A comparison.... any thoughts on putting birds out to pasture??

[Brunty_Farms]

I have 200 17 day old broilers that usually go out to pasture by now. I held them back for a few reasons, weather being number one. Too rainy.

So to say the least they have been getting 24/7 feed for 18 days and I'm gonig to put half of them on pasture and keep the remaing half in the brooder. I'm curious to see how they grow being from the same hatch raised identicaly up til this point.

What are the ages that people put birds out to pasture...?

I usually go with 7-10 days with a tarp on them at night. Recently I have been using lights and they seem to do better with the lights on. (no piling)

I'm wondering if they gain weight quicker when put to pasture early at a young age or if they are put to pasture at an older age.

I have found that in the past younger birds tend to pick up on the pasture more quickly then the ones that are older. But I havn't kept track of it.

Any thoughts? What do you think the outcome will be on keeping the ones inside for an additional two weeks? They will be four weeks compared to 19 days. So more like holding them in for about 9 days longer.

 

[zephyrcreek]

From what I have seen with mine I would guess that the birds in the brooder will grow bigge faster. I experimented earlier this year with 100 birds. I put the 25 largest out on pasture 1 week earlier than the other 75. A week later all of the 75 were as big, and most were larger. Inside they move around less, and basically just sit at the feed dish. Outside they "play" more while they forage. I've been putting mine out on pasture at 4 weeks, and a few at 3 weeks depending on the weather. You do a lot more birds though......and know much more than I do.

 

[farmboy238]

I would have to agree with Zephyr. The birds left in will gain at a better rate than the ones on pasture. If it were all about gain only though, then we would grow Cornish and feed in a barn (CAFO !)We put our birds out at 4 weeks. 24/7 lights for 2 weeks, light at night only for 1 week and no lights for 1 week. Kind of like hardening off plants from a greenhouse.

 

[Peruvian]

I have a smaller operation and it's just to feed my family and trade for eggs so an extra week on pasture to gain weight isn't as important to me. I don't mind if they are 9wks old at processing. That being said I try and get the summer batch out in a tractor at 3 weeks. Usually it's too cold for the spring batch to go out that early and they go out at 4 wks with a heat lamp in the tractor.

 

[dancingbear]

I have a batch of mixed breed chicks that hatched at the same time, in my incubator. Most I was able to place with broody hens that had eggs hatching at the same time, (I did that on purpose) but a had a couple of hens not work out well, so had extra chicks to brood myself.

I can't really tell much difference between the two groups at this point, but they're not very old yet, only about 5 weeks. The ones with the broodies have been running outside with the moms since about 2-3 days old. The others were in a big plastic tub in the house for about 10 days, then moved to a section of the coop with a heat lamp. They're big enough to turn loose with the flock now, but I had to add some others that are younger, not fully feathered yet, so they'll have to wait a little longer.

These are mixed breeds, though, so what works with them may not apply to broiler chicks.

 

[jaku]

I put mine out at three weeks, depending on the weather. I keep a light on them in the pens at the first hint of cold weather, and I even cover with a tarp at night. Not that they can't handle the cold, but I'd rather them avoid the stress, plus they pile even in mild cold.

 

[pdpatch]

Growing bigger faster is usually associated with protein levels in the feed plus the correct trace minerals to convert the protein. Bagged or custom mixed feed has more of this so it most likely can be "assumed" they will gain more weight on bagged/custom feed then free ranged.

But the down side is they will get less trace minerals over there span of there life. Generally this will change the taste of the meat in varing degrees. Possible so slightly it won't be noticed to it will be noticed.

But it may take only a week or so for the slower growing ones to catch up in weight gain.

Tom