Feed question

[kicknchicken]

So, I was at a place selling meat birds and they said to feed them a feed that had a higher protein content to help them grow at a faster rate.

I will be hatching some chicks (buffs) I would like to butcher. Because of poor planning, I won't get them in the incubator until next week which means they won't hatch until mid July. I don't want to butcher them in the winter. I am curious if I feed them the higher protein feed if they would grow a little faster allowing me to butcher them a couple of weeks sooner but still be around 5 or 6 pounds.

Anyone have any experience with this? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[pdirt]

"Meat bird chickens" aka Cornish Cross breed are usually butchered in 6-8 WEEKS. They grow REALLY fast and absolutely need the higher protein to grow that fast. Your buffs would be ready to butcher (this is a ballpark figure) in perhaps 5-6 MONTHS (20-24 weeks). Any longer and they will be tougher, any shorter and you won't get maximum growth. They won't get nearly as big or heavy as the Cornish Cross.

What I would do in your shoes is yes, feed them the higher protein feed. It will help them grow a *little* bit faster, but think perhaps days faster, not weeks. Our experience is with heritage breeds, and also to not free-range them too much if intended for meat (a little is good, but not ALL day long) as they will be a bit tougher and less meaty. Not a huge difference, but enough to warrant us to limit their free-range time. They will also eat more feed if they don't have as much free-range time. Feed them until you are ready to butcher. They may not be quite as big as you would like, but so it goes in this case. You did the best you could, perhaps next year could be better. Yeah, you don't want to butcher in winter, unless you have a good indoor (warm) setup. Around here, I wouldn't want to be butchering outside any later than mid-October, otherwise it likely is to be too cold to spend a lot of time standing there with wet hands.

 

[WhitecatFarm]

Fryers instead of broilers... still good eats