Cornish cross chicks arriving next week

[wolfwalker]

Welp,

Play on words intended

It has been 19 years since I raised meat birds and as i wanted supplemental heat for my greenhouse over the next couple of months, just to keep it above 40 on the rare night we drop to the high 30's I have 25 SR of Welp's Cornish cross broilers coming in next week. as they were the only ones who could meet my arrival date. I will update this post when they arrive and then once a week. they will be placed in the greenhouse 2 weeks after arrival.

I will be following their recommendation of 24 hour light for 5 days with full feed then to return to a normal light cycle and a 12 hour on 12 hour off feed access. I want maximum growth and metabolism as I want the heat produced. During the day they will have access to the outside shade house, which is enclosed with 2x4 field fence with skirting to keep rabbits and deer out. in fact I most likely will move their feeders to the shade house, just to get their butts moving to food. the shade house is 20X100, so they will have plenty of room to roam.

 

[wolfwalker]

Okay, the 8 week final breakdown and comments below.

Okay the mass breakdown.

400 pounds of feed fed at a cost of 360$
19 birds lived to harvest day
129.98 pounds of meat placed in freezer 2.77$ per pound

Avg weight is 6.7 pounds.
Largest is 8 pounds
Smallest was 4.5 pounds (This one was in trouble when I butchered it early)

During butchering I noticed 3 cases of Pericarditis (Fluid in sac around heart)
I averaged 20 minutes per bird, which I only was able to do by using a drill plucker, so not bad.

All organs looked healthy, Though I noticed a couple of birds with double livers, (2 sets)

Would I order again?

It is clear to me, at my elevation that the standard broiler, even the Welp hatchery breed, is not suited for me. I do not like 22% in loses of healthy birds. And the issues only popped up after week 6 and into week 7.

Unlike the suggested feeding schedule of 12 hours on 12 hours off, I only allowed the birds to eat for 8 hours after week 3. up to that point they were allowed 12 hours of feed.

Regular non organic poultry around here goes for 3.99 a pound, unless you find it on sale, so on that scale, it was worth it. Plus it was raised organic.

First week of May I have the new Delaware Enhanced broilers coming in and I am hoping that as a dual purpose and sustainable flock I won't have to resort to rapid broilers again in the future.

 

[wolfwalker]

I am going to revive this thread to be able to keep all my info in one place. Plus, the thread title is still appropriate

I ordered back in November when it was first mentioned about McMurray's new line of Delaware Broiler's. I ordered 10 as a why not try them, if I don't like them I can always throw the hens in the laying flock and eat the roosters.

They ship out on 5/11 and shortly thereafter I will start tracking weights and feed consumption and posting it here weekly.

 

[wolfwalker]

Average weight is 8 ounces with the largest just shy of 10 ounces.

Feed consumed has lessened as I have taken measures so they don't waste as much. Total feed so far 13.2 ounces.

Cornish X at 3 weeks averaged 24 ounces after consuming 42.33 ounces of feed.

The Cornish X by 3 weeks were on restricted feed of 12 hours, whereas the Delaware Enhanced have full feed, no restrictions. So it looks like they are tracking at a third of the growth rate for 32% of what I fed the Cornish.

 

[wolfwalker]

Your Welcome.

Starting to maybe like these Delaware Enhanced, the crazy chicks they are. I had the brooder door open as I was placing the shavings back in that they kicked out and one of them flew up onto my shoulder. Whacked me upside the head as it turned around and chirped. I tried to grab for it and leaned down so it would not fall off and it hopped out of reach and it felt like it was doing jumping jacks on my back, just out of reach. So I ended up sticking my head through the brooder door so it would hop back in. The shear audacity this chick has.

I noticed the legs of the Delawares are huge. they are as thick as some of my 3 month olds.

McMurrey states these can be considered a slow broiler, Now I will have to get some slow broilers in the fall to compare after I have moved the farm to a lower elevation, but I do know they are easily twice if not three times the mass of the LO and FBCM that came in the same shipment.

 

[wolfwalker]

Move is over, I now have 55 acres to play on and am in the process of building coops, runs and barns. AND, it is totally off grid with a 8 kilowatt solar system and my own well. I plan to redo the weekly weigh ins with the new batch come March and I will include cornish cross to compare to at this lower elevation, I am a 1000 feet lower, so around 4k above sea level.

 

[wolfwalker]

They are here. All arrived alive and hungry and thirsty. I am going to give them to Monday, which will put them at 7 days from hatch to start weights and feed tracking as right now, all my brooders are full of injured or several week olds and It is going to take me a few days to get everyone moved, brooders cleaned and sterilized and ready to seperate the Deleware's from the rest of the order.

 

[wolfwalker]

So 4 weeks and a couple of days old. avg weight 1.6 pounds. They've gone through 50 pounds of feed more or less with a conversion of 2.98 pounds of feed / pound of flesh. And they are starting to get some wide breasts on them and for those that like legs, they are impressive too.

 

[wolfwalker]

I have been thinking about my results that I posted yesterday. because it seems like it is almost a 1:1 feed conversion which I think is misleading.

I think the chicks arrives severely dehydrated and a good portion of that weight gain is due to re-hydration after weighing.

And one of the things I was thinking about as I weighed the chicks after 5 days of feed and 7 days since hatch, is the broiler feed chart assumes that feed and water is given on day 1 of hatch. After all the chart was made for and by major broiler producers. So they are offered feed and water from day 1. And I know from hatching my own chicks that even though they don't need to, they will eat and drink within hours of hatching as I have observed it. So while a good guide to see how you compare to the major producers, it is flawed for the smaller producer that has to have chicks shipped in so you don't even receive them until they are post hatch by 2 -3 days.

the research I have been doing states that the first 7 days in a meat chicks life is critical for the long term end weight being produced. That while genetically they can reach such and such a weight, if during the first 7 days not the correct nutrition and supplements being given can cause them to never being able to reach their genetic possible weight. And since the study was geared towards big meat producers, only went through 60 days. So it once again brings into doubt if it is truly true. on the one hand from a big broiler producer it is, on the other from the small producer that wants to raise meat for their family, it might not be as we can be more patient and give them more time to bring their weight up to an acceptable weight for harvest.

Now, I'm rambling as I have been up since 1 am when the storm blew through and woke me up.

 

[wolfwalker]

A lavender Orpington in the foreground. Hatched the same day