3 week growth for broilers and broad-breasted bronze turkeys

[RJSchaefer]

Or, to put another weigh, I'm screwing up getting my broilers to weight.

My chicks are roughly 3 weeks old (tomorrow is 3 weeks since I received them as newly hatched chicks). So, this marks end of week 2. According to Miller Hatcheries, commercial broilers should be .81 pounds (13 oz) by now.

Mine...well...aren't. Harumph. I weighed 3 of 20. I may weigh more to get a better idea of what's going on.







Then we have the turkeys...We've already had one cull due to a leg problem. We have another (pictured below) that may be culled due to a less severe but still obviously restrictive problem.

According to Meyer Hatcheries, at 2 weeks (I'm going to assume it means end of week 2), they should be 1.8lbs (1lb 13oz). Again, mine are not.









The chickens are moving to tractors tomorrow - 10 chickens per 6'x3'x3'. I will probably separate them out into more tractors at 5 weeks. I'm going to get some bands at TSC and mark the ones I'm following so I can keep accurate weekly records. Only one has identifiable markings.

 

[silkiechicken]

I would not worry about trying to keep up with commercial broiler house standards for weight gain. Those birds are packed in, are held at constant temp and humidity day and night, don't walk around, or see grass. Your birds look healthy and if they have access to any ranging and "life" they will grow slower. As for turkey's, I've only done that once and forget if too high/too low protein leads to potential leg issues. Do know they are prone to leg problems though.


As for your bird weights, they are pretty much on par with the ones I raised too: Mar 22 is the day after I received shipment, so about 3/4 days old. They will exponentially put on weight as they age and the turkeys did lag.

turkey cornish

22-Mar​

2.5​

3​

ounces

30-Mar​

6​

8​

ounces

5-Apr​

16​

20​

12-Apr​

24​

32​

19-Apr​

44​

48​

26-Apr​

72​

68​

1-May​

84​

88​

10-May​

112​

100​

18-May​

124​

116​

 

[LarryP2]

My CX and BB and white turkeys are not even putting on CLOSE to the amount of weight claimed by the professional growers.

In my mind, that is a GOOD thing. And they are extremely healthy and active birds that are living ethical and happy lives, which is far more important to me than the speed at which they put on weight. In fact, if you follow the protocol for growing backyard meat birds, you remove food from them 12 hours a day, in order to SLOW down their weight gain and attendant health problems.

 

[ChickenJerk]

What are you feeding them?
How much?
Light schedule?

 

[floridapoultry]

They look healthy and will probably come up to standard in time. Pay attention to their diet. If you can provided the answers posed by ChickenJerk, we can help you better.

 

[RJSchaefer]

What are you feeding them?
How much?
Light schedule?

Starter/Grower from TSC.

Free fed, twice per day. They and the turkeys go through a 5 pound feeder about every 18 hours.

Not much light. I removed the heat lamp 4 days ago and they have been faring well, but it's dark inside. I now have 10 in a tractor outside. The low tonight is 47F, so I'm on the fence about moving those 10 back into a separate brooder (sans heat lamp) to avoid freezing.

BTW, it's total nonsense that it's the middle of June and we're looking at overnight temps in the 40s...

 

[LarryP2]

my 50 cx birds are 3 weeks old today, and you bring up and excellent point about the heat lamps, I had heat lamps on my SL Wydandottes (65) until they were more than three weeks old. My CX went into an outside fully-covered pen when they were two weeks old, and it has been a tropical monsoon season for the last few days and it is predicted to be even worse tomorrow and Thursday. While they are staying bone dry (under a brand new metal roof), they are today huddling together for warmth and have visibly increased their feathering during the cold nights, even before the latest monsoon season. Instead of wild and unsustainable growth, they are now growing at a seemingly normal pace.


In my mind, the noticeable slowdown in growth is a good sign.

 

[whitechantecler]

It's all about feed and light!! Full light the first week then 1 hour of dark full feed and water and you will get the weigh..

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Mine were 2lbs at one month. So they're technically "behind" too, by a whole lb! I think it just takes time.

 

[whitechantecler]

It's all about the feed and light..