Thanks for coming to my meat bird thread! It's evolved over the months to a discussion post among a few of us, as well as a regular update for my own and others growing meat birds. The first 10 or so pages are my first experience with Cornish in a free range access situation. The next round includes Robust White and Royal Red broilers from Moyers Hatchery, and Cornish Cross again for comparison. I plan to continue updating this thread as I continue to raise more meat birds. Thanks to the staff of BYC for featuring this thread!
Please feel free to participate, comment, assist, ask questions, etc. I am no expert but I am having the time of my life raising my own food. I have never done anything like this, and you can too. At the bottom of this first post, I will update with my favorite informational threads on meat birds here and my favorite links online that I have learned from. If you don't want to read through everything, here are some of my favorite posts. There are photos throughout the thread, and after batch 2, I will create a post with all the weekly growth photos.
Final Photos Before Processing First Cornish Round
Cooking The First Bird!
SPOILER ALERT: I Spoiled all my meat
New Plans are Made
Robust White and Royal Red Broilers Arrive
Interesting discussion with Moyer on where broiler breeds come from
First round processing Moyer Broilers at 9 weeks
Carcass photos of finished Royal Red broiler
WRAP UP POST from Summer 2019 Broilers - Moyer Specialty Broiler and Cornish Cross
Links to additional communities and resources:
Pastured Poultry Group on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PasturedPoultry/
Additional information links at end of this first post.
----------
Original First Entry:
Im raising my first batch of Cornish X, and I'm going to raise them like I have raised all the other birds and see what results I get. Outside from day 2, natural lighting patterns, 20% starter/grower for the duration of their lives, love and attention, access to fresh grass and plenty of space.
I've raised 4 groups of chicks this year and really like raising them outdoors, so I am going for the same with the Cornish. I am aiming to process them in 10 ish weeks. I have 8 birds I picked up today at my feed store, and I have ordered 22 that will arrive on Tuesday. They'll be five days apart, but I felt like taking home these, too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ These 8 are straight run, and the 22 coming will all be female. I didn't want tons of cockerels starting to crow around processing time.
I'll be tracking my progress and notes here and hope you'll join me if you have comments or thoughts! Any help is appreciated and encouraged!
Day 1
I brood the chicks indoors the first day and night with a Brinsea EcoGlow brooder plate. I usually include electrolytes in the water, and I am using Murray McMurray's Broiler Booster. It's supposed to help broiler's specifically with bone growth.
I like to keep day old's in the house in a smaller brooder so that I can monitor them closely, ensure each is eating and drinking, and, that they know how to get warmth from the brooder plate. It also gives me 24 hours to see if anyone has stresses or pasty butt before moving them outdoors. The brooder plate will train them where to seek heat from the Mama Heating Pad I have setup in the outdoor brooder.
I included sprinkled feed throughout the brooder and also a patch of grass from the area the chicks will be foraging later in life. I sprinkled the grass and areas around it in the brooder with chick grit.
First impressions of these chicks: They're chickens. They definitely have larger-capacity crops, or they just shove them fuller. They're not too zippy, but they are curious and friendly. They took to the brooder plate immediately.
If you stumble upon this thread from a google search, here are some of the places I’ve gathered my information...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/raising-healthy-cornish-cross-chronicles.1112276/
One of my favorite personal threads started by @ChocolateMouse, it doesn’t fully finish, but the beginning is full of awesome tidbits.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rnish-x-meaties-tractors-do-not-count.813414/
Awesome 27-page post all about FREE ranging Cornish. Lots of details from various sources on how they free range their flock, progression photos, butchering notes, and follow up with next generation birds.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/toad-raising.1152440/
60+ thread on raising “roads” a 7/8 Cornish cross, 1/8 Dixie rainbow. Discussion on creating self sustaining meat birds.
Please feel free to participate, comment, assist, ask questions, etc. I am no expert but I am having the time of my life raising my own food. I have never done anything like this, and you can too. At the bottom of this first post, I will update with my favorite informational threads on meat birds here and my favorite links online that I have learned from. If you don't want to read through everything, here are some of my favorite posts. There are photos throughout the thread, and after batch 2, I will create a post with all the weekly growth photos.
Final Photos Before Processing First Cornish Round
Cooking The First Bird!
SPOILER ALERT: I Spoiled all my meat
New Plans are Made
Robust White and Royal Red Broilers Arrive
Interesting discussion with Moyer on where broiler breeds come from
First round processing Moyer Broilers at 9 weeks
Carcass photos of finished Royal Red broiler
WRAP UP POST from Summer 2019 Broilers - Moyer Specialty Broiler and Cornish Cross
Links to additional communities and resources:
Pastured Poultry Group on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PasturedPoultry/
Additional information links at end of this first post.
----------
Original First Entry:
Im raising my first batch of Cornish X, and I'm going to raise them like I have raised all the other birds and see what results I get. Outside from day 2, natural lighting patterns, 20% starter/grower for the duration of their lives, love and attention, access to fresh grass and plenty of space.
I've raised 4 groups of chicks this year and really like raising them outdoors, so I am going for the same with the Cornish. I am aiming to process them in 10 ish weeks. I have 8 birds I picked up today at my feed store, and I have ordered 22 that will arrive on Tuesday. They'll be five days apart, but I felt like taking home these, too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ These 8 are straight run, and the 22 coming will all be female. I didn't want tons of cockerels starting to crow around processing time.
I'll be tracking my progress and notes here and hope you'll join me if you have comments or thoughts! Any help is appreciated and encouraged!
Day 1
I brood the chicks indoors the first day and night with a Brinsea EcoGlow brooder plate. I usually include electrolytes in the water, and I am using Murray McMurray's Broiler Booster. It's supposed to help broiler's specifically with bone growth.
I like to keep day old's in the house in a smaller brooder so that I can monitor them closely, ensure each is eating and drinking, and, that they know how to get warmth from the brooder plate. It also gives me 24 hours to see if anyone has stresses or pasty butt before moving them outdoors. The brooder plate will train them where to seek heat from the Mama Heating Pad I have setup in the outdoor brooder.
I included sprinkled feed throughout the brooder and also a patch of grass from the area the chicks will be foraging later in life. I sprinkled the grass and areas around it in the brooder with chick grit.
First impressions of these chicks: They're chickens. They definitely have larger-capacity crops, or they just shove them fuller. They're not too zippy, but they are curious and friendly. They took to the brooder plate immediately.
If you stumble upon this thread from a google search, here are some of the places I’ve gathered my information...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/raising-healthy-cornish-cross-chronicles.1112276/
One of my favorite personal threads started by @ChocolateMouse, it doesn’t fully finish, but the beginning is full of awesome tidbits.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rnish-x-meaties-tractors-do-not-count.813414/
Awesome 27-page post all about FREE ranging Cornish. Lots of details from various sources on how they free range their flock, progression photos, butchering notes, and follow up with next generation birds.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/toad-raising.1152440/
60+ thread on raising “roads” a 7/8 Cornish cross, 1/8 Dixie rainbow. Discussion on creating self sustaining meat birds.
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator: