100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[kuntrygirl]

Here is meganblythes info on her rangers project. Will be interesting to compare the numbers and see how these cornish stack up to these as the pack date has been moved up to about 11 weeks. This is from the thread megan started. Quote: To raise all 26 birds to the final harvest, we used 350 lbs of feed. That comes out to 13.5 lbs of feed per bird, with an average of 11 weeks to harvest. Based on what I ended up feeding them during the final 4-5 weeks I back calculated what I should've been feeding them earlier (interestingly, it matched up with how much they were eating free choice in the brooder...) Here is what I plan to do next time, for another batch of 25-26 chickens:
[TR] Week Pounds/day [/TR] [TR] 1 [TD]free choice[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 2 [TD]free choice[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 3 [TD]free choice[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 4 [TD]3.5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 5 [TD]4[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 6 [TD]5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 7 [TD]5.5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 8 [TD]6.5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 9 [TD]7[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 10 [TD]8[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 11 [TD]8.5[/TD] [/TR] [TR] 12 [TD]9[/TD] [/TR]

This is great info. I found a thread (not sure if it's this one) similar to this one.

 

[kuntrygirl]

 

 
[CONTENTEMBED=/t/832053/100-broilers-and-fermented-feed-project/990#post_12842014 layout=inline]hen I was raising up forty Guinea Keets I was going though 50 lbs of feed every week....  dry.  As you know guineas grow very fast doubling their size practically every week at first.  [/CONTENTEMBED]


For those who havent raised Gunieas, a Guinea Keet is about the size of a larger Bantam Chick.  when they hatch out.... by the end of two weeks they can motor up a good three to four feet in the air and by week 2.5 they can get up and roost in the rafters.  So they are eating pooping and messing up their brooder machines.  I call them little jack booters.  Because they stomp through and over anything in their way....  But DANG they will eat you out of house and home....  I am hoping FF will alleviate that.  Because Game bird starter is expensive.


deb

Yes, those little keets are a terror. They are soooooooo fast. When I moved mine outside on year to a dog kennel, one of them did just what you described and fly UP and OUT of the little spaced in the dog kennel . I couldn't believe it . It looked like a little humming bird. He came back in a couple days but he was gone gone gone. Not looking forward to keet hatching season this year but it's coming.

LOL  I was brooding in moms garage.... she will never forgive me.... it will never be the same.  Had about three escapees.... inside Caught them that day but it did take a while.  Then when i went to transfer them to a travel container for the trip up to my house one of the little reprobates flew out of the garage door and ONTO the roof and stood there screaming at me.    I was able to shoo him off but he flew to the next door neighbors yard and ran up to thier front door.  Myson trotted over there to catch it with the bird net where upon IT flew back to moms house and landed on the roof of her car...   I put the travel cage full of keets on the ground between the two cars and waited for him to run back to them for safety.   .... Bird net prevailed...  Whew.

HEy for those who havent got a bird net dont bother.....  Go to the fishing supply department and get a landing ned for fishing off a boat.  They are about twelve bucks with a collapsable handl and roebust enough net to handle chickens.

deb

Funny Story.

 

[kuntrygirl]

You got the 90 lbs of FF correct. I started with 100 broilers but I'm down to 96. Yep, 90 lbs of FF. A lot of that weight is the water that I put in for the FF but yep, 90 lbs of feed. 45 lbs two times today. I thought the scale was playing tricks on me . I had to weigh the feed again. I needed the dolly to push the bucket out there to the chicken pen. It was too heavy for me to carry with the FF in a 5 gallon bucket. :/

My christmas present this year was a heavy duty utility cart.  I'm gonna have to put my 5 gal on them and pull around.  You poor dear.  Get some rest.  You've earned it. 

That is a great present!!!!!

 

[kuntrygirl]

 
THanks for the tip on using a fishing net!!  After your stories I'm definitely NOT getting keets!! My kids were begging me for them in Jan when when they saw the guinea hens at a poultry show ans I said NO NO NO!

@ KG-- no idea how they manage the broilers. Everything is automated, lights controlled, environmentally controlled for ventilation, an amazing factory.

People either love em or hate em.  I love Guineas.  They are pretty wild till they go through their first spring and pair off ... boy girl boy girl  then they settle down.  But believe me you have to have alot of room around you because not only are they loud they wander a bit.  I have eighteen acres they would disappear into the chaparal.

They have a squeeky hinge noise they make while they are forageing or talking to each other.  So even if you cant see em you can tell where they are on the property for the most part.  All I would have to do is bang on the feed bucket and here they would come chittereing and flying about thirty feet off the ground.  to land on the roof and give me the stink eye to see If i really ment it.  

