About 9 pounds a day for 45 birds. They should be eating at least 22 pounds a day. It sounds to me that whatever they are, they are stunted from lack of food.
Are these Layers or Meat?
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X2
CX should have access to feed and water constantly if you want them to grow to process weights in the time they are bred to; some feed 12 hrs on -12 hrs off, but they probably soon cram enough in to go through the 12 hrs off and nearly eat as much.
X2
CX should have access to feed and water constantly if you want them to grow to process weights in the time they are bred to; some feed 12 hrs on -12 hrs off, but they probably soon cram enough in to go through the 12 hrs off and nearly eat as much.
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Well, I did not raise my in a tractor or give them a chance to free range but yours do look like cornish x to me. They do move a lot better than my penned cornish x did and I have a large pen, they had plenty of room but never used it. However, maybe that is how free ranged cornish x look?
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Nothing to add regarding the post, but I gotta agree--that's frame-worthy!
Nothing to add regarding the post, but I gotta agree--that's frame-worthy!
I think they look like Cornish Xs, too. Mine are quite active in free ranging and will fly around up until they are butchered.
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Mine were free ranged and they were fast and did a lot of running but they still had the big waddle unlike the ones in the video. But shucks, those legs look like big CX legs.
I'd disagree with the notion that the CXs need food constantly. Ours free ranged on slugs and such and were fed several times a day when we'd come out and dump a couple of juice pitchers of feed. At 10 weeks they were 6-8 lbs dressed. I don't know if that's right on track with penned and constantly fed CXs but that's pretty good to me. We DID have a spectacular year for slugs though!
Mine were free ranged and they were fast and did a lot of running but they still had the big waddle unlike the ones in the video. But shucks, those legs look like big CX legs.
I'd disagree with the notion that the CXs need food constantly. Ours free ranged on slugs and such and were fed several times a day when we'd come out and dump a couple of juice pitchers of feed. At 10 weeks they were 6-8 lbs dressed. I don't know if that's right on track with penned and constantly fed CXs but that's pretty good to me. We DID have a spectacular year for slugs though!
Quote:
Mine were free ranged and they were fast and did a lot of running but they still had the big waddle unlike the ones in the video. But shucks, those legs look like big CX legs.
I'd disagree with the notion that the CXs need food constantly. Ours free ranged on slugs and such and were fed several times a day when we'd come out and dump a couple of juice pitchers of feed. At 10 weeks they were 6-8 lbs dressed. I don't know if that's right on track with penned and constantly fed CXs but that's pretty good to me. We DID have a spectacular year for slugs though!
X2 I have never fed my Cornish X all day and in fact if you feed them all day they are dumb enough that they will actually split their crops because they keep eating after their crop is so full it will explode. I do broadcast feeding. We go out with a full bucket of feed (About 3 large horse scoops) I think they are about 2 lbs each. We use a small scoop and drop piles of food in lines around the yard. They descend like a herd of voracious piranhas. Our last batch dressed out at 10 pounds each bird and looked more like turkeys than they did chickens. But I think broadcasting the feed makes them eat slower so they don't have a chance to kill themselves. Sometimes I have one that will get loose (believe it or not they can fly a bit, not sure how) and it makes a beeline for the Layer coop and right for the free feeder. If I don't check several times a day to make sure I put anyone back who gets loose I will be burying a dead chicken by nightfall, it's just the way they are bred.
You might be able to do a 24hour feeding if you use a mash food since that would process in their crops faster and takes them longer to eat because of what it's made of, but I would never again feed crumble or pellet feed 24 hours at a time to these types of birds.
Mine were free ranged and they were fast and did a lot of running but they still had the big waddle unlike the ones in the video. But shucks, those legs look like big CX legs.
I'd disagree with the notion that the CXs need food constantly. Ours free ranged on slugs and such and were fed several times a day when we'd come out and dump a couple of juice pitchers of feed. At 10 weeks they were 6-8 lbs dressed. I don't know if that's right on track with penned and constantly fed CXs but that's pretty good to me. We DID have a spectacular year for slugs though!
