My Cornish X. 1st time with meaties!

[Pipe Dreaming]

I ordered 25 Cornish X and got them 2 weeks ago. About 4 days old:

The hatchery sent me an extra, and unfortunately we lost one chick and used up our bonus bird already. He had splayed legs from day 1 and despite making him a splint with a tiny piece of a straw and rubber band. .he didn't make it.
I decided to ferment their feed and that's going well. They're on chick starter unmedicated. I add a little dry feed on top of the fermented..mix it up and they go crazy over it.

I am having a hard time trying to figure out if I'm feeding them too much..not enough or just the right amount.. they get fed at 7 am ..enough to where they leave about half after everyone's had their fill. By noon they're out and "starving". I don't want them to get too big too fast and have issues. I hope that them being out of food for a few hours won't hurt them (they're 2 weeks old now and I've started letting their food run out since they were 1 week.)
They look good to me so far. I can't believe how big they are already. I swear they look like little turkeys. Here they are at 12 days old:

I've started using 2 red trays now so that everyone has more room.

I also cut the dividers to make the holes twice as big.

And their set up.. they have 15 week old laying hen chicks for neighbors.

Does anyone else notice the toes on theirs curling in? I have a few that are doing that.

 

[havery]

I didn't start restricting feed until after they hit 2 weeks and started to feather out. Even now, it's all you can eat from 7 am to 7 pm and I pick it up at night. I don't know about the toes curling under, I haven't witnessed that. Is it affecting how they walk or is it just now they hold them while laying down?

 

[Pipe Dreaming]

So far they seem to be walking (or waddling) around fine - toes seem to straighten out... but there's a couple that have toes that curl in when they're laying down.

I can't believe how fast they're growing, just worried they're going to grow too fast - but it sounds like they're not getting too much. Thanks for replying!

 

[TyerFamilyFarm]

I've been watching my birds and wondering about the toe curling. I have my first batch out in a chicken tractor and they are all walking around great. But about 30% have curled toes when standing. They don't seem to walk different and the toes straighten when they step. They are all thriving and foraging great. They are now at 4.5 weeks and I just got in my second batch. This has been a great experience with these birds. You hear all the horror stories but I have seen any of it. They are truly getting big now. I wish you luck on your and I have learned a lot of tricks raising these batches. This will be my first year doing it. I am only a couple weeks out from Butcher on batch one.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I wouldn't worry about the toes if the are walking OK. Cornish Cross are breed for fast growth. They will be ready to butcher in 8-10 weeks depending on how much feeding. Good luck.