There were two main reasons I got guineas.  They are natural burglar alarms.  If they dont recognize you or there is something out of place on your property they will send off the alarm.  My house is two miles from the Mexican border.  The other reason is they are excellent buggers and wily where predators are concerned.    The chickens learn to rely on them for forwarning.  Fortunately not like peacocks and roosters they dont make noise at night  Unless something actually wakes them up.

I have actually had my little flock of seven Guineas escort a a coyote off the property....  I watched them as they charged and pecked at him as they drove him down the driveway.   He would turn his head around to look at them as if to say "This Aint Right".....

They sell well around here if I can only get the next batch raised up  LONG story.

deb

deb

I LOVE guineas. And I love the way they warn you of what' on it's way, what has made it to the yard and what they are running off the property. I saw mine run a large feral cat down the road and into the woods. 5 minutes later, they emerged from the wooded area and ran down the street making their LOUD VICTORIOUS noise in excitement and pride that they ran a predator off that looked and weighed way more than them.

There is an old man that lives about 30 minutes from me that literally has hundreds of guineas on about 100 acres of property. I got my first batch of guineas from him. I"m thinking I may get more keets from him this year because I don't feel like dealing with hatching any eggs.

Good luck on raising the next batch.

LOL @ coyote.

 

[aoxa]

Could be maybe you are feeding too much? Could be why you are experiencing some health issues? I think the 90 lbs makes it sound like a lot of feed but that's largely water weight...you'd have to do dry wts on the feed to calculate how many actual pounds of feed they are eating per day because the 90 is how much water consumption also.

Agree.. When I say my weight, I go by dry. It is SO MUCH HEAVIER when wet.

I'd say at least triple, if not quadruple the weight...

 

[kuntrygirl]

 

You got the 90 lbs of FF correct. I started with 100 broilers but I'm down to 96. Yep, 90 lbs of FF. A lot of that weight is the water that I put in for the FF but yep, 90 lbs of feed. 45 lbs two times today. I thought the scale was playing tricks on me . I had to weigh the feed again. I needed the dolly to push the bucket out there to the chicken pen. It was too heavy for me to carry with the FF in a 5 gallon bucket. :/

You live where it's warm, right?  Can keep your FF outside?  Why not just keep it where you are feeding so you won't have to do this chore each day?  And keep your dry feed storage can right outside the coop so you can replenish your buckets right there without carrying heavy buckets.  The only thing you need carry then is the water. 

Yes, it's very warm. Yesterday when my friend was at my place, he mentioned the same thing about leaving the FF outside. I will definitely do that because that will save me so much more time. And I have several water hoses connected to the faucet at the house that is probably about 300 feet long that stays in the chicken yard, so when I have to water, all I have to do is turn on the water and walk to the chicken yard. It saves me a lot of time.

My feed storage building is not far from their pen, so the dry feed will be right there as well.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[cockoftherock]

Just saw.an article in MEN where th Grocery ***. is petitioningg the FDA to label GMOs as natural. the debate continues but the evidence is clear. Good stuff

Technically no, GM by definition is something that has been altered using genetic engineering.

Genetic engineering considers the following (here in the States)
" Genetic engineering does not normally include traditional animal and plant breeding, in vitro fertilisation, induction of polyploidy, mutagenesis and cell fusion techniques that do not use recombinant nucleic acids or a genetically modified source"

Traditional breeding and cross breeding isn't Genetically modified if there's no GM genes in a parent.

Europe does however on a very selective basis consider some natural cross breeding GM ue to shady happenings at one time they blanket GM and use an individual inspection/investigation when needed. More often they just outlaw maybes to cover their butts.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I have been searching the BYC threads to find a thread that "truly" calculates the cost of raising broilers and I cannot find any. When I say "truly" calculates the cost of raising meat birds, I mean including the cost that it takes to run those heat lamps the weeks those lamps are running and costing money AND the cost of the water. Electricity and water cost money and in my opinion, if that is not included, then we are not including expenses related to raising our meat birds.

The reason that I bring this up is because I know throughout the years history tell me that as soon as I turn on those heat lamps (250 watts) MY electric bill increases. I have THE best, THE cheapest utility company in my area but I know that 30 days later, my electric bill will increase at least $50.00 and this is for 1 heat lamp. I also know that my water bill fluctuates in winter and summer and when I have a load of babies, I do see a difference in the water bill. I have seen a minimal increase in my water bill but still an increase. My water and electric bill is pretty much the same every month when I am not brooding. My pattern does not change, so I already know in advance what my bills will be. As soon as I turn on that heat lamp or commence to watering more animals, then my pockets feel the increase.

