considering meat birds wondering how to care for them??

[wyochickenlady]

I have 4 turkeys and 14 chickens. All for egg and if the turkeys end up being males, they will be dinner.
I am wanting to get cornish crosses and have a few questions amd concerns.
1. Do I need to keep them totally seperate from my other flock? Including worrying about me spreading disease?
2. What is the best way to "house them" I don't want to build an entire coop if this ends up being a 1 time thing. But I do want them to get plenty of sunshine and roaming time.
3. What hatchery do you recommend?
4. What is a good number to start with? I have a friend or 2 and there husbands who are willing to pitch in come processing time in exchange for some chickens.

THANK YOU!

 

[patti17340]

We are going to get meat birds for the first time in about a month. We have a small pallet enclosure 8 x 12 with a pvc hoop roof and a shipping crate coop that we are using to raise 15 layer chicks in right now. We plan to use it for the meat birds adding some movable fencing to give them free range space. You will need to have them 8 -12 weeks depending how large you want them. They grow fast and it is easier to keep them clean when they have space . I am not mixing the birds. We plan to get about 40 birds. We are splitting them with our son. If it goes well next year we plan to do 2 runs. I got my chicks from a hatchery that was closest to my house so that the chickens would not have to be in a shipping box sitting for days. I was able to get mine within 24 hours of leaving the hatchery

 

[JessicaThistle]

I am raising a run of Cornish X Meat Birds right now. My thread is First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited! if you want to follow it while you are getting ready. I don't know it all but I am learning every minute of every day on this.

I would recommend a different enclosure for the meat birds. A chicken tractor moved across the grass is great because these guys poop ALOT. It would be difficult to keep them clean unless you want to shovel bedding all of the time. While they are in the brooder still, I am doing the deep litter method with pine shavings. I add fresh shaving 2-3 times per day. I have 29 in a rather small space though, so I am really trying to keep them as clean as possible. They are getting stinky as they get bigger. They will be 3 weeks old on Monday and will be moving to the chicken tractor this weekend since the rain will have stopped.

I plan to allow free ranging time and my other chickens will be out as well. I have found that I have one hen that will peck at them and need to shoo her away from the chicks right now.

I got my chicks from a hatchery less than an hour away so I could drive and pick them up. I would do it again rather than ship through the mail. I bought 30 and got one extra. I have lost the packing peanut and one more, so am down to 29. I thought I was losing another and spent the day nursing one back to health and he seems good to go now. These guys do not seem to handle stress well. They were definitely bread for very low stress environments. I think 30 is a good number.

These are very sweet birds. They are docile and hungry. You can reach in and pet them as much as you want but they would definitely eat you if you fall in.

When you fill the feed bowl, they are like a pack of piranha. I am really enjoying my run and if the butchering goes well, I will never hesitate to continue to raise these birds!

 

[wyochickenlady]

We unfortunately have no local hatcheries. But it is a good consideration. Maybe I can find one at least close...ish lol. Its Wyoming :/ I have not done baby chick's either so I'm really in over my head!

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

We unfortunately have no local hatcheries. But it is a good consideration. Maybe I can find one at least close...ish lol. Its Wyoming

I have not done baby chick's either so I'm really in over my head!

As a fellow mountain state dweller, I'm going to ask you about your altitude. We live at 8,000 ft, and I've had really poor luck with CX. My first batch I picked up at a feed store about an hour away. They only had 10 left, and they were four or five days old, but I lost three before they were butchering weight. The second group I ordered from a hatchery. I ordered 20 and 10 of them arrived either dead or dying. I was once again down to 7 before butchering weight. I have had much better luck with either Freedom Rangers or Red Rangers. They take a few weeks longer to reach that nice 4.5 - 5.5 weight, but I've only lost 1 of the first 35 Freedom Rangers, none of the 20 Red Rangers and 3 of the most recent 32 Freedom Rangers. I have 44 3 week old FRs in the brooder right now and I started with 45.

I know many people swear by the CX, and I am not suggesting that they are in any way wrong. I just think that if you are at high altitude you should speak with someone at the hatchery before you make your order. It is dissapointing and heartbreaking and frustrating to have your little ones dying.

 

[wyochickenlady]

We are at about 5300 feet. The reason I wanted to go with the crosses, is time. If all goes well we may be able to get in 2 batches before the impossible winter hits. I am only on 1.5 acres also so if they stink, they will be gone before the neighbors get mad. But I will call the hatchery for sure now to see what they think. Thank you!

 

[katbriar]

@hummingbird Hollow

It sounds like you're satisfied with your current meat flock, but wanted to offer you could try "slow growing" cornish cross. Privett and Stromburg's are two hatcheries I know that carry them.

They take an extra month to grow out compared to regular cornish cross (12 weeks total) which means fewer, if no, elevation-related issues.

I'm just over 7,000 feet and have raised them successfully.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

@hummingbird Hollow

It sounds like you're satisfied with your current meat flock, but wanted to offer you could try "slow growing" cornish cross. Privett and Stromburg's are two hatcheries I know that carry them.

They take an extra month to grow out compared to regular cornish cross (12 weeks total) which means fewer, if no, elevation-related issues.

I'm just over 7,000 feet and have raised them successfully.

Thanks, I'll probably look into them for next year and compare them, cost wise with the Freedom Rangers. I'm processing my FRs at 11 and 12 weeks and getting a dressed carcass of around 3.5 lb for the pullets and 4.5 lb for the cockrels at 11 weeks and about .5lb more at 12 weeks. How big are your slow cornish crosses at that age?

 

[katbriar]

Thanks, I'll probably look into them for next year and compare them, cost wise with the Freedom Rangers.  I'm processing my FRs at 11 and 12 weeks and getting a dressed carcass of around 3.5 lb for the pullets and 4.5 lb for the cockrels at 11 weeks and about .5lb more at 12 weeks.  How big are your slow cornish crosses at that age?

Last year I had five birds but had to put off butchering day. All weights were 3.5-5 ponds by 14 weeks, I think.

I have 21 we'll be processing this weekend at 12 weeks so I'll let you know. I have had no problems out of the bunch.

 

[katbriar]

Results on partial harvest of 12 week old slow cornish cross from Privett hatchery

Eight roosters weighing 4.0, 4.0, 3.9, 3.9, 3.6, 3.4, 3.4, 3.3 pounds.

Four of the largest hens weighing 3.2, 3.2, 3.0, and 3.0 pounds.

I have nine more hens I decided to give 2-4 more weeks to make sure they are at or over 3 pounds. I started to get concerned they were still too small.

The harvested birds averaged 16.2 pounds of feed consumed in the 12 weeks. I fed fermented game bird feed from a local mill that has 24% protein. Feeding regime was twice a day and a quantity that would be enough to last until about an hour or two before the next feeding.

My birds did not free range, but had more room than in a typical tractor. Their run was 12x12.