Okay, well, lots of stuff going on here, so- my 2 cents
Do the water float test to check for viability on the eggs. Most likely they are quitters.
Greyhounds are hunting dogs. Sorry about your chicks. That is always so hard to deal with.
Hatcheries are breeding for eggs, so the extra males are usually less heavy in body muscle. Your 24 week roo will still make great delicious soup and pot pie. You can also put him on some finisher ration if you want a bit more, mainly fat at this age, but more.
Heritage breeders of dual purpose birds have much better body muscle and size, but usually less egg production.
Alright, time to go coffee up and get chores done. Everyone have a beautiful day!
I work at BigR Elizabeth store, the chicks you thought were meatys are most likely white leghorns, we have never had meatys at the Elizabeth store and I have been there since day one, 10 years ago.. So I would know.The chicks were seperated from the others for aggressive behavior, severely damaging our other baby chicks. So the lead in that dept seperated them. The chicks we receive are an assortment of what ever is handy at the hatchery, to keep the cost down. The hatchery is Privett. I pick up the baby chicks as soon as the post office calls usually at seven am. So they get water quickly. We get them hydrated ASAP then feed 1 hour later, less pasty butt. Sometimes we have had some cochins, but mostly black star, production reds, and leghorns, and then sometimes BR and other varieties. You can order chicks SO during chick seasons. Just wanted to save the trip for those looking for meatys
Our 24wk roo isn't hatchery but wasn't intended to be a meat bird so he's definitely not the type. I had him separated until the goats broke the enclosure so now he's with everyone else again. I think I have some meat crumbles. I think I'll give him those until they are gone and then he's gone.
Thanks for the info! I'm in there all the time.
Thanks! Filing away for future reference. DH and I talked and decided we'll order meat birds until we have a good setup to breed our own.
Where are you getting the bresse? We won't be ready to start a sustainable meat flock for awhile but am definitely interested in the bresse when we do.Argh. Sooooo, change of plans lol.
And my bf says I have 6-9 weeks to be "done" with these batch of chicks.
B/c it looks like I'm going to go and do ayum cemani, svart honas and bresse. It's insane I can get those meat chickens, but not simple cornish x or rangers. What the cluck?
The beginning of operation fancy chicker coop and run begins Friday.
These little buggers are escape artists at 4 weeks old. They need to go outside instead of being cooped up in 2 little boxes in the barn. 3 more days... I might let these itty bitties loose for a little free range in an enclosed run for a few hours tomorrow where some tender grass is shooting up. Where the dogs can't get them, and I can't even get in there atm w/o a pair of snips to cut the zillion zip ties and pull up garden staples.
Not sure where you got your information but I just pulled this information directly from Central Hatchery's web site.
