Meat Bird Project - Delaware, White Rock, Dark Cornish

[KoopOnTruckin]

My humblest apologies my friend!
Today marks the end of finals week this term!! along with that, i started a new job working night shift security a total of 48 hours a week, which is a huge blessing to have some extra income right now but, to say the least, i have been BUSY!
Aside from those things, winter is coming more quickly than i would like it to so there is much preparation to be done on our mile-long dirt driveway, heating for our house, along with building a nice new coop and run for my test subjects (chickens).

I digress, I am hoping and planning to get more weights tomorrow afternoon (one day late, not too bad) and then i will post the updated information

Thank you so much for encouraging me and being an inspiration!!
Keep doing what you are doing

PS. the chicks are all doing well and starting to get their color! I'v been using 20%(i think) protein starter feed and so far, the new hampshire reds definitely have the edge over the Australorps and Delawares.

No apologies necessary, congrats on the new job! I'm in a similar industry, I'm a private investigator and have dabbled in the security world - I hope you enjoy it! And hopefully you aced the finals, yes a LOT going on in your world lately!!

 

[Ulladh]

Not sure what Finals are but good luck!. Ah man see private investigator always sounds cool, not sure how much it is used in the UK, but Im sure there are plenty!

Not sure if Ive said already, but my friend works on a poultry farm where they have I believe the "parent stock" for the broilers here. So they can breed and of course the kids are the super speedy growers. Might try and acquire a few eggs from him! I know some also have grand parent stock so not sure how they differ again or if theyre more "normal"

 

[Dlmillion]

An update at last!

So here are my latest weights and observations: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8In3P9Jq5XKUEtWbnJvVnpXXzQ
I was surprised to find this week that the Australorps as a whole have caught up to the New Hampshire Reds as far as weight and my two heaviest chicks are, indeed, Australorps!
Turns out, I have actually been feeding them an 18% feed from Purina: https://www.purinamills.com/backyard-poultry/products/start-grow
My biggest area of interest with this flock in particular is to compare the breeds before i experiment with different feeds and such. I'd actually prefer these ladies to grow more slowly and healthily as i plan on keeping the majority of them long-term as layers or breeders... Then I'll subject their children to many various experiments hahah.
It is definitely exciting to see the chicks developing and getting bigger! At the same time, it is a constant reminder that i need to get cranking on building a large enough coop and run for them sooner than later. I'm actually at work right now and I intend to draw up some plans tonight so that i can get materials on Tuesday and commence construction! Hopefully (probably more hopeful than realistic) i can get the coop finished enough to move the chicks over in two weeks. There is much work to be done but i know it will be worth it when it is finished.

@KoopOnTruckin I am enjoying this job very much because it gives me a whole lot of time to read my Bible, Pray, work on planning, researching, studying, and of course, composing rather cheesy love songs and poetry for my beautiful girlfriend (which she thoroughly enjoys i might add). Plus, i work four nights a week, 12 hours each night which gives me a respectable 8 hours of overtime each week!
Definitely relieved that this term is over! So far its looking good with A's in three of my four classes, hoping for at least a B in that fourth one.

@Ulladh "Finals" are just the final tests taken at the end of a class. I'm currently in my second year of college studying Agriculture Sience

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

An update at last!

So here are my latest weights and observations: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8In3P9Jq5XKUEtWbnJvVnpXXzQ
I was surprised to find this week that the Australorps as a whole have caught up to the New Hampshire Reds as far as weight and my two heaviest chicks are, indeed, Australorps!
Turns out, I have actually been feeding them an 18% feed from Purina: https://www.purinamills.com/backyard-poultry/products/start-grow
My biggest area of interest with this flock in particular is to compare the breeds before i experiment with different feeds and such. I'd actually prefer these ladies to grow more slowly and healthily as i plan on keeping the majority of them long-term as layers or breeders... Then I'll subject their children to many various experiments hahah.
It is definitely exciting to see the chicks developing and getting bigger! At the same time, it is a constant reminder that i need to get cranking on building a large enough coop and run for them sooner than later. I'm actually at work right now and I intend to draw up some plans tonight so that i can get materials on Tuesday and commence construction! Hopefully (probably more hopeful than realistic) i can get the coop finished enough to move the chicks over in two weeks. There is much work to be done but i know it will be worth it when it is finished.

@KoopOnTruckin I am enjoying this job very much because it gives me a whole lot of time to read my Bible, Pray, work on planning, researching, studying, and of course, composing rather cheesy love songs and poetry for my beautiful girlfriend (which she thoroughly enjoys i might add). Plus, i work four nights a week, 12 hours each night which gives me a respectable 8 hours of overtime each week!
Definitely relieved that this term is over! So far its looking good with A's in three of my four classes, hoping for at least a B in that fourth one.