I have been having my broilers 6 weeks as of Friday. So, I have a full month of using heat lamps during the cold nights and my electric bill has increased $72.00. I received my electric bill this weekend and I was in shock at the increase. The month where there was only 2 weeks of heat lamp, also increased my electric bill. Perhaps people don't raise meat birds too often in the winter, so their electric bill may not increase as much as mine. When I run 1 heat lamp, the bill increases to $50.00.

So, if I don't calculate my increase in electric and water bill, then my figures will not show exactly how much it costs to raise meaties.

If there is a thread that includes the electric and water bill or other expenses that have not been included in many of the threads on BYC referring to raising meat birds, can someone please share that link/thread with me? I'm VERY curious to see the cost of other's utility bills (electric and water).

 

[LindaB220]

I have been searching the BYC threads to find a thread that "truly" calculates the cost of raising broilers and I cannot find any. When I say "truly" calculates the cost of raising meat birds, I mean including the cost that it takes to run those heat lamps the weeks those lamps are running and costing money AND the cost of the water. Electricity and water cost money and in my opinion, if that is not included, then we are not including expenses related to raising our meat birds.

The reason that I bring this up is because I know throughout the years history tell me that as soon as I turn on those heat lamps (250 watts) MY electric bill increases. I have THE best, THE cheapest utility company in my area but I know that 30 days later, my electric bill will increase at least $50.00 and this is for 1 heat lamp. I also know that my water bill fluctuates in winter and summer and when I have a load of babies, I do see a difference in the water bill. I have seen a minimal increase in my water bill but still an increase. My water and electric bill is pretty much the same every month when I am not brooding. My pattern does not change, so I already know in advance what my bills will be. As soon as I turn on that heat lamp or commence to watering more animals, then my pockets feel the increase.

I have been having my broilers 6 weeks as of Friday. So, I have a full month of using heat lamps during the cold nights and my electric bill has increased $72.00. I received my electric bill this weekend and I was in shock at the increase. The month where there was only 2 weeks of heat lamp, also increased my electric bill. Perhaps people don't raise meat birds too often in the winter, so their electric bill may not increase as much as mine. When I run 1 heat lamp, the bill increases to $50.00.

So, if I don't calculate my increase in electric and water bill, then my figures will not show exactly how much it costs to raise meaties.

If there is a thread that includes the electric and water bill or other expenses that have not been included in many of the threads on BYC referring to raising meat birds, can someone please share that link/thread with me? I'm VERY curious to see the cost of other's utility bills (electric and water).

Wow, this is good to know. Thanks

 

[aoxa]

I have been searching the BYC threads to find a thread that "truly" calculates the cost of raising broilers and I cannot find any. When I say "truly" calculates the cost of raising meat birds, I mean including the cost that it takes to run those heat lamps the weeks those lamps are running and costing money AND the cost of the water. Electricity and water cost money and in my opinion, if that is not included, then we are not including expenses related to raising our meat birds.

The reason that I bring this up is because I know throughout the years history tell me that as soon as I turn on those heat lamps (250 watts) MY electric bill increases. I have THE best, THE cheapest utility company in my area but I know that 30 days later, my electric bill will increase at least $50.00 and this is for 1 heat lamp. I also know that my water bill fluctuates in winter and summer and when I have a load of babies, I do see a difference in the water bill. I have seen a minimal increase in my water bill but still an increase. My water and electric bill is pretty much the same every month when I am not brooding. My pattern does not change, so I already know in advance what my bills will be. As soon as I turn on that heat lamp or commence to watering more animals, then my pockets feel the increase.

I have been having my broilers 6 weeks as of Friday. So, I have a full month of using heat lamps during the cold nights and my electric bill has increased $72.00. I received my electric bill this weekend and I was in shock at the increase. The month where there was only 2 weeks of heat lamp, also increased my electric bill. Perhaps people don't raise meat birds too often in the winter, so their electric bill may not increase as much as mine. When I run 1 heat lamp, the bill increases to $50.00.

So, if I don't calculate my increase in electric and water bill, then my figures will not show exactly how much it costs to raise meaties.

If there is a thread that includes the electric and water bill or other expenses that have not been included in many of the threads on BYC referring to raising meat birds, can someone please share that link/thread with me? I'm VERY curious to see the cost of other's utility bills (electric and water).

I don't pay for water here. I stopped using my heat lamps at 2 weeks, and accumulated $15 in cost for the electricity for 2 weeks of using it. All the more reason to switch to heat panels.. saves you so much in the end...

I have two EcoGlow 50s for this years meaties.

Costs are different everywhere you look. My costs won't be the same as yours. My chicks were $1.30 each, I went through 3-4 bales of shavings @$5.99 each. I bought Stress-Aid for $10 when I had Cocci.. I can't even tell you how much feed was just for them, since I had a bunch of other chicks with them...