cornish concerns?

[digbychris]

Hi all, I bought 7 Cornish x chicks at my farm store on Labor Day. At that time a sign said they were 2 weeks old and they were $1 each. So were at 6 weeks old as I type this.
Weeks 4 and 5 they were grew well, ate well and drank tremendously. I've been doing the 12 on/12 off for their feed (22% crumble). I keep them in an 8x4 tractor that I move daily. feed at one end, water at the other and some grit inbetween.
My questions are:
1) were at 6 weeks and they weigh an average of 3.5 lbs each. They're happy, seem healthy. Chirpy and active. But that weight seems low compared to others I've raised in the past and according to info I've seen here and other online pages.
2) They're eating and drinking have dropped off dramatically the past couple of days. I'm no longer seeing empty feed trough or waterers. So Im simply leaving the feed in 24/7 now.
Is there cause for concern? I've had terrible luck with Cornish in the past and have really tried to do everything right this time. Like I said they seem healthy and active. Chirping all the time.

thanks!

 

[Kiki]

What is your weather like?
Has it changed much in the past couple of days?
Has their poop changed?

 

[digbychris]

Hi, thanks!

weathers been fairly stable, we had a dip in temps for a day or 2 but low 80's during the day and 60's at night (Indiana)
Poop is good and plentiful, I move their tractor daily. I haven't seen any change in it. Aside from maybe a bit less of it, of course.

 

[Birdinhand]

growth curves are tricky sometimes, if something has constrained their development early on, sometimes I've seen them stall out. I personally would avoid ones that are two weeks old, I usually get them on day 2 or 3 and get them started right. I'm not a huge grower but I have grown a few hundred, about 25-30 at a time. my conclusion is that the cobb 500 line is much better for the homestead grower, more lively and chicken like up to about 6 -7 weeks, then even they slow down, don't each so much and become much less active. I harvest at about 8-9 weeks depending on size. the roosters tend to be the biggest. I like a little bit lower protein, more like 20%, seems to keep their poops more firm and less gorging on the water so less mess. I use a MHP for heat for the first 5 weeks or so, no light, so I don't bother doing the 12/12 thing as the natural night cycle causes them to sleep rather than over eat so much, I have no leg proglems. I have a batch going now, at about 5 weeks.

If yours were not given grower formula for the first two weeks and for whatever reason didn't get a good start, it may be the reason they are approaching the finish line kind of lightweight. If it's not hot where you are, I'd let them grow out for another 2-3 weeks, maybe more and see if they fill out.

 

[digbychris]

thanks. They were given grower and I moved to the finisher a couple of weeks ago. I hope to just let them continue for another couple weeks. My fear of course is that they'll start dropping off dead. But they act healthy enough.

 

[Birdinhand]

thanks. They were given grower and I moved to the finisher a couple of weeks ago. I hope to just let them continue for another couple weeks. My fear of course is that they'll start dropping off dead. But they act healthy enough.

as it's getting cooler, hopefully you won't see heart attacks, I see that more in the dead of summer. also, I don't use finisher, a good grower feed works great from start to end.

 

[digbychris]

awesome, thanks so much

 

[iwltfum]

I see a couple potential reasons for having small birds at 6 weeks.

First of all, the feed store was probably feeding them a relatively low protein starter for what meat birds need. It's just less expensive and they are usually brooding layers too, so it's truly the odd store that gets breed specific with their chick feed. There are also usually other stresses and distractions in the store that can lead to under eating or poor digestion of food, which causes a protein deficiency even if they are being fed properly. Considering that they were there for 2 weeks, they may have gotten off to a slow start because of it. If that's what happened, a slow start means they'll be slow to reach harvest weight.

Second possibility is that they are not meat birds at all and got mixed up with some other laying breed that is also yellow as a chick.

That being said, no matter what variety- they just need to grow more and they will.

If they really are cornish crosses and you know that for a fact, then lower their protein by a couple percentage points by adding small amounts of corn in with the feed. If not, just keep feeding them chick grower and start giving them corn in the same way in a couple weeks or a month to fatten them. A good way to know when to start adding corn is when the birds have gotten to a good visual size, but hasn't reached harvest weight yet. Then add the corn gradually and plan on harvesting in about 2-3 weeks.

But seriously, don't worry about the corn too much. It might help, but I'm not sure why I went into so much detail about it.

We butcher our birds at 6-7.5 pounds generally, but we have butchered some flocks as small as 4.5-4.75 for the folks that like a 3ish pound chicken. I've never been a fan of growing them that small personally, but hey, that's the way it goes sometimes and you just gotta roll with it.

Cheers!

 

[digbychris]

I see a couple potential reasons for having small birds at 6 weeks.

First of all, the feed store was probably feeding them a relatively low protein starter for what meat birds need. It's just less expensive and they are usually brooding layers too, so it's truly the odd store that gets breed specific with their chick feed. There are also usually other stresses and distractions in the store that can lead to under eating or poor digestion of food, which causes a protein deficiency even if they are being fed properly. Considering that they were there for 2 weeks, they may have gotten off to a slow start because of it. If that's what happened, a slow start means they'll be slow to reach harvest weight.

Second possibility is that they are not meat birds at all and got mixed up with some other laying breed that is also yellow as a chick.

That being said, no matter what variety- they just need to grow more and they will.

If they really are cornish crosses and you know that for a fact, then lower their protein by a couple percentage points by adding small amounts of corn in with the feed. If not, just keep feeding them chick grower and start giving them corn in the same way in a couple weeks or a month to fatten them. A good way to know when to start adding corn is when the birds have gotten to a good visual size, but hasn't reached harvest weight yet. Then add the corn gradually and plan on harvesting in about 2-3 weeks.

But seriously, don't worry about the corn too much. It might help, but I'm not sure why I went into so much detail about it.

We butcher our birds at 6-7.5 pounds generally, but we have butchered some flocks as small as 4.5-4.75 for the folks that like a 3ish pound chicken. I've never been a fan of growing them that small personally, but hey, that's the way it goes sometimes and you just gotta roll with it.

Cheers!

thanks and yeah I assume the farm store doesn't go to the trouble of feeding specific things. I could be wrong but I doubt it. They are for sure Cornish cross, theyre feathered out very nicely and are fairly good sized. I'll follow your corn recommendation, that's easy enough. Thanks for the input!

 

[Morrigan]

my conclusion is that the cobb 500 line is much better for the homestead grower, more lively and chicken like up to about 6 -7 weeks, then even they slow down, don't each so much and become much less active.

Totally agree about the cobb 500s. I've had really good luck with them. Some hatcheries do sell "slow growing" types of broilers, and it's possible you just got one of those.

If it's not hot where you are, I'd let them grow out for another 2-3 weeks, maybe more and see if they fill out.

I usually harvest in stages anywhere from 9 to 13 weeks. As long as they are still lively and doing well, there is no rush, just let them continue to grow. I bet you see a pretty big difference in a couple of weeks.