My Cornish X experiment

[duluthralphie]

I ordered 25 CornishX's in mid July. I tried to get them at my local feed mill, but alas they were done with chicks for the year so I was forced to order from the hatchery.

I was going to be going by the hatchery (which is way down south in Iowa) and wanted to stop by on my way home. I found out they do limited hatches of them. They had some hatching by the 30th of July. I Would have to go without or have them mailed. I really wanted them mid-July so they would not interfere with my pheasants I have hatching August 6th.

But I found a solution, I build another brooder, and my Wife never noticed it!

My plan with the X's is to raise them in the brooder for 2 weeks then turn them loose in a paddock. I will be throwing scratch on the ground and feeding them for a short time each evening. Moving them to free range with limited food by week 3.


They were to arrive on July 31. they did not. They arrived on August 1st. all were in good shape but thirsty. They took to the water right away.

I ordered 25 and got 26. As of this AM they are still alive. I threw a little feed on the "red" paper I have lining the brooder for them. They immediately pecked at it and by last night were eating out of the feeder. Pooping appears good.

I would like to weigh them but am unsure how to do it. I do not want to base weight gains on one chick and have no idea how to tell them apart. I think bands would be awkward and dangerous at the rate they grow. Any Ideas?

Here they are freshly arrived:






BTW this is as much for my benefit as anyone else, I want a record of what I am doing with them, this seems a good place to keep it and I can get input from others If I make an error.


For those of you concerned this is against the nature of these birds, I will not starve them or allow them to get too big to walk, etc. I will gladly put any chick that seems distressed into the freezer. I harvested 23 CornishX's in July 12th. I let them eat as much as they wanted and was forced to process them then as they were starting to have ascites and heart attacks. They taste great but are no different than golden plump birds from Walmart. I want to make a bird that tastes more like the birds I remember from 50 years ago when I was a kid.


I do have some other "heavies" I am raising for meat also, but they are free ranging. HOWEVER, I am really interested in what I can do with these birds!


Thanks for reading if your still with me.

 

[duluthralphie]

Sorry I have not written here for a few days. I have been on essential Grandpa duties.

My daughter and her husband both had to work and their baby sitter was on vacation, so diaper duty fell to me. It was great!

Anyways about the CX's, I received a call from my Mother yesterday morning. ( just so this make sense to everyone) We own what is left of the farm I grew up on. We have a measly 13 acres left. It is the homestead and a few acres of pasture. There are 2 homes on the property, My wife and I live in the old house (the one I grew up in) and remodeling it. My Mother lives in the newer home, which they built after I left home so my brothers would have a nicer place to live, ( poor me)......

My mother is 84, but very spry. One of the reasons we moved here was to allow her to continue to live in her home. When I was gone she was "taking care" of my chickens along with my wife.


Anyways back to the call, It goes like this:

Mom: One 0f your little chicks died.

Me: Which ones?

Mom: the white butcher ones in that cage thing you built

Me: Oh, how?

Mom: I have no idea

Me: Did you look at it?

Mom: yes,

Me: Did it have a pasty butt, dried poop on the butt hole? Was the belly full of water? Did you see any wounds?

Mom: Pasty butt? No, its butt was yellow fuzz.

Me: Where is the dead chick now?

Mom: in the garbage truck.

Me: And you have no Idea why it died?

Mom: Not really, it was perfectly healthy and died.but it might have been the one I hit with the net yesterday.

Me: WHAT????

Mom: Yea, I hit one with the net when it dug out of the pen.

Me: How did it dig out of the pen?

Mom: well, they use their feet and scratch and they scratched a hole under the cage thingy.

Me: I understand they can scratch, I always put a board in the areas they are scratching near the edge of the cage.

Mom: Well, I put a 2x4 over the hole now.

Me: Ok. But I need to know why did you hit the chick with the net.

Mom: well I was trying to catch it, and it was running real fast And I could not catch it.

Me: A 3 week old chick can out run you?

Mom: NO, but it was running around the cage and would change directions every time I did. But I saw your net and grabbed it to catch the chick. When I reached for it I hit it instead.

Me: was it hurt?

Mom: I don't think so, but I never looked, I just threw it back in the cage.

Me: thanks Mom, sorry my chick caused you so much trouble....


And that is the official reason I am down to 24 chicks...............
I was hoping to get them out of the tractor today but the weather here is not good for a first day out.

If it gets better this afternoon I may give it a shot.

 

[JacobH]

Mine act just like regular chickens. I'm convinced that most of the negative feedback comes from people who treat them just like Tyson does from the start. They feed them 24/7, put their water right next to the feeder, and then complain and whine when their birds won't move 2 feet. I've been letting mine play outside off and on when the weather is nice, and they chase bugs, dust bathe, scratch around like crazy, etc. I say that if you just want feed to weight conversion, then don't complain about how the birds act. You're buying birds that are bred just for that purpose! But if you want a healthy, happy chicken, then you need to take proactive steps toward that end. Mine get fed 2-3 times a day, and only as much as they'll eat pretty quick. When they're done, they walk away and leave some feed behind. They do take a nap after eating, but within 30 minutes they're up and scratching like crazy through the wood chips and chasing one another around. They have a bad habit of jumping up and biting their wire roof, which makes a loud bang and scares everyone to death. But it's hilarious for me.

Anyway. Back to the topic. We had 3 die in the first week. Two of those arrived looking pretty rough. The other started to deteriorate pretty soon after he got here. They were all small. We expected to lose some though, and we're still +1 on the extras they sent. I have found that if they're gonna pass, they do so pretty quickly. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[duluthralphie]

They look just like mine... I am guessing some are close to 4-5 lbs now. But they are not waddling are having trouble walking at all. I am so happy with them. If I want to catch one I have to run! And for a fat old man that is a lot of work..

