100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[kuntrygirl]

I just orderd 100 broilers and they are scehduled to arrive in January 2014. I have a few questions for anyone who has had 100 broilers at one time. Can you tell me how were they housed? Were they in movable tractors? If so, how big was the tractor (measurements)? How much area is needed per chick in a chicken tractor? How much feed did they consume each week? At what age did you process them? What was the average weights of the broilers? How many did you lose before process time?

I would love to hear your stories with a large number of broilers at one single time.

 

[journey11]

Most I've done in one batch has been 45, but I think I can answer most of your questions. Here's a link to a blog post I wrote on a batch I did a couple years ago, with a spreadsheet of all my numbers and how things worked out.

Can you tell me how were they housed? Were they in movable tractors?

I prefer to tractor mine on pasture. I think it's better for their health. They poo sooooo much. It doesn't take long before they're wading in it if you don't have a pen you can move daily.

If so, how big was the tractor (measurements)?

My tractor is 8X8. Here's a pic of it where you can see the set up.

How much area is needed per chick in a chicken tractor?

They say you can put up to 90 CX in a tractor that size. They don't move around as much as normal chickens and they don't pick on each other like normal chickens do either. However, unless you want to have to move your tractor a couple times a day (the poo issue), I don't think I'd put that many in there. Most I would put in mine would probably be 50. I've got 31 in my tractor currently and they have plenty of room.

How much feed did they consume each week?

On Dumor 24% turkey chick feed up to age 4 weeks and Dumor 20% chick feed to finish, mine consumed 17.84 lbs of feed each on average. Your management practices can greatly effect that though. These were also tractored on pasture.

At what age did you process them?

7 weeks old for the males, 9 weeks old for the females. If you go much past 11 weeks the risk of heart and leg problems increases drastically.

What was the average weights of the broilers?

I only weighed 3 of mine live out of curiosity. They were between 8 and 9 pounds live. I weighed all of them after processing and the average weight I got was 4.92 lbs dressed out.

How many did you lose before process time?

For the first 3 years I had raised them, I lost about 2 or 3 chicks each time, all under 2 weeks of age. This year I've got them on an entirely different feed, a locally sourced whole/cracked grain feed. I haven't lost any this year and haven't had any heart or leg problems with these. Prior to that, I also would have maybe 1 or 2 with leg problems that still made it to processing, but weren't as large as the others.

Hope that gives you some idea what to expect. At least you've got a couple of months to work out all the details.

 

[PotterWatch]

Can you tell me how were they housed? Were they in movable tractors?

We usually did batches around 100-125 each. They were all in the same brooder until 3wks old (8x8), and then we split them into two groups of 50-60 and put them in tractors out on pasture. Our tractors were 10x10 and had about 24ft of trough feeders and one bell waterer that was hooked up to two 5gallon buckets. In the heat of the summer, we had to fill the buckets twice a day. They got fed and moved once per day.


How much feed did they consume each week?

Ours were on a 22% organic starter/grower their whole lives and went through about 16.5 lbs per bird over the course of 8wks.


At what age did you process them?

8 weeks.


What was the average weights of the broilers?

No idea on live weight, but dressed weight was an average of 5lbs.


How many did you lose before process time?

Some batches we lost more than others. Some batches just seemed weaker for some unknown reason. Overall, we lost around 5%.

 

[aoxa]

A question......................Kinda off topic but same subject (Broilers).

When talking to non-chicken people about Broilers, they are saying that broilers are Genetically modified and are turning their nose up at me when I talk about broilers. I know that broilers are not genetically modified birds from everything that I have read.

Have you all experienced people trying to make you feel bad about raising, processing and eating broilers because they think these birds are genetically modified. Thoughts anyone?

OH YES. Had this huge conversation on our farm page on FB.

For those of you who answered my earlier question about the commercial broiler chicken being genetically modified, the answer is a resounding NO.

Many, MANY people BELIEVE that the commercial broiler is genetically modified to grow so fast their legs break, and their hearts give out.
Cornish X (Commercial Broiler) are selectively bred to have the best feed conversion out there. This means that for every two pounds of grain the chicken eats, it will gain one pound in return. A Dual purpose rooster will have a 5:1 feed conversion ratio in comparison.

Cornish X put on weight very quickly. They are selectively bred to do so. They have an insatiable hunger, and if allowed food access 24/7, will take full advantage.

