?? about cornish hen feeding

[Sacman64]

I recieved 32 day old cornish game hens on the 24th. I started feeding chick starter... how long do I go before switching to 28% high protein to get them big fast.... and secondly... how long is long enough to allow them to grow before slaughtering. From what I have read it says... 2-2 1/2 lbs can be reached in 3 to 4 weeks. Is this so, or am I miss informered?

 

[kingmt]

It's up to you. How high of protein do you want to buy. at what age you want to finish them out, & what size. I start mine on 24% because I already have it & finish them on pasture, corn, & they eat some of the 14% with my other chickens. I don;t have a set time to butcher but it is around 12-14 weeks. If you want the small Cornish Hens you see in the store then butcher them at the 4 weeks.

 

[Winsor Woods]

What is the protein content of you chick starter? The chick starter I get is 21% and I feed that from day one to two weeks before slaughter. At that point I switch to broiler finisher which is still 21% but it is in a crumble form and doesn't have all of the trace items the starter does.

I just processed one of my smaller hens yesterday. She was 8 weeks 2 days old. She dressed out at 6lbs 5.5 oz (including the heart, liver, dressed gizzard, and neck. She's so big that I can't fit her in a gallon ziplock bag. I need to find larger bags for storing them. I read somewhere on here about the shrinkable bags and I can't find that thread. There was a link there for where to buy them. Anyone have any ideas on where to buy those?

As far as the growth spurt...Once your chicks get to about 4 weeks you'll see the spurt start. between week 5 and 7 my Cornish Rocks could add over a pound of mass per week. It was amazing. I noticed a significant size difference in them between morning and evening during this spurt. They're still growing now but the rate has tapered off.

Dan

 

[cassie]

We feed ours turkey feed, as in turkey starter, turkey grower, and turkey finisher, start to finish. Cornish game hens will make weight in about 4 weeks, maybe even a little less. Limit the feed to 12 hours on and 12 hours off at about a week of age. Like take the feed away at seven at night and give it back at seven in the morning. Our straight run dress out in the 11 to 13 pound range at 10 to 12 weeks of age.

 

[hildymarie]

Most grocery stores have 2 gallon bags. We had a dressed out 9+ pounder, not including any thing like neck, gizzard etc that fit in one after the rior wore off. Barely. The rest fit just fine in a 2 gallon ziplock. Not sure what brand but most are the same dimensions.

 

[Burbs]

Quote:
The only two places that I have found. The 10 X 14 bags worked with up to about an 8 lb. dressed chicken.


http://www.midwesternresearch.com/iw_products.m4p.pvx?;products_no_tree?company=INC?cat=22050

http://www.cornerstone-farm.com/shrink_bags.htm