If you lived any where closer to NC KS I would definatly take you up on your offer. Any chance you would enjoy a little road trip with a rooster?? I have 11 California white and 7 brown leghorn pullets that are 5 weeks old and as for roosters I only have two, 2 week old Buff Orp roosters. I would like to be able to hatch out some chicks in the future.
Your absolutly right that they are probably Cornish X. I purchaced them at a farm store, where I have found out, are not so great at labeling their chicks. Thanks for the advice on processing!! Have you heard of inserting a small knife blade through the mouth to the back of the brain, as to loosen the feathers??? I read that some where but do not remember where???Actually, I agree with this, as I also don't follow the 4 sq ft rule in the coop and haven't had any issues. My coop is 10x10 and over the winter housed 2 turkeys, 6 ducks, 2 Seramas (who don't need more than 1 sq ft), 8 bantams (about 2 sq ft apiece requirement) and about 30 LF hens. If you add it all up:
30 LF = 120 sq ft
8 bantams = 16 sq ft
2 Seramas = 2 sq ft
2 turkeys = ? I dunno - shall we say 5 apiece, so another 10 sq ft
So, I should need a minimum of about 150 sq ft but 100 not only didn't cause problems but didn't seem crowded. Some of that is the way I have my roosts:
The roost set up like this allowed everyone who wanted to be on the roost a place, with lots of room to spare. The silkies and most of the ducks sleep on the floor so that makes for additional space for everyone too.
During the day they have a really large yard to roam in, and when I am here in the afternoons, I open the gate and let them out to free-range several acres, so I think that is why it doesn't seem to matter that the coop is smaller than the recommendation. As your friend said, the only time they are all in it at the same time is at night, when they are all sleeping anyway. During the day they are in and out to eat and lay eggs but only a small fraction of the total flock is inside at any given time. The only other time size matters is in really inclement weather. We had a couple of large snow storms this winter that kept them coop-bound for several days at a time. I scatted corn for them in the straw and that kept them busy for awhile scratching through it to find the corn. If they were always cooped up like that I'm sure I'd start to see issues but when it is only for a few days and then they can get out again, they seem to just hunker down and wait it out and I didn't have any problems with them bickering, feather plucking etc - the kinds of things you usually see when they are bored. They did each have to go out at least once per day since I don't keep water in the coop so when they got thirsty they had to at least go far enough to eat some snow.
Regarding processing...before you pluck you want to dunk them in hot water. I usually shoot for a temperature of 150-170 - not hot enough to start cooking them, but hot enough to loosen the feathers. Usually about a minute is good - to test, tug on a wing feather and when it slides out easily, they're ready. After that the feathers come of in handfuls so it usually isn't too bad. The worst is the little pin feathers that you have to pick out one by one. Some birds just have more of those than others. If you are going to be doing large numbers on a regular basis, you may want to invest in a plucker. The real pluckers are pretty expensive but I recently purchased one that attaches to the end of a drill and it works pretty well and does save some time.
Are you sure they are straight cornish birds you have? The behavior you are describing where they sit around at the feeder and can barely walk sounds more like Cornish X which are a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Straight Cornish are usually pretty mobile and relatively normal acting birds.
