from this feed mill use the 18% feed for meat birds. I like to mix it with the 28% Gamebird feed they have at a Ratio that brings me to about 25% Protein but I have been so preoccupied with my survival garden that it slips my mind to get the Gamebird Feed when I go to the Feed Mill. Oh well, I am not trying to break records on size or growth rates. I am just raising chickens for me and 18% is just fine. Usually I am starting out on processing Cornish Game Hens about now however with 18% feed its going to take another week. I also grab my pitch fork and pull up all the grasses and weeds that are growing in my unoccupied runs and drop it in there for the CX plus 7 Straight Run Barred Rocks I just put in there with them. I may end up breeding one of the Barred Rock Cockerels to a female CX because who knows what the future holds. Might not be able to get CX in the future. Today I found out I can not get Pressure Treated Lumber for the greenhouse I am building. I finally make plans to build something nice on the property and we have some sort of pressure treated lumber crisis.

 

[RUNuts]

Was she older? My hen is starting to get like that, but she's almost 5. Her latest egg today was so thin a part of the shell stuck to the membrane and broke inwards. Egg was whole and solid but there was a hole.

3 years old. Yes, she was older. Her eggs were breaking in the nest making a mess. Not always, but often enough to be an issue & were super jumbo from such a little girl.

 

[aliciaplus3]

Those sound small, Must be processing early. The more I raise meat birds the more I realized that processing early is better. Saves so much on feed and I just do not need a record breaking heavy bird. I just need a little meat here and there to be healthy.

Here st 6000 feet above sea level we have to limit feed so they do not die early these were 6 to 8 week birds
.. dressed out from 3 pounds to just under 4 for the largest one. I was happy these birds had some grass in their crops when we butchered them! We now have 2 small tractors moving on our poultry field with 15 birds each. No these are not giant birds but for our ste and what seems to move at our farmers market they are just right. I would be very intrigued to live somewhere that we could free feed them and see how big they get but the air is thin up here.... lol

 

[JacinLarkwell]

3 years old. Yes, she was older. Her eggs were breaking in the nest making a mess. Not always, but often enough to be an issue & were super jumbo from such a little girl.

My problem hen has huge eggs too. They used to literally be the size of my fists. Now they're longer and skinnier, but probably about the same size if you change the proportions

 

[RUNuts]

My problem hen has huge eggs too. They used to literally be the size of my fists. Now they're longer and skinnier, but probably about the same size if you change the proportions

How thick? The paper shelled eggs had me change from oyster shell on the side to layer feed with oyster shell on the side. Got the calcium up but I've still got one girl laying thin shelled eggs.

With 3 hens laying cracked eggs, the nests and other eggs were a mess. Found that a 1 year old Barnyard Surprise had a growth in her vent that cracked the eggs when she strained to lay them. Poor girl.

One more problem child to find and separate. All the hens are using the same nest also.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They were sokid enough they used to bounce when I threw old ones (We throw old eggs cause we live I. The middle of no where). Now tgeyre paper thin. We've been giving egg shells back in their feed. But again, she is 5 and laying every day so I'm not holding it against her.

 

[Morrigan]

They were sokid enough they used to bounce when I threw old ones (We throw old eggs cause we live I. The middle of no where). Now tgeyre paper thin. We've been giving egg shells back in their feed. But again, she is 5 and laying every day so I'm not holding it against her.

Sometimes when they get old, they just get depleted and there is not much you can do, especially if the hens continue producing a lot of eggs, or never go broody.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Sometimes when they get old, they just get depleted and there is not much you can do, especially if the hens continue producing a lot of eggs, or never go broody.

Yeah. I'm not holding this against her. Eggs the size of my fist almost every day for not than half a year for 5 years, I'd be depleted too.