Barred rock living with CX ad eating meat builder results are in....

[miss_thenorth]

I had a bunch of quail eggs in the bator , and had room for a few chicken eggs, so I set them up. They hatched on June 21. They spent a few weeks in the brooder, then since the weather was nice, I turned 'em out. I got my cornish x on July 7. Once they came out of the brooder, (after two weeks, again, -weather was nice) I set them up in their electric poultry netting enclosure.

Well, one of the barred rocks, a male decided he wanted to hang out with the CXs, and although I thought it was strange, he was destined to be dinner anyways, so I just let him be. I figured more than anything that he would tire of being with them, but he didn't. He stayed with them all the way to the end--which was this morning.

This morning I took the meaties to the butcher, and little BR stayed behind. This evening, I caught him and weighed him, because I wanted to compare him to one of the chicks that hatched with him, one who was also a male. I wanted to see if he really did gain weight more on meat builder, than the others on their feed (which is layer ration--yes I know, but they free range and I can't keep them all separate).

And, my husband's accurate digital fish scale said that the BR raised on meat builder was 3 lbs.2 oz, he was in with them for 7 weeks out of his 2 1/2 months the other male was 3.00 lbs.


the BR raised on meat builder did NOT freerange like the other one did--he stayed in his enclosure and hung out with his fat buddies. The other chick walked around all day foraging, and running to the house for scraps thaty I threw out for them.

So..... what are YOUR thoughts on these results??



















I thought the BR would have gained more weight than he did- for two reasons,- feed and lack of movement.

 

[miss_thenorth]

edited the title to get more hits

 

[Poupoulles]

Isn't genetics amazing!
No matter how hard I practise, I will never be first violin chair at the Symphony Orchestra. No matter how hard I try I will never be a point guard in the WNBA... It just isnt in my genes...
Your little BR is the same. The results prove that. He practised as hard as he could but he just couldnt pack it on like the meaties...

 

[miss_thenorth]

Yes, but what does that say about the feed? Genetically, the meat birds are raised to get big fast. Barred rocks are not. We are told to feed our meaties a high protein feed--to take advantage and help them gain the weight quickly, correct? So, if the meaties eat that food, it should help them gain the weight. So why is this not true when a barred rock is eating it? Two ounces is nothing to write home about. You have to consider that he didn't move alot, therefore he did not get the same exercise that his siblings got either. So how is the meat builder feed a superior feed to help them gain weight?

 

[jenjscott]

Because they (the Cx) are genetically engineered (by breeding) to be able to use that extra protein. Now the other experiment would be the reverse. Take a meatie out of that environment and put it in free range, lower protein regimen, and then weigh for difference. Obviously 2 oz is not statistically significant. You can have that much difference between siblings on the same regimen.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Quote:
I was planning on trying that scenario next year when I do another batch of meaties.

I was reading a post a while ago, where someone was raising dual purpose birds and using the roos for meat, and someone recommended they feed the roos meat builder. After seeing my results, I would probably recommend they just feed as normal. I know my meat builder is more moeny than regular feed.

 

[knittychickadee]

Maybe the meaties didn't give him enough feeder time? Hard to tell with only one example and different situations. I have 3 BR on broiler feed and free range and they weighed 3lbs 2 weeks before your free range/layer fed did. The ALBC really pushes high protein to get good size on these type birds, I've followed their advice with good results.

 

[miss_thenorth]

he had plenty of feeder time. contrary to what some might believe, cx's do not ALWAYS sit at the feeder, and they don't fight to eat.

It's one example, yes, --one eating broiler, and semi confined (I moved the electric netting every other day), one totally freeranging, eating layer pellets. I seriously would have thought, witht the belief that higher protein makes bigger birds, that the one in with the meaties would show at least more than a 2 oz difference. Even with one bird, it says something, doesn't it??

 

[jenjscott]

Well, with just one we can't say for sure. Maybe he was the runt of the litter! The other variable we can't measure is what was the protein content of the free ranger's diet. I doubt it was that great, but there are a lot of insects out in some places this time of year.

 

[willheveland]

You can't beat genetics. Cx's were bred many,many years to get these results. All the protein in the world couldn't make a Dual-purpose as big as a Cornish-X. The term Dual-purpose is a term 75 year old and really is an obsolete term today.
The meatbuilder feeds are not just to put pounds of meat on a chicken like the title suggests,(that is kinda a sales pitch too),but they contain amino acids and other ingredients to build the chicken up to carry the weight as well. Granted the Cornish-X has bigger bones and structure but the protein helps maintain that structure to help prevent the possible leg problems that could come from raising such a large heavy bird.
Runt or no runt,if you took 100 male(males because they tend to be bigger)chicks and picked out 10 of the biggest,strongest of the flock then fed and housed them along with the Cornish-x they still would not compete in size. I've done that experiment many times with meatbirds.
Take a look at a Holstein or Jersy bull(milk cow breeds) compared to a Hereford or a Angus bull (meat cow breeds) you can raise them next to each other fed the same exact diet but a milk breed will never produce the amount or quailty meat as the one bred to do just that. You'd have to cross them with a meat breed to even get something worth putting in the freezer. JMHO...... Will