Raising a variety of meat breeds

[OrganicFarmWife]

I got my second batch of meat birds. Hopefully I will have better luck this time. I ordered again from Hoover's and again I got a box full of happy healthy chick's.

I ordered 9 straight run jersey giants, 8 red Ranger and 8 rainbow Dixie again.

This is the older chick's checking out their new brooder mates.
The older chick's no longer need the heat and spend all day outside in the broiler pen.

I pull them inside every night because I do not think they are ready to spend all night on the ground...need to fashion a run of some sort between the future tractor and the broiler pen. I do not dare allow them out free yet I know from experience that my farm cats are brutal. My current solution is to transport them in a large rabbit cage (I have them trained to come in at sight of food dish) but that will not work with 25 birds, especially as large as those birds get. I need to get a better picture, but my meat birds are only a week older then their broodmate layers.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

We finally were able to work on the tractor again today. We finished the roof and got the front covered with hardware cloth.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Meanwhile my surviving broilers are growing fast

The larger bird, maybe Red Ranger?, is only a week older then the smaller layers.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

My second batch of meat birds are doing well. They are now a week old and I went ahead and got a weight for them.

First up is the Rainbow Dixie Males. I have five of them. Their average weight is 96 grams, the largest being 112 grams, my smallest is 75 grams.

Second up is my Red Ranger Males, he was not interested in the photo op. I also have five of these. The average weight of these is 105 grams, the largest being 127 grams, the smallest being 61 grams.

Finally I have eight Jersey Giants, started with ten. They seemed to fair the worst in the travel. These are a straight run. The average weight of these chicks is 54 grams, the largest being 63, the smallest being 49.
I also have a mixture of female Rainbow Dixie and Red Ranger, they are not as clearly marked so will wait to compare weights.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

I like the wagon...

I just finished building one my self

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I like the wagon...

I just finished building one my self

Pictures?

 

[MannyB]

Maybe late now but I have seen the bedding in my brooder be the cause of wet chicks.
Sometimes they will kick the bedding up into the waterer edge and then a wicking action through the wood chips or paper can drain the waterer into the bedding. I caught it quick in my brooder but it still drawing bed half the quart sized waterer in 30 min.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Maybe late now but I have seen the bedding in my brooder be the cause of wet chicks.
Sometimes they will kick the bedding up into the waterer edge and then a wicking action through the wood chips or paper can drain the waterer into the bedding. I caught it quick in my brooder but it still drawing bed half the quart sized waterer in 30 min.

Yeah that was kind of what people suggested when I came on here after looking for answers. I have always used straw, never had a problem, but something definitely went wrong that time. I did switch to a quail waterer and do not allow them a regular waterer until 3 weeks now (tad bit paranoid still). It means I have to check more frequently because they go through the pint pretty quickly. But I hated having all of those losses.
But thanks for confirming what others suggested, it is probably exactly what happened.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Week 2

First up are the Dixie Rainbows:

They average 230g (8.11 oz), making them have a 134g weight gain.

Next is the Red Ranger

They weigh an average of 226g (7.97 oz), with a gain of 121g
The Jersey Giants

They weigh an average of 125g (4.41 oz), gaining 71g.
My layers, mixed Barr Rock and Buff Orpington of the same age weigh an average of 128g with a weight gain of 76g.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

My 7 week old meat birds compared to my 6 week old layers (Leghorn and Australorp (I think))
They spend most of the day outside in the broiler pen, it is getting to be a chore to get them into the cage to carry them into the brooder, but they are much safer there.