Chilly Cornish Cross. Meaties Round 3!

[Morrigan]

I think you had it on the right setting, but I agree with others here, shipped chicks can need higher temps, especially at first.

I agree with this. When I used to raise shipped CX chicks it was not unusual for me to lose a few in the 1-3 days after they arrived. And, back then, I used a heating lamp and kept the brooder plenty warm.

I've switched to hatching out my meaties and the level of hardiness is very, very noticeable. They are eating on Day 1, so they haven't depleted their entire stores during a long, cold transit. They are tough little chicks. I've yet to lose a home-hatched chick that hatched normally.

To illustrate, on my last hatch of Red Broiler chicks , I put in them in an outside brooder (an old rabbit hutch) when they were a day old. Nighttime temps in the high 20s. I use a Brinsea brooding plate. First morning when I came out, everyone looked fine, but I could hear one chick making loud distressed peeps. I couldn't find the chick anywhere in the brooder and then realized it had managed to squeeze outside the hutch and was lodged in a small space between the back of the hutch and wooden wall, the hutch was set against. I don't how exactly how long it had been there, but when I retrieved it, it was very cold. I warmed it up, returned it to under the brooding plate and it was fine.

This F*in heater burned the backs of the chicks last night on the higher setting. Ughh. I now have the heater standing up as a space heater and my rent a coop brooder plate in there. Down to 10. If I lose one more I may lose my marriage also, because I am bringing the remaining chicks inside for a week or two.

Sorry you are going through this. It seems like circumstances are conspiring against you. I never really thought about it, because I've grown to love my brooding plates, but maybe for shipped chicks in cold weather, a heating lamp is actually the better option -- at least for the first few days until they've got a few meals in them.

Hang in there.

 

[iwltfum]

Do you have enough space to have a heat lamp as a back up supplemental type heating source just in case the heat plate is not working correctly? I've never used the plate heaters before so I cant offer any advice over those unfortunately. I can tell you that I've lost entire clutches of 100+ chicks in the past simply because I didnt know better about some thing or another. Tough learning experiences for sure. Had a mountain lion break into my closed barn and a closed pasture pen inside the barn and eat a clutch of 60 3 week old rangers once when I lived in colorado. Another time a young fox broke into multiple pasture pens and scattered/killed many of a 100 bird batch that was very close to butchering time.

 

[Tre3hugger]

@Morrigan Thank you very much for sharing your insight. I am coming to the conclusion you are right about the heat lamp. It is often villianized and 90% of the time I think heat plates, even this heater that failed me this time specifically, would have been sufficient. But for these 20 degree nights the first nights they arrive, a heat lamp would probably be beneficial. Especially with the newer/safer shielded bulb versions, it seems that the risk of a well clamped heat lamp for the first few days or a week would be minimal compared to the risk of losses in the 50% range. Next time (if I ever get chicks this early again!) I will likely do that.

Do you have a thread about your Red Ranger breeding? I may be very interested to try that in the future.

 

[Tre3hugger]

@iwltfum There is certainly enough room for a heat lamp. Even a nice cross beam to clamp it to. I just was thinking like I knew it all and knew that heat plates were superior etc and it didn't even cross my mind to use a heat lamp. For this specific situation however, I think a heat emitter bulb of some kind may be required.

I appreciate you sharing some of your set backs. It does make me feel better in a way to know this is a some what common affliction among people who work with animals/nature. I am humbled and forced to remember that I started raising meat less than a year ago. I am a total noob, and it is important to remember that sometimes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

it seems that the risk of a well clamped heat lamp for the first few days or a week would be minimal compared to the risk of losses in the 50% range

Do not use that clamp. Use wire or chain to hold it in place. That clamp can fail. Wire or chain it up so it cannot fall. Do not use string or plastic that can burn or melt, use wire or chain.

 

[Parront]

I have always used a heat lamp, a big hot one in the 80's, in a 2 car garage. I hung it from the loft joists. This was in hot country, Riverside county CA. We had warnings if there was frost in the forecast, bad for the orange trees. I used a chain to be sure it was secure. I made about a 5' radius circle/corral out of cut open cardboard boxes. We did not know any better than to use newspaper for bedding. Broilers liked it. That is the last time I did Cornish-X, they were ok with this set up. The hard part was not killing them with too much heat in the summer.
Now, I got these nice screw-in heaters from Amazon. They are meant for reptiles, but I like them for chicks. I got 100, 75 & 50 watt versions, so I could change them as it warms up and they get more feathers. I use 2 so incase one cheap china-made thing burns out, there is still heat. The second pic shows the cardboard box I used early in the season last year. I had to cut out the top on one side to get it cooler.

