Dixie Rainbows/Pilgrim chickens - first meaties

[glib]

Once it comes out of the hen the reason that fermented feed smells better is because fermenting chicken feed reduces the amount of protein that your birds take in.

Please don't take my word for it, research what the university poultry research schools say on the subject.

The higher the % of protein in a poultry ration the more ammonia that is created in the droppings.

That, at least for the amino acids lysine and methionine, is not true. Their concentration increases, as bacteria pull nitrogen out of the air and make their own. The reason why it smells less is simply better digestion (agree with poster above).

 

[chickengeorgeto]

That, at least for the amino acids lysine and methionine, is not true. Their concentration increases, as bacteria pull nitrogen out of the air and make their own. The reason why it smells less is simply better digestion (agree with poster above).

Then explain please why the litter in a broiler house smells like ammonia personified (22% or more protein fed) while the litter in a layer house has a much lower ammonia footprint, (16% protein chicken food) or why total available Nitrogen (N) in un composted chicken manure is 600 pounds per 15 tons (on a dry basis) before the manure is composted but after the chicken manure is composted and all those wee bacteria have their way with the chicken manure, the available N on a dry basis drops precipitously.

 

[enola]

The density of the chicken population in a broiler house is much higher than in a breeder house. Also, broilers get more feed per pound of bird than breeder hens do.

So to put it simply broilers poop more than breeders do.

 

[lazy gardener]

I don't think there's any way you can compare the action in a compost pile to the action in a chicken's gut. Any material that has high nitrogen content going into a compost pile is going to have more nitrogen than the finished compost. And, if those broilers were given FF, they would not be eating as much. Their feed conversion rate would be better, and they would not be pooping out as much nitrogen. In case you haven't noticed, the higher end chicken feed companies are now adding pro-biotics to their feed. HMMM... wonder where they hatched up that idea!

 

[Romoshka]

Let me play the devil's advocate here, and ask, "Why can't they be bred?"  Yes, they are hybrid birds.  Evident by the barred feather on males, and non-barred females.  They don't seem at all prone to the issues that plague the CXR.  The females make respectable layers.  So, they won't breed true.  We know that.  But, they do have nice meaty stock in their gene pool.  So, if you want to hold back a pullet or two, and a rooster, go for it.  You should get some nice meaty mutts out of them.

MMM only offering straight run at this time? When I inquired as to why they replied, "They are a fairly new flock and are being offered as straight run only at this time." My question is (and this is most certainly a corporate secret like The Colonels secret recipe) a) what are the parents of this hybrid bird and b) are different hatcheries using different parent types or is it suspected that all are using the same? I got 3 of these birds in a "mixed large brown layer" order and love these birds. Prior to the mixed flock I'd only had black Australorps.

 

[mxitman]

I ran my first run of the Dixie Rainbows/Pioneers this spring as well, I ordered 22 of the straight run from MM. I ended up with only 9 Males to 13 females which is abnormal I'm told as most straight runs are 70% male it seems. I also ordered some Delawares for egg layers. I've kept close tabs on my costs for feed but since I had the flock mixed it's hard to tell the exact numbers. I will say these birds did really great on our poor pasture, mostly overgrown lawn grass with less than 5% clover.

The largest rooster came it at 6Lbs in the bag, the average for the Roos was 5lbs 9oz at 15 weeks of age, hens are averaging 4lbs 13oz. The Roos I did 2 weeks ago at 13 weeks of age were just at 5 lbs each, all the hens were under 4lbs at 13 weeks.


Now for the costs as of 6/23/15; Using GMO/corn/soy free locally processed organic feed. I ordered it direct by the ton to save big $$ and had it dropped off by the pallet at our place, they mix and match so that made it easy. I sold off locally the extra to help pay for everything.

I Used the barley for sprouting/fodder. This is what I've used so far, +/- a few #

34 Chicks 125.65
100# chick starter $16 ea 32.00
250# Barley $14 ea 70.00
250# Broiler $16 ea 105.00
100# scratch $15 ea 30.00

total 362.65

I sold the 50# bags for about a 25% mark up, I also ordered layer ration as well but our birds just started laying this week so I'll switch to the layer feed next.

I did a post about the chicken plucker I made and also the first batch of birds we butchered. We lost only 4 birds in all, 1 in transit, 1 to culling (bad leg) and 2 to predators before I got the electric fence.

This batch of birds was 40.29 lbs for 8 birds(6 roos-2 hens), or 5.03 as an average.

Can't seem to find any pictures of the Roosters right now, they seemed pretty tame to me compared to other roosters I've had but they were still pretty young (15 weeks).

 

[lazy gardener]

Nice write up, mixitman. can you tell me how long it took to process your birds? (man hours)

 

[mxitman]

well I still don't have my outdoor kitchen area setup yet, so I had to setup a temporary prep area using a large cutting board attached to my portable utility sink piped into a collection bucket. It was also my first run using my chicken plucker and turkey fryer setup for scalding the birds. I used killing cones and that was nice and easy to do, once I got into a good rhythm I averaged 8 birds in just under an hour from live to shrink bagged in the ice bath. Not counting the setup time for everything. I think next time I'll be at 5 minutes a bird, The last few I got pretty quick at the eviscerating, like anything I suppose the more you do it the better you'll get in theory!

My method was: cut the birds throat, light the burner on the gas cooker, check temp of water, I found the best plucking for my birds at 150-155 Deg F. Once the temp was reached, usually a minute or so, I shut the burner off and the bird was ready for the scald. I would dunk 2 birds at a time, up/down using insulated rubber gloves holding it by the feet. After 15 seconds I would check one large wing feather on each, if it pulled out easily I would pick it up, step over to the plucker, turn the water and the machine on, I would drop the birds in. While plucking was going I would grab my knife and do a quick blade touch up with the sharpening steel. Then shut the plucker off and inspect, I found at less than 150 scald there might be a few back feathers left, otherwise they always looked great. I then would proceed with evisceration, when done I would place in ice bath and start over. When I was all done I would do the shrink bags to finish them up for the freezer.

 

[lazy gardener]

Impressive.