Feeding meat chickens

[trifecta]

Has anyone withheld food to only 12 hours even with baby chicks (less than 3 weeks)? I just finished setting up my brooder, which I've decided to put directly outside- its going to be well into triple digits next week so I don't really see the need for starting the little guys indoors with a heat lamp.

I'm just curious if the babies will eat when its dark out- ie, should I be concerned about them not eating for 8-12 hours overnight when they are that small? It is possible for me to leave feed in with them overnight (their brooder consists of a vari-kennel and an exercise pen lined with chicken wire so they can't escape... I was going to lock them in the vari kennel at night for safety so they don't get eaten by anything and there is plenty of space for a small feeder and water but I wonder if they'll even eat it.

The last batch I had was started in February so they were under heat 24/7 for at least the first 2 weeks or so and I swear they ate 24 hours a day!

 

[cassie]

Go to welphatchery.com. They have good instructions on caring for meat birds on their web page. I think they suggest start limiting the feed at five days or so, but check. The chickens don't eat in the dark.

 

[Yukonchick]

Try one of those hanging solar lights. they work great.

 

[trifecta]

OK I'll go to the hardware store today and see what they have. I can also hang their heat lamp at night but higher up so they have some light but not heat, or just keep them inside for a few days at first and then put them out.

The little darlings are arriving on Thursday or Friday. Not a moment too soon, I'm sick of picking squash bugs and grasshoppers out of the garden... they need to start growing so I can cut them loose to do their job!

 

[TamTurkey]

Mine have light 24/7 but its a red light. I feed turkey starter with 28% protien and then go down to turkey finisher that has 18% I haven't had a flip (yet)(knock on wood) mine are CX and I haven't seen any leg issues at 3-5 weeks they get a rabbit ti stir them up and keep them moving in their coop. Mine have a climate controlled coop that have ventilation fans bringing in the fresh are and taking out the bad. They may not be free ranged but they are spoiled I bring in worms and crickets once a week and watch them have a frenzy! by week 6 they are ready to hit the grill.

 

[Joanmcm]

Thanks to everyone on this forum for sharing all their expriences...the good, the bad, and the ugly. I am brand new to raising chickens and your kindness sharing experiences has been invaluable and appreciated. We have a batch of 52 meat chickens. The meat chickens are 5 weeks old and pretty much eating us out of house and home. They are in a pasture pen that is now moved 2x a day to control the poop factor. They get fed around 8 lbs of food 4 x a day and get their water refreshed every time. And they eat every bit of it. I am going to start cutting in scratch this week. Currently they are on 19% chick starter from a local feed mill.Chick Starter/Grower 19% (Shelled Corn, Roasted Soybeans, Oats, Fish Meal, Fertrell's Poultry Nutri Balancer, Feed Grade Limestone, Hay, Kelp) and this week Chicken scratch will start to be cut in -Chicken Scratch 10% (-Shelled Corn and Oats coarsely ground). We kept them indoors until 4 weeks because of bad weather. At 21 days they were switched to 12 on/12 off on feed and have water 24/7. They have to move 2x a day because the pen is moved and they need to walk it (open bottom). Their food is all put on the open area of the pen so they have to scratch and search for it. Also it enables the little guys in the bunch to get in there. We have not lost any yet but I have to say these meaties are high maintenance for the short duration.

 

[tniron]

What about free ranging them? What kind of feed should be used as a supplement/

 

[cassie]

When I let my laying chickens run loose I kept regular chicken feed available to them. They ate a lot less of it, but they could eat it if they wanted. When I had my goat dairy, I had bantams running around loose in the barnyard. I didn't feed them. They got plenty of feed from scratching around the barnyard picking up spilled grain and finding bugs.

 

[cassie]

If you are talking about meat chickens, feed them regular meat bird feed. The free range is the supplement, not the reverse.

 

[tniron]

If you are talking about meat chickens, feed them regular meat bird feed.  The free range is the supplement, not the reverse.

So no one lets them free range as there primary source of food?