 

[DelcoChix]

For marking meaties try different colored pipe cleaners or plastic wire ties--we've taken the white/clear plastic ties and colored them with different colored makers. Just have to make sure they are looser on their legs, especilly if you put them on when chicks are younger. We mark my dd's fair market project birds with the plastic ties, but put them on when they are about 5-6 weeks old to narrow down the ones who are in the running for her market pen of three...
Good luck--sounds like an interesting experiment!

 

[Bukbuk Betty]

Hi there, Nice to read your progress with the cornish X's!

The birds definitely do stay cleaner if they're on pasture, if they're in moving pens or free-range, on clean ground every day, and have to get up to move between feed and water. I also hang my feeders so that they have to stand to eat. Less leg problems that way, as I understand. Use em or lose em? When I took our birds in for processing last fall, the lads who were taking my birds commented several times that they were the cleanest birds they had seen in a really long time. One said they'd make nice feather pillows! lol. I told him to help himself to the feathers. ha ha!
I'm not set up at this time to process birds at home. The plant is close enough and inexpensive so I go that route for now. Still learning this meat bird thing.
Cheers!

 

[duluthralphie]

2 days since I posted everything was going good.

I have been feeding 10-12 hours a day feeding 18% protein.

The weather here has been hot and humid. (Hot for Minnesota) Mid- high 80's.

I am still running a white heat lamp. The birds are not huddling even at night when outdoor temps fall into high 50's.


Chicks are going through nearly a quart of water a day, I expect that to increase dramatically soon.

This morning when I gave them back the feed, I noticed one chick hunched over and very lethargic. I tried to get it to drink, it refused. It is still walking just not much.

I moved it to the ICU, ( a piece of a plastic barrel, with both ends cut off, we place it on red paper and line the red paper with paper towels so we can watch the droppings and give the birds traction for walking, the whole area is 99-100 degrees with a red heat lamp) ICU is in our basement.

I have a feeling I will lose this chick. There is a pheasant chick in ICU with it, hopefully they can keep each other company. ICU mainly keeps the others from harassing is. My wife watches over ICU better than me. She is a hospice nurse and even dying chicks get her care and love.


Any ideas on saving the chick will be appreciated.

 

[duluthralphie]

I'm sorry to hear about your chick. It's an unfortunate part of raising chickens. At least he was cared for.

That's awesome about those hens. I wonder if they get around ok? I've read a bit into the breeding, and some of the traits aren't supposed to carry on correctly. Some birds will get the right traits, some won't. Apparently it's a crapshoot, which is why most won't do it.

I'm happy to hear about yours being healthy. Mine did the same thing with feed last night. It was later than I normally feed them, so most were settled down for the night, and only a couple got up to eat. Crazy compared to the normal feed stampede.

Yes, he said they were healthy and walk around, he said the eggs were larger than store bought jumbos!

Some of mine stampeded, in fact the majority did, I was surprised all of them did not. I will try to mark those that do not stampede in the future. I want the ones that are not as glutinous.

 

[duluthralphie]

Don't forget that you need to use grit for when you start using whole seeds like oats. Thick sand with pebbles will do.

I am sorry I forgot to put into the notes here, I started grit on day 3. I bought a small bag of grit and give them it right away. I always do, I was taught by my grandmother as a little kid, God bless her soul, all birds need grit. Of course she just duh gravel for them. I being much lazier bought the grit.


Also the tractor is in a semi-sandy spot with many little stones for them to pick at.

Thank you for mentioning the grit. I never thought to mention it and it is so very important for their little gizzards to work.

 

[LindaB220]

I feel the same about FF. I maybe need to read more of Linda's posts about it. I'm not against it. Just not sure yet.

Duluth you don't understand. This isn't just at feeding time. This is every time they see me! I walk into the yard to check in on them and all 26 come running and completely surround me. They like the little scritches on the neck or pets that I give them. They seem to just like the interaction with me. It's like having a ton of toddlers! When I finally break free they all run off back to what they were doing but they really feel they all must greet me profusely. My neighbors, husband and kids all watch this craziness and think it's hysterical. They call me the crazy chicken lady. I even have the tee shirt.

I could not imagine trying to get through the sea of chicks and try ladling feed into their trough while not hurting myself or one of them. I should have my husband record it so you can see my dilemma.

Bahahaha

I do understand your questions. I feed twice a day. In a trough. When I carried the big dishpan in the coop, they knocked it out of my hands and it turned upside down. Fussing at them I managed to turn it over and they ate from the pan. I have to be a little more proactive about holding on but these aren't even CX's. They are my layers. It will be tough but for saving money, keeping the poop smell down and having to water a lot less I like it. So healthy for the birds. You feed about 1/2 c to 1 c a day. Later maybe a little more. If you want to do a bunch get one of those 18 gallon containers form WM. Fill 40% water with 2-3 T ACV and sitr, Start adding your grower. Stir and add. When it is getting stiff add more water and stir more. Let sit a few min. It should be thick like oatmeal. You'll need a big spoon or paddle. Cover with a towel and lay the lid on top. Stir daily for 4 days. Start to feed out. When it has a couple of servings left in the bottom add a bunch of water and stir. Keep adding water and grain until you're back at the top. It will be ready overnight without having to add anymore Apple Cider Vinegar. I have my container and new feed and will start making it in that instead of 2 five gallon buckets that I feed out in 4 days. I have thirty five but have 3 doz eggs ready to hatch or go into the 'bator. The white plymouth rocks that will hatch in 2 days are supposed to be BIG so I'll see if they eat as much as CX. I can't do the CX until next spring. Too much on my plate and not enough coops. "Ain't that always the way"