How many of you FULLY Free Range your Cornish X Meaties? Tractors do not count.

[neftaball]

I also kept back a few CornishX hens and hatched some eggs out of them by a Dorking. They are 11/1 weeks & 4 days old, being raised by Dorking broodies.

 

[SunnySkies]

My two keepers aren't quite there, but their combs are redder than they were. Hopefully I can keep their weights under control and they can lay OK. They are active, but they do like their chow...

 

[Wkendgardner]

The reason there is no bone meal or other animal proteins is because of the BSE Bovine spongiform encephalopathy or Mad Cow Disease. I was working in the pharmaceutical industry back in the 90's, we made a product from the comb of roosters. (Hyaluronic Acid) We had to make sure our growers did not use bovine bone meal in their feed. I visited poultry growers and processing plants in the US. And now I have chickens of my own.

 

[aoxa]

The reason there is no bone meal or other animal proteins is because of the BSE Bovine spongiform encephalopathy or Mad Cow Disease. I was working in the pharmaceutical industry back in the 90's, we made a product from the comb of roosters. (Hyaluronic Acid) We had to make sure our growers did not use bovine bone meal in their feed. I visited poultry growers and processing plants in the US. And now I have chickens of my own.

You know why chickens aren't fed meat products? Because they fed their excrement to cows, thus continuing the vicious cycle of mad cow disease.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-greger-md/mad-cow-disease-california_b_1450994.html

Herbivores should not be fed animal protein. Omnivore animals should have animal protein.

 

[Beekissed]

That's the reason I buy mash that has soy protein instead of animal protein...no thanks to the recycled animal parts, diseased chickens and their feathers and feces, etc. My chickens get their meat protein out on range.

 

[call ducks]

Chickens are not herbivores they need protein that comes from other sources such as animal proteins or insect proteins. treating a chicken like a herbivore should not be done and the need the vital proteins that come from animal/insect proteins. I know of at least one person with an animal nutrition background in poultry that agrees with me and I am sure if I talked to others in the poultry sector they would agree that animal/insect protein is needed in a poultry diet. This is why poultry companies in europe are starting to implement the use of insect protein in poultry feed (or at least starting the process/getting approval)

 

[aoxa]

Chickens are not herbivores they need protein that comes from other sources such as animal proteins or insect proteins. treating a chicken like a herbivore should not be done and the need the vital proteins that come from animal/insect proteins. I know of at least one person with an animal nutrition background in poultry that agrees with me and I am sure if I talked to others in the poultry sector they would agree that animal/insect protein is needed in a poultry diet. This is why poultry companies in europe are starting to implement the use of insect protein in poultry feed (or at least starting the process/getting approval)

I'm totally cool with not having the protein directly into the food. I give my chickens animal protein I know comes from good sources.

I often give them organ meats from my kills. Recently they just devoured a raw carcass of a chicken I didn't use for stock (eviscerated it right away and decided to give them a treat). They loved it, and they picked it clean.

Fish meal in poultry feed can go rancid pretty quickly, unless you add it in as you feed. Unfortunately I can't find fish meal here.. I don't know why.

For a boring winter day I've been known to buy them crickets for fun.

 

[Bossroo]

Chickens are not herbivores they need protein that comes from other sources such as animal proteins or insect proteins. treating a chicken like a herbivore should not be done and the need the vital proteins that come from animal/insect proteins. I know of at least one person with an animal nutrition background in poultry that agrees with me and I am sure if I talked to others in the poultry sector they would agree that animal/insect protein is needed in a poultry diet. This is why poultry companies in europe are starting to implement the use of insect protein in poultry feed (or at least starting the process/getting approval)

Substitute Vegan /vegetarian for the first word of this paragraph ... then have some fun with one with this analogy .

 

[aoxa]

Big Bertha and her Jumbo eggs! 4-5 a week since she was 18 weeks old.

So if you raise them right, they can very well reach laying age. Big Bertha is VERY healthy and doesn't have any leg or joint issues. She roosts at the highest level, but is slower than the others when running, so she gets mated quite frequently. She has a big of dried blood on her neck from an over zealous rooster. Their days are numbered... (the roosters).

 

[Ekim]

aoxa,
Are you planning to hatch out any of big Bertha's eggs?

Bertha was one of your smaller pullets during the grow out, is that right?

Thanks Mike