Cornish Cross in Sand Brooder

[Firemedicoh]

Hello everyone. I am new to here and to Chickens. I have been watching for awhile and thought it was time to join. There is a lot of great info here. We currently have 16 layers (1 roster) that is going really great. We also raised a successful batch of Cornish Cross (35 and took 34 to butcher) this past summer. My question is...we are starting another batch of Cornish Cross (50) and I have build a brooder in the coop for they guys to house until time to hit the tractor....can we placed these chics on sand in the brooder until making the move outside and secondly how much cold can these meat birds take while outside in the tractor. Thanks for your help, we really appreciate it. David

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas, David. First off, stop by and intro yourself in the New Members section so we can give a proper BYC welcome. Here's the link. https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/44/new-member-introductions
In terms of your question..despite their astromical growth rate, I've always found Cornish X to be more cold susceptible and sensitive than other breeds. Maybe because their feather production seems to lag about two weeks behind their body size. They just seem to lack the feathers for warmth when they are young. To that end, I think you need to be pretty careful in cool or cold weather when you tractor them. I think sand in the brooder is okay, BUT maybe for the first couple days you should use shavings so they get used to eating their food and not sand. They're not the smartest chickens in the coop! Good luck to you!