X2 I have never fed my Cornish X all day and in fact if you feed them all day they are dumb enough that they will actually split their crops because they keep eating after their crop is so full it will explode. I do broadcast feeding. We go out with a full bucket of feed (About 3 large horse scoops) I think they are about 2 lbs each. We use a small scoop and drop piles of food in lines around the yard. They descend like a herd of voracious piranhas. Our last batch dressed out at 10 pounds each bird and looked more like turkeys than they did chickens. But I think broadcasting the feed makes them eat slower so they don't have a chance to kill themselves. Sometimes I have one that will get loose (believe it or not they can fly a bit, not sure how) and it makes a beeline for the Layer coop and right for the free feeder. If I don't check several times a day to make sure I put anyone back who gets loose I will be burying a dead chicken by nightfall, it's just the way they are bred.
You might be able to do a 24hour feeding if you use a mash food since that would process in their crops faster and takes them longer to eat because of what it's made of, but I would never again feed crumble or pellet feed 24 hours at a time to these types of birds.
Mine free ranged, also, and definitely had the "waddle". Mine had feed in front of them all the time, but would still go out in the grass. I would also throw horse pellets out in the grass so they would actually have to wander around looking for food. They get big!
You for sure have some type of CX... Like others said if you look on the website of the hatchery it should be able to tell you.
We do 35 broilers every year, our last 35 were just killed at 12 weeks average weight 8-9lbs last Wesnesday. They free range at week 3 of age till the end. They are fed in the morning and at night. The last month we go through 3-4 50lb bags of feed that our feed mill mixes for us! Almost every 2 weeks we go through this much. I would say at 5 weeks of age they were 2-3 bags every 2 weeks. (if this can give you an idea if you are feeding them accurately).
There is nothing wrong with allowing your birds to free-range this shouldn't cause any issues with them not gaining weight. It actually keeps them healthier and yes way more active then when just cooped up all day.
At 10 weeks mine were still able to run ( but with a waddle), they would get up and roost on things. They were very calm mild birds.
Honestly I am one that spends way to much on these birds for how long they live, but I don't like them having missing feathers, and looking like crap. I changed there coop 2-3 times a week with new bedding, they were always left a "little" hungry so they wouldn't have the terrible leg issues. We had a large fan going in there pen to keep them stress free on days that were up to 100 degrees here.
Welcome to meat birds! 45 is a lot of butchering hehe! But they sure do taste good!
Good Luck!
We do 35 broilers every year, our last 35 were just killed at 12 weeks average weight 8-9lbs last Wesnesday. They free range at week 3 of age till the end. They are fed in the morning and at night. The last month we go through 3-4 50lb bags of feed that our feed mill mixes for us! Almost every 2 weeks we go through this much. I would say at 5 weeks of age they were 2-3 bags every 2 weeks. (if this can give you an idea if you are feeding them accurately).
There is nothing wrong with allowing your birds to free-range this shouldn't cause any issues with them not gaining weight. It actually keeps them healthier and yes way more active then when just cooped up all day.
At 10 weeks mine were still able to run ( but with a waddle), they would get up and roost on things. They were very calm mild birds.
Honestly I am one that spends way to much on these birds for how long they live, but I don't like them having missing feathers, and looking like crap. I changed there coop 2-3 times a week with new bedding, they were always left a "little" hungry so they wouldn't have the terrible leg issues. We had a large fan going in there pen to keep them stress free on days that were up to 100 degrees here.
Welcome to meat birds! 45 is a lot of butchering hehe! But they sure do taste good!
Good Luck!
Looking i thing you have the slow growth cornish-x ..as some hatcherys have a fast grow and a slow grow version..i have only raised the fast kind and they get way bigger and do the waddle thing i raise mine in a hoop house that i move around the pasture every couple of days..feed them twice a day but let them be a little hungry so they will scratch and get some grass and bugs...
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