@Ulladh "Finals" are just the final tests taken at the end of a class. I'm currently in my second year of college studying Agriculture Sience

Congrats on the great grades, and again on the job! It's a secure feeling to know that you've got a lot of good things going for you. LOL at the "cheesy love songs and poetry", as long as it brings a smile then you're doing a good job! I've written my share for my wife as well, but I think she just says they're good to save my feelings!!

Very interesting numbers! I thought the NHRs would stay the leaders of the pack for a while. BTW, love the names!! My first set was all named after presidents, the second set country singers and rappers, 3rd set Disney princesses, and the keepers from my current chicks will all be named after Marvel characters. Gotta get creative so you remember them easier.

18% protein is certainly fine, it's a good all-around chick starter/grower and will make sure they maintain a healthy weight. That is my concern as well for my keepers - I may pull separate them in the next few days and slowly bring them down to 18 or 20% to make sure they aren't too thick. I've never used Purina, let me know how you like it. I may use their Flock Raiser since it's 20% and about a buck cheaper than the Dumor I've used in the past.

What kind of coop are you thinking about building? New or recycled materials? Mine main coop is mostly made with recycled material, mainly because my wife wouldn't allow me to spend too much money. I've spent enough time on it to make sure it's secure, my wife now realizes this is a serious hobby for me, so she's letting me spend a bit more money when it's needed. There are a lot of plans online, but it's a lot more satisfying (in my experience) to come up with the plans and build it yourself from scratch. Post some pics as the project progresses, I'm curious to see what you come up with!

 

[Ulladh]

So my first weigh in of the chicks. Unfortunately I only had kitchen scales so they were going by 20 gram intervals. Not terribly accurate for things so small as chicks so looking some digital ASAP.

Out of 13 Chicks I have 8 at 80 grams+, 4 at 60 or 70 and one runt at 40. A late hatcher but catching up!

They are now about 4-5 days old. I'll do an update again I think at just 2 weeks to see how they're on

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

That's a pretty big gap, 40g-80g. But you're right, kind of difficult to glean too much from them when you're talking about 20g intervals. Wouldn't be such an issue when they reach the Kg mark, but now they could (theoretically) be 21 grams apart but the scale could show a 40g difference.

I also showed a pretty big gap between my biggest and smallest at that time, at week 1 I had a 41g difference. Somebody told me a couple weeks ago that we shouldn't begin to judge the chicks until they are full grown, because the runts will sometimes surpass the growth rate of the other previous leaders. I agree with the thought process, but my experience so far is that the smallest will likely stay the smallest until they are beyond the point of their table-weight, at least as far as feed efficiency goes. That's the point here, at least for me - what is the fastest growing and most feed-efficient bird for meat. If the runt surpasses the others only after 24 weeks, that doesn't do me any good when I plan to slaughter around 16-20 weeks.

 

[Ulladh]

Yeah to be honest I wasnt even going to include it, it was either a very late hatcher or a smaller egg, I had some pullet eggs with him so could be the issue. It has been marked to be ignored for future breeding and likely weighing because of this. Time might tell but it still hasnt got that same vigour as the others do.

Was a bit broken today when I seen one limping, not sure if a result of yesterday or what, but I hope its nothing moe than a sprain or itl be one chick down, I will be checking on them later.

I was told before and can see it with the adults, but the La Bresse breed, especially these which are grand children of original french stock, but they are definitely skittish/wildy. My hens like to see me coing now, but get too close or try and handle and you have a full blown scatter, when I was collecting them they kept the call even after being held, other hens might squawk but will calm down, these guys dont. So I see why they make good foragers when left to their own devices, but Im trying to handle the chicks as often as possible to calm them, bu they still go mad.

Just on the scales thing, I was going to buy a small digital one...but If I ever get stopped by the police there may be a few questions asked, not sure if they'd believe it is "to weigh my chickens"

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Just on the scales thing, I was going to buy a small digital one...but If I ever get stopped by the police there may be a few questions asked, not sure if they'd believe it is "to weigh my chickens"

LOL, yeah that could be concerning!! I've had my food scale only for 6 weeks now, and it has a good film of chicken "dust" on it, so it's very noticeable that it's not for food or "other" things... not sure if it will ever be for anything other than chicken and egg weighing.
https://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Digita...TF8&qid=1471971526&sr=8-3&keywords=food+scale

 

[Ulladh]

It's looking better today too, just going to set it back a bit!

What do you normally do for treats? They're still managing the chick crumb at the moment haha

Thanks for the link, ill see if they have a UK version! I borrowed our kitchen one but it's disappearance has been noticed

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

I've fed my chicks hardboiled eggs, crushed up enough that it no longer looks like an egg so they don't get any crazy ideas when they get older and start laying. It's got a good amount of protein, as well as several other things they like/need. Also mealworms are a favorite treat, also chock full of protein and make them go crazy.

On hot days, my wife likes to make "corn popsicles", just canned corn frozen in water and frozen in ice cube trays. The chickens like it, but they sometimes wait for the ice to melt a bit before they really go crazy for it.