City Meat Birds

[RollinWithTheStones]

I suppose it's possible, however I think that the chicken behavior has been modified out of them.

I have been reading on the fermented feed, they claim it allows the birds to eat less feed and improves their digestive system allowing them to take more nutrients out of the feed and it makes there poop like regular chicken poop. I don't care for the CC birds myself but the fermented feed may make them more enjoyable and possibly healthier/less lazy.

 

[blucoondawg]

I suppose it's possible, however I think that the chicken behavior has been modified out of them.

It could possibly depend on which hatchery your birds come from too, maybe some lines behave different than others. I have also heard of people putting the feeders up higher so the bird must stand next to it and eat rather than flopping on the ground and filling their face. Maybe if free ranging is desired it should be started early and the amount of feed given cut way back forcing the chicken to look for it's own. But as you said maybe they are just too dumb to do it now.

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

I used to play hide the food in my yard to get my CX to move around. I'd also let my kid chase them.

I'm looking at fermenting feed to bulk up my production reds for processing.

 

[jrsckn]

I raised 25 CX in city limits last year and didn't have a problem. You only have them 6-8 weeks so by the time they're old enough to be noticed by anyone, they're almost on the dinner table lol. I did however raise some on fermented feed and others on plain crumbles and the ff does keep the smell down quite a bit. It was too hot to put them outside so I raised them in the garage; also helped them keep a low profile too

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

Also I forgot to ask, are you planning on processing them yourself or taking them somewhere? If you're taking them somewhere make your appointment ASAP. Where I am there are not processors in county and so I have to drive an hour away to get them processed. Appointments fill up quick and they don't even start taking them till Mid March.

 

[Birddog1148]

My first shot at meat birds

 

[daviechik]

we just got our babies today in the mail. Good luck with yours!!

 

[glock206]

Sorry for the long delay in responding, life got in the way. I am planning on processing them myself with some help on the first batch from a friend who has done this before.

 

[glock206]

The birds are now three weeks old and growing super fast. I no longer suspect that they are the slow broilers, I think they might have just been a little slow to get going. I weighed them when they got moved to the outdoor coop and the smallest was 1lb 1oz and the largest was 1lb 9oz, so with that info I feel that I am just about on pace with what Welp hatchery says on their website.
I am now working on a rotating grow plan where I will have 5 in the brooder for 3 weeks and as soon as they go to the outdoor coop/pen then I get 5 more to start inside. By doing it this way I am hoping to raise a total of 25 birds this spring. I ended up making my pen area bigger so that once they get fully feathered I can move them into that and make it a three step process with 5 growing in each area at a time with a three week age gap between each group.

 

[crosbygroup]

I just ordered 30 Cornish X that will arrive on Wednesday 3-20. This will be my first time with meat birds and I will be taking them to a local processor that charges $3.00 a bird. We will see how it goes. After reading this thread I'm going to call on Monday and see about reserving space with the processor.