Advice for raising my new meat flock?

[SIMZ]

Hello!

My new chicks will be here in a few weeks. There are some pullets, cockerels, and lots of straight run chicks - around 30 total. There will also be 3 midget white poults and 12 Cornish X in the mix. Most of the pullets will be sold once the boys become evident. We're primarily experimenting with DP breeds for meat this time.


Raise them all together or split up in groups?

What feed would you give them since about half will be grown for meat? Can I get away without feeding them medicated feed?

It would obviously be wonderful to be able to raise this entire group together on one feed - at least until the males and females need to be separated. Is it possible? Turkeys, too?

Thanks for any advice or insight you can give me!

 

[fried green eggs]

I had a mixed flock of layers and meaties last year. You can keep them together for about two weeks. Then they need to be separated because the meat birds are going to grow too fast and need their food limited to just 12 hours per day. Layers can have food available all the time and they won't eat themselves to death. Medicated food is OK but, you will want to only have meat birds on it for a few weeks so, at processing time you aren't getting medicated meat - you can buy that at the grocery store

I kept all of mine on the Starter/Grower feed - meat birds until processing and layers/roos until 18 weeks old then switched to layer feed and added oyster shells for calcium.

 

[SIMZ]

Thank you!

 

[SIMZ]

What about the 3 turkeys? Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?

Can I keep them with the others - at least through a few weeks of brooding?

Would they be ok if I started the whole group out on a 23-24% starter for those first few weeks?

 

[fried green eggs]

You might try asking about Turkeys in the "Other Poultry - Turkeys" Nav. Search

 

[Buster52]

What about the 3 turkeys? Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?

Can I keep them with the others - at least through a few weeks of brooding?

Would they be ok if I started the whole group out on a 23-24% starter for those first few weeks?

Yes.

Although 22% would probably be fine.