Did I Screw Up - How Big Should 5 Week Old Cornish X's Be?

[2pinkmom]

After having had adult laying hens for a year now, I finally worked up the courage to start out with day old chicks. As an experiment, I ordered 10 Cornish X's along with 15 layer hens. They have been eating medicated starter crumbles with a 20% minimum protein analysis. I've been taking up their food at night, and so far, have not lost anyone to flip. It sounds stupid, but I'm concerned that they aren't big enough. They've feathered out nicely and I'll probably move them into the chicken tractor tomorrow, as temperatures should be in the 80's/50's here. Since they have feathered out, I'm assuming that they're developing normally. They don't look much bigger than the Easter Egger hens do at the moment. If you look at them closely, their breast is wider, and they seem more powerfully built, but I guess I was expecting them to be enormous now, given what I've read about them. I keep reading about what freaks of nature they are, and then someone here posted about how huge her 7 week old Cornish X's dressed out. I don't know anyone else raising them in real life, so I've got no way to compare.

Did I screw up with the medicated starter crumbles? Should I be switching them onto something with a minimum protein content higher than 20%? Are they going to be safe and warm enough in the chicken tractor? I really hadn't anticipated raising them past 6 weeks. so I thought (in error) they would never leave the brooder. Now it looks like I'll have to try to get them to 7 or 8 weeks, and they need to get out of the brooder. When my first 3 hens lived in the chicken tractor, I had poultry netting fence (not electrified) around it for added security. I don't have enough time to order more fence to go around it again, so I'm leery of predators. Most people just have their chicken tractors out in the open, right? They would be up near the house where I could hear the commotion if something tried to get them at night.

 

[bumpershoot]

you're fine. I would switch them to grower feed when you move them out. How warm is your brooder right now? 80/50 temps seem just fine to me. Mine like shelter, but I know some folks who just cover top and two or three sides of the tractor with a tarp. You will be amazed at how fast these dudes grow.

 

[2pinkmom]

Actually, I've had the light off in their brooder for a couple weeks now. The brooders are in the tack room of my horse barn. The tack room has heat because the well pump is located in there. It's a small room, so it gets very warm in there if I'm not careful. I was concerned that the light would overheat them - I'd been told that overheating could cause heart attacks. My chicken tractor is partially enclosed and has roosts so they can get up off the ground a couple inches. Really more like a small coop with attached run that happens to have no bottom. They could always come in at night, I suppose.

Thanks for the reassurance!