Cornish X feed

[freeprkr]

I have 6 week old Cornsish X meat birds and am currently feeding them a 22% meat bird feed. I thought I read somewhere that their feed should be switched to a lower % at a certain point. The guys at my local feed stores are barely clerks and are no help at all. Any experts out there know the facts?

 

[buc]

I have raised 15 cornish X this year, 6 of which are now in the freezer.

I found that they were starting to get fat at only 8 - 9 weeks old.

I was told that the hazard of raising them is they grow really fast and thier poor little heart sometimes can't handle the explosive body growth and the bird dies.

I was told to control their feed and do not allow them to have free choice feed.

 

[BirdBrain]

We fed our 10 cornish rocks 22.5% protein broiler ration the whole 6 weeks and butchered them right at 6 weeks. They weighed 4.5-5 pounds each dressed weight. I think I have seen the suggestion to drop back to 18-20% around 6 weeks but if we had done that we would have ended up with 8 pound birds at 9-10 weeks and I didn't want them any bigger than they already were. They are deceptively large. I was surprised at their weights. At some point, all they are putting on is fat. You might butcher one now and see if you like the way it is. That way you can determine whether to continue feeding as you are, change to lower protein or go ahead and put them all in the freezer. It seems to me that people have varying results depending on how they feed and how much exercise the birds get. Mine were rather confined, but I have an idea that if they had had more space they would have still fallen asleep with their beaks in the bowl. They are tremendously lazy.

 

[buc]

Mine were rather confined, but I have an idea that if they had had more space they would have still fallen asleep with their beaks in the bowl. They are tremendously lazy." BirdBrain

Darn that is funny and sooooo true, my Silver Laced WY's are track stars compared to the Cornish X.


Your advise to dress one to see how the ration is doing was spot on.