Let me tell you another thing... It does NOT have to be that way. Feed does not have to be offered to these broilers at all times! When you restrict feed you will see these commercial broilers (CX) acting as if their goal in life is to run, fly, and catch bugs. They are the very best scavengers I have ever raised. They will forage and hunt for acres in search of worms, grubs, plants and yes.. mice and toads as well.

They are selectively bred to produce desirable traits.
Herding dogs were bred to herd, Huskies were bred to pull a sled and Bloodhounds were bred to track. Are they genetically modified? No. Neither are the commercial broilers.

While we are HIGHLY against any type of factory farming operation, the commercial broiler is used by many small hobby farms as well to produce the most tender chicken possible for their family. They are raised in organic, pastured settings by big names such as Joel Salatin.

Anything that has been genetically modified can not be stamped with the "Certified Organic" label.

I for one used to believe that they were genetically modified. That was before I took the time to research the breed before we took the leap into raising our own chickens for meat. I was afraid that they would not be what I wanted them to be, or act how I wanted them to act. Free ranging chickens was at the core of how our farm operates. I couldn't give that up just for the tender chicken my palate craved.

After raising them for a year, my opinion on the Cornish X has done a complete 180. They do not have to be the frankenchickens we hear about. They do not have to sit in their own filth all day and have heart attacks at six weeks old.

I like to compare the CX to an obese toddler.. If an obese toddler was offered a buffet full of pastries, French Fries, chicken nuggets and candy, would they refuse? NO. The CX will not refuse food that is right in front of them. Many adult humans have this issue as well.

If we want our chickens to have that tenderness of a commercial broiler, but all the flavour of a dual purpose bird the key is grain restriction. If you restrict their intake of what YOU provide them, they are then forced to find all the goodness that mother nature has to offer. All of the exercise involved in obtaining that goodness creates strong bones, healthy organs and results in flavourful meat while still meeting our standard of an ethically raised chicken.

The definition of Genetic Modification "Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of an organism's genome using biotechnology"

So the bottom line is this: They are not genetically modified.


+Here was my response.

90% of people asked thought they were.. Sad...​

 

[kuntrygirl]

Good morning everyone. I have an update for you again.

All of the broilers are doing great. I haven't lost any yet.

When I arrived home, all of their feeders were empty, so I filled up their feeders with more FF. I am noticing that the FF is having a few dry, hard areas but not really a problem. The holes are located inside the feeder right under the metal area next to the opening (makes sense). So, what I am having to do is add a few sprinkles of warm water to moisten it up again.

Pic of feeder where you can see hard areas.

Here is another type feeder that I use for them. Filled to capacity the feed (along with the feeder) weighed 3 lbs 10.9 ounces. When I get back home, I will see and weigh how much has been eaten. I also want to compare the weight of dry crumble to that FF moistened crumble with all of the other ingredients. I will weigh the dry crumble in this same container to see how much it weighs. Just out of curiosity. I will deduct the weight of the feeder itself of course.

I stumbled across an idea of another type of feeder that looks like it may work. I looked at my ice cube trays and a light went off in my head, so I had to try filling the ice cube tray with FF. I was worried about them getting stuck in between the holes in the metal feeders and dieing, so I am looking for other ideas for feeders. When I first set the metal feeders out, several of them were getting stuck and I had to manually take off the top and remove them. In my opinion, that is a hazard that I won't want to deal with. I would be worried. For my next batch of broilers, I WILL NOT be using those metal feeders the first few weeks and maybe not at all. By this time next year, I will have probably come up with an idea with a feeder design and have someone make me a feeder just for them.

Anyway, this is what it the ice cube tray looked like when it was filled at 5:46 PM yesterday evening. The feed weighed 1 lb 9.6 ounces.

And this is what it looked like this morning at 6:00 AM. The remaining weighed 8.3 ounces.

Ok, so now for the weights. I tried to look at all of the broilers to get my 3 test subjects from the Small, Medium and Large categories.

This is what their weights were on yesterday evening.

SMALL FRAME BROILER
1.7 ounces

MEDIUM FRAME BROILER
2.6 ounces

LARGE FRAME BROILER
3.2 ounces
*The scale kept going up to 3.4 then 3.3 and then 3.2. When the camera flashed it took the pic of 3.2. Afterwards, it kept a steady weight of 3.3 but was unable to keep the little buggar on the scale long enough to re-take the pic. So I"ll just use the 3.2 oz weight.

