Any secret recipes or tips on fattening broilers (Ross Cobbs)?

[Baxter-Shamo]

Looking to get a few Cobbs in again for Christmas, a little bit put off this time though as I never made any profit last time when I did it about 3 years ago and it was just a huge waist of time to be honest. I was just feeding them on fattening pellets, lost a few a long the way and by the time they were ready to be killed, I didn't make any profit.

I've gotten a few people who wants them again this year and I'm thinking about getting a dozen in.

Any tips on how to fatten them a lot quicker & cheaper?
Cheers.

 

[Habibs Hens]

Looking to get a few Cobbs in again for Christmas, a little bit put off this time though as I never made any profit last time when I did it about 3 years ago and it was just a huge waist of time to be honest. I was just feeding them on fattening pellets, lost a few a long the way and by the time they were ready to be killed, I didn't make any profit.

I've gotten a few people who wants them again this year and I'm thinking about getting a dozen in.

Any tips on how to fatten them a lot quicker & cheaper?
Cheers.

get some high protein feed (game bird feed) or put them on a 19% chickcrumb 17% grower pellet mix diet that should give them the protein to fatten and still provide all the nutrients that are needed

fundamentally all feeds have the same basic ingredients with small changes

high protein means quicker growth

btw where did you buy the fattening pellets

 

[Habibs Hens]

one more thing i forgot to mention is artificial Lighting (extend the daylight hours)

the longer teh chicken think its day time the more they will eat

plus light stimulates growth

 

[McButterpants]

What are Ross Cobbs?

 

[Habibs Hens]

What are Ross Cobbs?

Ross Cobbs are the UK equivalent of Cornish X (broilers)

 

[Habibs Hens]

Ross Cobbs are the UK equivalent of Cornish X (broilers)

A Ross crosse with a Cobb

Double Breast against a Tall

 

[Oregon Blues]

You don't really want fat chickens. You want lots of meat. The meat is muscle and in order to grow muscle, the birds need protein.

 

[Cedarknob]

I'm not sure if you actually want or have a market for "fat chickens", or are just wanting to get to them larger finish weight faster. Here in the U.S. we have CX strains that are, I believe, either banned in the U.K. or not favored due to their quick growth. Most strains used here can and do reach broiler weights between 7 and 8 weeks. Our strains do benefit from higher protein feed [20% or more] if the desire is to process a maximum sized broiler in 7 or 8 weeks. I'm guessing the commercial strains in the U.K. will do fine on 18% protein. If you are actually looking to add fat to the carcass, increasing the fat percentages of your feed should help. Because lard has fallen from favor in human diets here in the U.S., and has become lower in price, some commercial feeders now use it as a feed additive. I don't recall at what point the lard begins to negatively impact weight gain, but at certain levels, because it slows digestion processes, birds can benefit through more complete absorption of the calories in the grains that it is mixed with.

 

[Oregon Blues]

For actual fat on birds, if that is really what you are looking for, I use cracked corn. Maize to you. Maize isn't grown in Britain, as far as I know, but you should be able to get barley and barley will work.

 

[Cedarknob]

For actual fat on birds, if that is really what you are looking for, I use cracked corn. Maize to you. Maize isn't grown in Britain, as far as I know, but you should be able to get barley and barley will work.

No experience with feeding barley, but I used to feed cracked corn to spent layers to fatten them up for stewing hens. We used to like fat birds for added flavor in making chicken and noodles or dumplings. I also have not fed lard, except ages ago, and just to get rid of it. I mentioned it because I recently looked it up as a feed source; winter is coming here, my birds could benefit from a layer of fat, and commercial feeds are going through the roof with the rising price of corn. Right now, I'm adding out-dated bread to 22% meat bird crumbles as a way to feed my 'cheap' birds [as opposed to my keeper/breeders]. I bought a load of bread at under 2 cents per pound or loaf, dumped most of the bags to dry it and it isn't molding. Everyone says it's poor feed, and I agree that it is too low in nutrients and should not be fed alone, but my cull birds are growing well, and the only current layer has actually been laying an extra egg on the combination over being fed a straight 16 % commercial layer crumble. They do all get browse plus excess tomatoes though, so the bread is just a cheap source for carbohydrates. I froze 20 loaves for my own use also, so won't be buying bread to eat for awhile. LOL [For 'good' bread, I usually bake my own.]