@Morrigan Thank you very much for sharing your insight. I am coming to the conclusion you are right about the heat lamp. It is often villianized and 90% of the time I think heat plates, even this heater that failed me this time specifically, would have been sufficient. But for these 20 degree nights the first nights they arrive, a heat lamp would probably be beneficial. Especially with the newer/safer shielded bulb versions, it seems that the risk of a well clamped heat lamp for the first few days or a week would be minimal compared to the risk of losses in the 50% range. Next time (if I ever get chicks this early again!) I will likely do that.

Do you have a thread about your Red Ranger breeding? I may be very interested to try that in the future

 

[Morrigan]

Do you have a thread about your Red Ranger breeding? I may be very interested to try that in the future.

I've shared my experience here and there in other meat bird threads. Here is a re-cap. Maybe one day I'll get around to an article, or at least a separate thread.

I am going on my second year of hatching out meat birds, rather than buying CX chicks in bulk, so I'm still trying to figure out what works best for me.

So far, what has been the easiest for me, has been to simply breed my Naked Neck rooster -- who is a nice-sized and nice-shaped bird, but by no means huge -- to a hatchery stock red or slow-white broiler. The offspring have dressed out in the 4 to 5 lb range around 14 weeks, and the hens in the 3 to 4.5 lb range at 5 to 7 months. Easy to raise, flavorful birds. What I like best is that I can restock my freezer by collecting eggs from my backyard and putting them in the incubator (or under a broody).

You will need to acquire and replace your breeder broilers every couple of years. For that, I've been buying shipped hatching eggs from Dunlap or Moyer's. In fact, I currently have 5 red broiler hens running around my back yard and I'm in the process of deciding which 1 or 2 will by my keepers to breed this year.

Attached is a picture of my rooster at 1 year old. In front of him is a young, slow white broiler hen . Following are live and butchered pictures of one of the offspring on the two shown. The other slightly larger bird is a cross between the same rooster and a red ranger hen. BTW: the pullet in the background is also the offspring of the NN and SWB. Butchered at 18 weeks at 3.3 lbs. I think the pullets are actually better eating, taste wise, then the cockerels.

This project is not without challenges, and takes a little more work and planning than raising the one-and-done batches of CXs. In some ways I still miss the convenience. But, not dealing with the shipped chicks is huge for me. Plus, I've really grown to like the additional flavor and texture of a more heritage-style bird.

 

[Parront]

Do not use that clamp. Use wire or chain to hold it in place. That clamp can fail. Wire or chain it up so it cannot fall. Do not use string or plastic that can burn or melt, use wire or chain.

x2 on chain.

 

[Parront]

@Morrigan Thank you very much for sharing your insight. I am coming to the conclusion you are right about the heat lamp. It is often villianized and 90% of the time I think heat plates, even this heater that failed me this time specifically, would have been sufficient. But for these 20 degree nights the first nights they arrive, a heat lamp would probably be beneficial. Especially with the newer/safer shielded bulb versions, it seems that the risk of a well clamped heat lamp for the first few days or a week would be minimal compared to the risk of losses in the 50% range. Next time (if I ever get chicks this early again!) I will likely do that.

Do you have a thread about your Red Ranger breeding? I may be very interested to try that in the future.

This thread is informative on this subject:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/crossing-my-red-ranger-hens.1281099/page-73#post-21781265
I have a couple of NN cross hens from this line, grew pretty fast. The grey hen on the left in this photo is one.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I have always used a heat lamp, a big hot one in the 80's, in a 2 car garage. I hung it from the loft joists. This was in hot country, Riverside county CA. We had warnings if there was frost in the forecast, bad for the orange trees. I used a chain to be sure it was secure. I made about a 5' radius circle/corral out of cut open cardboard boxes. We did not know any better than to use newspaper for bedding. Broilers liked it. That is the last time I did Cornish-X, they were ok with this set up. The hard part was not killing them with too much heat in the summer.
Now, I got these nice screw-in heaters from Amazon. They are meant for reptiles, but I like them for chicks. I got 100, 75 & 50 watt versions, so I could change them as it warms up and they get more feathers. I use 2 so incase one cheap china-made thing burns out, there is still heat. The second pic shows the cardboard box I used early in the season last year. I had to cut out the top on one side to get it cooler.

I actually just dug out one of CHEs from my attic. I used it last year in a grow tent and to brood some chicks in a sterilite tub. Unfortunately, I turned it on and it started smoking where it had chipped. So promptly put it in the trash. I just added a 27w soft white regular lightbulb in one of those metal domes to the brooder about 8 inches above their heads. Now they have the coop heater, a brooder plate, and that lightbulb adding a bit of heat. These remaining ten are being kind of loud but they are eating and drinking and returning under the plate. Hopefully these THREE heating units can keep them going.