Now I am more comfortable with documenting weights because I can get an idea from 3 different groups. I know that a small frame broiler will not weight 3.3 ounces and I don't want to think that all of my broilers weigh that much. This way, I won't be too disappointed when I have some that weigh WAY more than others.

There is still more FF in the first container but I have another batcher going as well. I think the 1st batch will be gone this evening when I re-fill the feeders when I get home. The first batch contained 16 lbs of 26% Gamebird Feed. I also added 1 scoop of rough rice and 4 lbs of yogurt.

The second batch will be 25 gallons of 26% Gamebird Feed, 1 feed scoop of rough rice and 4 lbs of yogurt. I want to add some BOSS to it as well as other ingredients.

I"m looking forward to warmer temps this weekend so that I can put them outside to run around.

ETA: Still waiting to find out the actual hatch day. I know that the place where I picked them up had picked them up early that morning on 1-3-2014, so they are at least 1 day old. 2 days old at the oldest. So they are at least 7 days old. The lady will be calling me back to give me the actual hatch date and then I will let you all know.

 

[aoxa]

I wanted to mention the cons (for me) as far as using the shavings.

This may sound picky but for me every second and every minute that I waste doing something else (that can be avoided), has an impact on the chores with my animals because those seconds and minutes add up. I say that to say that now I am having to take the waterers out of the brooders and get the shavings out of there. There are so many shavings in there and I don't want the shavings to be in the way of them drinking, that I have to clean it out twice a day. In a normal situation, I would simply walk outside the garage door and empty the water out. BUT since there are shavings in the water, I can't dump the water filled with shavings in the yard because shavings (littered yard) will be everywhere. So, I a bucket that I carry back and forth to both brooders and I tilt the waterer over so that I can pour the water in the base part out or swipe my fingers around the base, multiple times, to remove the shavings. This takes time because I have 4 gallon waterers total in all of the brooders. Same thing for the FF. Before I was using the shavings, I was scraping out any uneaten FF and giving to the animals in the chicken yard. Now, I can't do that. There are shavings in the FF and I'm afraid to feed this to my other animals because I know they will eat the shavings. Not sure what eaten shavings would do to them but I don't want to find out.

So, that's another thing that I will add to the PRO/CON list of raising my broilers at the end of this project.

Learning process.

You should lift the waters up on blocks of wood. Don't set them right on the shavings.

Also, you could bring a bucket and empty the rims of the waterers out in the bucket and dump the bucket in the compost later on.

I would go for the lifting of the water. A few flakes still get in, but nothing big.

 

[Beekissed]

Killing cones--- I don't use them but I have seen Beekissed post hers. Use a clox bleach bottle. Cut the top off including 1/2 the handle ; and cut out the bottom and nail to a tree. Hang up a few of these to process a few at a time. She posted pic recently so I'm sure you can track down the post in her history.

Ask and you shall receive! A 2 gal. bleach jug that is nice and tall, not short and fat, is the ticket for the larger CX birds and also fits well for the smallest silkie bird.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Ok. Here are my results from this weekend. My final count was 9 broilers processed (11 weeks old). Due to people stopping in, I couldn't process any more. I may try to process 3 every evening when I get off from work and more this upcoming weekend. I'm hoping. The broiler pen seems so much more quieter and the food is lasting longer.

Live Weight - Processed Weight
Broiler #1 4.18 lbs - 3.88 lbs
Broiler #2 4.80 lbs - 4.10 lbs
Broiler #3 3.80 lbs - 3.50 lbs
Broiler #4 3.14 lbs - 2.60 lbs
Broiler #5 3.15 lbs - 2.68 lbs
Broiler #6 3.14 lbs - 2.62 lbs
Broiler #7 2.98 lbs - 2.55 lbs
Broiler #8 2.92 lbs - 2.50 lbs
Broiler #9 3.10 lbs - 2.76 lbs

Here is a pic of all of them bagged for resting in the fridge. Bought 100 bags for $3.00 at a local poultry place.

Here is a pic of one of them skinned.

Here is a pic of a broiler that I smothered last night. This is a broiler from the batch that was processed on last Thursday. It was SO GOOD!

Here is a pic of the first order that went out this morning. This customer wanted 1 small broiler and 3 leg quarters. This broiler weighed 3 lbs 5 ounces.

