Are we on track?

[19sarah90]

My cornish cross chicks will be two days shy of 8 weeks old for the county fair. They have to be between 4 and 5 lbs for fryers and 5 and 6.5 lbs for broilers.

At 7 days old eight of them weighed between 6.5 and 7.3 oz. The little one weighed 5.5 oz. and the big one weighed 8.7 oz. They had nearly finished off their first 10 lbs of feed.

Today, at 14 days old, six of them are between 12.3 and 12.7 oz. The smaller three are 9, 10, and 11 oz. exactly and the biggest one is 13.5 oz. They have almost finished off 20 lbs of feed total.

They aren't going to be too big at 8 weeks old are they? I'm giving them as much feed as they want at night and letting them free range during the day with just a bit of feed sprinkled over the grass in the tractor. Should I change anything?

 

[JohnL11935]

Quote:
Sarah - It sounds like you are graphing their weight against weeks and thinking they may end up being "too big." Remember that their rate of growth will vary and will gradually slow down as they near the 8 week mark.

I would allow them to feed for a 12 hour day and then take it away for 12 hours at night. This will help ensure live birds at the 8 week mark.

I also wouldn't bother weighing them till they were about 5 weeks and then weigh them only once a week. If you find that are over or under weight come the 6 or 7 week mark you can adjust their feeding schedule or the content of their food.

Sounds to me like you are doing just fine. Keep up the good work and good luck at the fair.


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[19sarah90]

Thank you! I had completely forgotten that they will slow down growth as they get older. I guess I thought they'd keep growing at the same rate so I needed to control it better.

There's nothing wrong with feeding at night instead of the day, is there? I do it that way so that they aren't completely starved for a straight 12 hours. It makes them range more and they don't fight over the food so much when they do get it. They don't pick at the bedding nearly so much at night either when they're fed at night.

 

[JohnL11935]

Quote:
Are you talking about feeding 24 hours per day or only feeding them at night?

Feeding 24 hours per day may make them grow too fast causing them to have heart or leg problems and killing them before they reach 8 weeks. Given the opportunity they will literally eat themselves to death. Read some of the posts under the 'meat birds' section and you will see that many of those that consistently have good meat bird crops will recommend such a regimen.

As far as feeding them only at night I would also discourage you from this if only for staying in sync with the chicken's normal biological clock - eat during the day and sleep at night. Talk with someone that works night shift and you will find they are always feel a little off when they rotate off nights back to the day shift and vice versa. The stress on the mind and body is harmful to people, let alone chickens with an 8-10 week life span.

I think if you just concentrate on what would seem normal for you (eat during the day, restful sleep at night, plenty of fresh water, a little exercise), your birds will turn out just great.

Hope this helps.

 

[chicklips]

Your birds seem to be right around what mine were when they were that age. Keep up the great work!!

 

[19sarah90]

Yes, 12 hours of feed, John. Thanks for the tip about biological clocks.... I understand that.

Thanks for the comment, chicklips! LOVE your signature!