All you who raised 10lb+ birds in three months...GIVE ME THE SECRET!!!

[DaKid]

Yeah, really. It's even getting harder to find that 20+ turkey in the store!

thats why my 5 month old turkeys weight in live weight tom 42 lbs - dress and finish came in at 32 lbs . my hens 28-30 lbs live weight dress out at 22 -24 lbs
all just meat no necks-livers -heart, ect where in the birds at weighting -who needs store bought

now my x-rocks well I still have 6-8 weeks more to grow then I tell ya what I got for total weight​

 

[cjeanean]

so what's your secret and where do you get your birds??? A nuclear dump?!?!?!

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:
Maybe it's true, I dunno but here is my experience with my first bunch of 25 that I bought from Ideal.
I recieved my birds on June 4th. I still have 7 left right now.
I have only ever fed them gamebird food. These 7 that are left are now 20 weeks old. They are all over 12 pounds and I have one big Roo who is probably almost 20, no joke.
Just today they were all out ranging all day long. I think I saw them laying down maybe three times all day, the rest of the day they were very activly foraging, even RUNNING around and trying to fly (NOT happening lol).
They have no leg problems, combs and wattles are bright red, they aren't lazy. But they sure do eat and poo alot.
And I do know that as they get over 8/9 weeks you do start to put more feed in them and get less meat on them.
I think the higher protien gamebrid food helps.
I fed mine 12 hours on and 12 hours off with always plenty of fresh water.
My remianing 7 are being prosessed any day now. I will let you know the dressed out weights.
OH and the hens are laying lol

Perhaps it's beginners luck.

 

[justusnak]

jean....just a few pics...the first 2 are from my first batch,

This next pic is of the second batch...they ran with the Buff Orps dureing the day..and were housed seperately at night.

These next 2 pics...are one of the hens that you saw in the pic above....processed Thursday.

These birds were fed starter feed for 2 weeks...and broiler finisher for the last 8 weeks. They were out in a yard all day...and ran with the crowd. LOL Dont get discouraged...it can be done...pretty easily!

 

[DaKid]

cjeanean
Today 7:32 pm so what's your secret and where do you get your birds??? A nuclear dump?!?!?!

who me well my turkeys came from Murry mc murry and I did get the gaint white and bronze which these where the big guns . I did get others like the royal plams and wild - and red burbons but these will and are only about 10-15 lbs for the hen and tom are just hitting 15-18lbs live weights .

seceret well no secret just depends on the breeds you get and food / water at all times as of now the 11birds I place in my freezer cost me around $40 per bird start to finish, that buy chicks-feed- butcher -plus the cost of shaving and 2 bales of hay, my time and labor well it's a hobby
I still have 6 more turkeys that I will keep a few more months or maybe untill next spring then I just might use these guys as my breeders , I really don't need more then 2 turkeys at these 3o lbs for the yr which is christmas and thanksgiving we feed a very very large family (about 20 plus people) those to days , the rest of the time it's just me and the wife

I do have 4 x-rock breeding hens which at 8 months old as far as weight not sure I'll have to weight these hens 2-morrow but would guess there well over 12lbs​

 

[chilling in muscadine]

PEACE

 

[greyfields]

The biggest hurdle the Cornish X have is any fluctuation over 3-4 degrees causes some studdering in their growth. That's why the big industrial barns are very temperature controls. If you aren't going to have consistent weather, the gain will suffer.

 

[MissPrissy]

Where did you buy your chicks?

McMurray - Jumbo Cornish x Rocks

What did you feed them?

Starter/grower. switched to corn last 2 weeks for buttery fat lining.

What feed regime did you follow? (restricted feed, non restricted...etc)

No food at night. Only water. Free feed all day long.

How much feed did they consume in that time period?

Never counted. Last 2 weeks 27 birds ate 25 lbs of feed a day and 6 gallons of water - every single day.

What age did you raise them to?

10 - 12 weeks

What was your average butchered weight after this time?

Most were 10lbs. Some were 13lbs.​

 

[ChickenTender63]

$40 invested per bird? Ouch, that hurts! Maybe I need to find something else to do cause I will go broke. No way I will be able to recoup those kind of costs to raise a meatie.

Looks like I need to go collect scrap metal or something if that's the case.

 

[DaKid]

$40 invested per bird? Ouch, that hurts! Maybe I need to find something else to do cause I will go broke. No way I will be able to recoup those kind of costs to raise a meatie.

Looks like I need to go collect scrap metal or something if that's the case.

no $4o per bird was for my turkeys not my x-rocks
I will have a total cost for the rocks in about 6 -8 weeks

my 4 x-rocks breeders I have now I never did figure out the feeding cost​