As long and as much as I have been complaining about the small weights, I am surprised that people are calling and requesting small broilers. Everyone wants either 2 lb'ers or 3 lb'ers. No one has requested anything over 3 lbs. They say they prefer the smallers broilers because they feel the meat will have more flavor and be tastier and juicier and more tender than a big broiler. So, it sounds as if the smaller weights are working out better than I expected. And there I was worried about the weights. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't have the larger broilers because no one would have wanted them. No one wants a big broiler.

I did give 3 of the broilers away to 3 elderly people in my neighborhood. They are all on a fixed income and I know they love fresh farm chickens. I will probably give 1 to my neighbor and offer another broiler to the neighbor across the street whose dog killed my turkey and duck. (That's another story).

The ones that were resting in the fridge from last Thursday have been bagged and placed in the freezer. We're off to a great start. Some of the broilers that were processed Saturday, will go in the freezer on tomorrow after I get a few orders together. As people are placing orders, I'm giving them a day that the order will be ready and I will deliver on that day. It's not as bad as I thought.

 

[BCMaraniac]

They aren't GMO.....they are hybrids.......BIG difference. That would mean mules are GMO. I live in a very rural area, so nobody gets on their high horse about such things.

Don't they know that the chicken they eat is the same bird?

 

[BCMaraniac]

OH YES. Had this huge conversation on our farm page on FB.

For those of you who answered my earlier question about the commercial broiler chicken being genetically modified, the answer is a resounding NO.

Many, MANY people BELIEVE that the commercial broiler is genetically modified to grow so fast their legs break, and their hearts give out.
Cornish X (Commercial Broiler) are selectively bred to have the best feed conversion out there. This means that for every two pounds of grain the chicken eats, it will gain one pound in return. A Dual purpose rooster will have a 5:1 feed conversion ratio in comparison.

Cornish X put on weight very quickly. They are selectively bred to do so. They have an insatiable hunger, and if allowed food access 24/7, will take full advantage.

Let me tell you another thing... It does NOT have to be that way. Feed does not have to be offered to these broilers at all times! When you restrict feed you will see these commercial broilers (CX) acting as if their goal in life is to run, fly, and catch bugs. They are the very best scavengers I have ever raised. They will forage and hunt for acres in search of worms, grubs, plants and yes.. mice and toads as well.

They are selectively bred to produce desirable traits.
Herding dogs were bred to herd, Huskies were bred to pull a sled and Bloodhounds were bred to track. Are they genetically modified? No. Neither are the commercial broilers.

While we are HIGHLY against any type of factory farming operation, the commercial broiler is used by many small hobby farms as well to produce the most tender chicken possible for their family. They are raised in organic, pastured settings by big names such as Joel Salatin.

Anything that has been genetically modified can not be stamped with the "Certified Organic" label.

I for one used to believe that they were genetically modified. That was before I took the time to research the breed before we took the leap into raising our own chickens for meat. I was afraid that they would not be what I wanted them to be, or act how I wanted them to act. Free ranging chickens was at the core of how our farm operates. I couldn't give that up just for the tender chicken my palate craved.

After raising them for a year, my opinion on the Cornish X has done a complete 180. They do not have to be the frankenchickens we hear about. They do not have to sit in their own filth all day and have heart attacks at six weeks old.

I like to compare the CX to an obese toddler.. If an obese toddler was offered a buffet full of pastries, French Fries, chicken nuggets and candy, would they refuse? NO. The CX will not refuse food that is right in front of them. Many adult humans have this issue as well.

If we want our chickens to have that tenderness of a commercial broiler, but all the flavour of a dual purpose bird the key is grain restriction. If you restrict their intake of what YOU provide them, they are then forced to find all the goodness that mother nature has to offer. All of the exercise involved in obtaining that goodness creates strong bones, healthy organs and results in flavourful meat while still meeting our standard of an ethically raised chicken.

The definition of Genetic Modification "Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of an organism's genome using biotechnology"

So the bottom line is this: They are not genetically modified.​

​

​

+Here was my response.​

​

90% of people asked thought they were.. Sad...​

​

What is so amazing is practically anyone who eats chicken they do not raise is eating CX. Even chickens purchased at the farmers' market is likely the CX, but one that is raised differently than those in the broiler industry. I think it's another way for them to disassociate themselves from where their food comes from, and because those who raise their own chicken have a skill that they themselves do not possess. Some people emulate those who possess skills they do not have in an effort to improve themselves, while others demonize and criticize those same individuals to make themselves appear better.