CX vs FR/DP daily care needs

[Jejahess]

I've been raising Cornish crosses but now I'm thinking of venturing into a fry pan bargain of dual purpose or freedom rangers. The main reason is the daily care needs. As we get into the summer months I travel a fair bit which in the past has prevented me from raising CX's after the beginning of June. In the spring it's not as big of a deal to get somebody to take care of the daily feeding and tractor relocation needs for me.

I'm thinking of going to a dual purpose or freedom ranger where I can do like I do with my hens and just load up an automatic feeder and they're good for several days. I would have a larger Run area for this type of bird that I do for the CX's so they could spend more time over the same area and not have to moved daily.

For those that raise this type of bird, do you find that you can go a few days without needing to tend to the chickens? I'm talking 4 days at the most where I would not be around to take care of them.

 

[NatJ]

I don't understand why the kind of chicken would matter.

Can't you just give the Cornish Cross a larger run, load up the feeder, and leave them?

Is there some reason that a larger run is harmful to Cornish Cross?

 

[Jejahess]

CX's can eat themselves to an early death. They get unlimited feed for the first week or so, then it's a 12hrs with feed/12 hrs without feed until harvest. Or some variation of that schedule.

I have read where some people let them eat 24 hours a day but then end up with birds dying of heart attacks or breaking legs. They also don't tend to move too much, especially in later weeks so you have to keep the feed and water apart from each other to encourage them to move around a little.

They make TONS of manure so even if you have a larger run, the manure tends to pile up at the feeder & waterer so a larger run won't really help. They tend to rest near feed/water as well so they end up laying in manure. I move my tractors each evening when I pull the feeders so they aren't spending the night in that day's manure.

 

[NatJ]

CX's can eat themselves to an early death. They get unlimited feed for the first week or so, then it's a 12hrs with feed/12 hrs without feed until harvest. Or some variation of that schedule.

So the sun going down won't be enough to restrict the feed? I don't think chickens eat in the dark. (You're talking about a few days, once or twice in their lives, right? That's not the same as constant feed EVERY day for two months.)

They also don't tend to move too much, especially in later weeks so you have to keep the feed and water apart from each other to encourage them to move around a little.

Maybe plan your trips and the birds' ages, so they're still younger when you are away? Then they might move around enough in a larger run during the time you're gone.

They make TONS of manure so even if you have a larger run, the manure tends to pile up at the feeder & waterer so a larger run won't really help. They tend to rest near feed/water as well so they end up laying in manure. I move my tractors each evening when I pull the feeders so they aren't spending the night in that day's manure.

For a few days' time, you could put in lots of feeders and waterers, spaced out--if the feed is in 10 places, the manure will also be in 10 places. (And if one feeder runs empty, they will have very good motivation to move to the next one! You would just have to make sure the total amount of feed was enough for the time you'd be gone.)

Maybe try making the larger run, and raise one batch of cornish cross, and see how they do?

You could even test ideas by setting them up to be untended for 4 days while you're home: look at them each day to see how it's going, but don't actually change anything (unless the situation gets desperate.) It's probably one of the easiest ways to find out what actually works.

I have little experience with cornish cross, and none with the other breeds you asked about, so I'm just making guesses here--maybe something I say will spark an idea that helps.

 

[k.bee]

I have not raised Cornish X so I cannot compare, but I have been raising several groups of Freedom Rangers annually for about 3 years now. I just processed 40 birds who were eating approximately 20 lbs of feed daily along with free-ranging our woods and pasture, they would easily have eaten more if additional feed were available.

I soak their feed to help with hydration and to limit waste and they would drink a little over 2 gallons of water daily.

I'm not sure what set-up you have but I would be afraid they would gorge themselves for the first few days and then run out of feed. Maybe you could "pay" a kind neighbor with a bird after processing if they would take care of them while you're away?

 

[Jejahess]

So the sun going down won't be enough to restrict the feed? I don't think chickens eat in the dark. (You're talking about a few days, once or twice in their lives, right? That's not the same as constant feed EVERY day for two months.)



Maybe plan your trips and the birds' ages, so they're still younger when you are away? Then they might move around enough in a larger run during the time you're gone.



For a few days' time, you could put in lots of feeders and waterers, spaced out--if the feed is in 10 places, the manure will also be in 10 places. (And if one feeder runs empty, they will have very good motivation to move to the next one! You would just have to make sure the total amount of feed was enough for the time you'd be gone.)

Maybe try making the larger run, and raise one batch of cornish cross, and see how they do?

You could even test ideas by setting them up to be untended for 4 days while you're home: look at them each day to see how it's going, but don't actually change anything (unless the situation gets desperate.) It's probably one of the easiest ways to find out what actually works.

I have little experience with cornish cross, and none with the other breeds you asked about, so I'm just making guesses here--maybe something I say will spark an idea that helps.

Good suggestions, but not really feasible.

If they have feed in the pen at night, they'll eat it. I usually check on them around 11pm before I go to bed and I'll find them pecking the grass even after dark.

I keep them in tractors to move them daily and protect from predators. Can't really expand the run without a complete rebuild. Due to the amount of manure they make, frequent moves are necessary. The bigger the run, the more difficult the move. I'd have to triple (at least) the size of the tractors to give them more ground to fertilize and make more room for feeders.

I travel for work frequently from around May through September. Can't really change that.

Late winter/early spring is the best time for me to raise this kind of bird since I'm home nearly every night. I combine efforts with some other family to make processing easier. We each pay by the LB the birds we end up taking. I can get some help the rare times I'm away this time of year, but once summer hits every one seems to have plans and not be able to stop out when I'm away.

 

[Jejahess]

I have not raised Cornish X so I cannot compare, but I have been raising several groups of Freedom Rangers annually for about 3 years now. I just processed 40 birds who were eating approximately 20 lbs of feed daily along with free-ranging our woods and pasture, they would easily have eaten more if additional feed were available.

I soak their feed to help with hydration and to limit waste and they would drink a little over 2 gallons of water daily.

I'm not sure what set-up you have but I would be afraid they would gorge themselves for the first few days and then run out of feed. Maybe you could "pay" a kind neighbor with a bird after processing if they would take care of them while you're away?

Thanks. I didn't realize FR's ate as much as CX's. Maybe I'll look into a DP bird since they should be more like our hens and be able to control themselves on the feed

 

[Molpet]

Thanks. I didn't realize FR's ate as much as CX's. Maybe I'll look into a DP bird since they should be more like our hens and be able to control themselves on the feed

A guy did a study on a few heritage hatchery breeds

DP from a breeder for utility would be better than hatchery stock

https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/fnc12-866/

 

[Hamster0425]

I haven't done CX so I can't compare. Our FR are in a large, permanent pen. They are fed fermented food twice a day. Easy enough to find someone to do. The current issue is they don't go into their coop at dusk so we have to shove them in. We have travel plans in a few weeks and I'm getting less optimistic they'll figure it out by then.