I have decided to make a forum diary of the rearing of my newly purchased meat chicks that were hatched on June 4th 2008 and came from Ideal Poultry. They are Cornish Rocks straight run.
Today as I start this "diary" they are 4 days old and 25 of them are eating about 3 cups of Poulin brand chick starter per day. (Keep in mind that in the same brooder there is 1 Khaki Cambell duckling and 1 Bronze Breasted turkey poult as well). There is also a small 1 cup dish of Dumour Turkey starter down and that is empty everyday as well. I am re-filling the standard 1 qt chick waterer 3 times per day but it is never completely empty when I refill it.
When I recieved the chicks on the 5th I was concerned at first because I was overcome by their cuteness. they were the most adorable little balls of fluff.
Now I see where people are coming from when they talk of their uglyness and odor. I don't find the odor terribly offensive now, but it's there, a slight sour dairy product smell. It's all in the poop. Keep that brooder spotless (which is hard, these guys a tad messy) and the smell is not bad. My brooder is right in my dining room so I've been spraying air freshener now and then and lighting scented candles. It's really not bad. I hope to move them into my garage in a bigger brooder very soon.
I noticed this morning when cleaning the brooder that the chicks are indeed starting starting to look a little balding on their bellies and I had to pick a couple of gross wood shavings stuck to the belly down off.
The chicks are lively. They have attitudes that my layer chicks didn't have at this age. They are snobbish for lack of a better word and pushy.
They love their food. Most of them will eat until the crops bulge. Alot of them lay down and eat, heads hanging over the bowl.
They are still cute, don't get wrong, just not as cute as they were.
So, the highlights of this are:
The chicks are 4 days old.
On their first day with me they ate 2 cups of chick starter.
Everyday thereafter they have eaten 3 cups of chick starter.
They have had acsess to 1 cup of Turkey starter per day.
They are consuming less than 3 qt.s of water per day.
I weighed all 25 chicks this morning and here are the results in Ounces:
3 chicks weighed 1 ounce.
7 chicks weighed 1.5 ounces.
11 chicks weighed 2 ounces.
4 chicks weighed 2.5 ounces.
For anyone interested in knowing the Bronze Turkey poult weighed in at 1.5 ounces.
I used a standard food scale for the weigh-ins.
I'll make a new diary entry on this thread in a few days to a week.
I plan to add pictures too.
Today as I start this "diary" they are 4 days old and 25 of them are eating about 3 cups of Poulin brand chick starter per day. (Keep in mind that in the same brooder there is 1 Khaki Cambell duckling and 1 Bronze Breasted turkey poult as well). There is also a small 1 cup dish of Dumour Turkey starter down and that is empty everyday as well. I am re-filling the standard 1 qt chick waterer 3 times per day but it is never completely empty when I refill it.
When I recieved the chicks on the 5th I was concerned at first because I was overcome by their cuteness. they were the most adorable little balls of fluff.
Now I see where people are coming from when they talk of their uglyness and odor. I don't find the odor terribly offensive now, but it's there, a slight sour dairy product smell. It's all in the poop. Keep that brooder spotless (which is hard, these guys a tad messy) and the smell is not bad. My brooder is right in my dining room so I've been spraying air freshener now and then and lighting scented candles. It's really not bad. I hope to move them into my garage in a bigger brooder very soon.
I noticed this morning when cleaning the brooder that the chicks are indeed starting starting to look a little balding on their bellies and I had to pick a couple of gross wood shavings stuck to the belly down off.
The chicks are lively. They have attitudes that my layer chicks didn't have at this age. They are snobbish for lack of a better word and pushy.
They love their food. Most of them will eat until the crops bulge. Alot of them lay down and eat, heads hanging over the bowl.
They are still cute, don't get wrong, just not as cute as they were.
So, the highlights of this are:
The chicks are 4 days old.
On their first day with me they ate 2 cups of chick starter.
Everyday thereafter they have eaten 3 cups of chick starter.
They have had acsess to 1 cup of Turkey starter per day.
They are consuming less than 3 qt.s of water per day.
I weighed all 25 chicks this morning and here are the results in Ounces:
3 chicks weighed 1 ounce.
7 chicks weighed 1.5 ounces.
11 chicks weighed 2 ounces.
4 chicks weighed 2.5 ounces.
For anyone interested in knowing the Bronze Turkey poult weighed in at 1.5 ounces.
I used a standard food scale for the weigh-ins.
I'll make a new diary entry on this thread in a few days to a week.
I plan to add pictures too.
