Feeding meaties

[jaj121159]

How do you feed your meaties? I'm talking about the feeding process, not the feed and percentage etc. Do you go 12 on, 12 off? Maybe 24/7? or put out a certain amount once or twice a day and when it's gone, it's gone.

I have done more of the latter. With my last batch of 50, I was feeding twenty pounds a day at 5+ weeks. I would put out 12 lbs. in the morning and 8 after work. No snacks or anything in between. The 12 lbs. was always gone when I got home from work, and the 8 gone in th e morning. I butchered at 8 weeks with a 4.25 lb. average dressed weight.

 

[Lorije1]

I do a mix of all the above

I put out the feeder in the morning (around 9, I work late nights). Occasionally throughout the day I make sure there is feed available. They also get a double handful of scratch and have had access to grass (but that is all eaten now). When I leave for work I put the feeder at the edge of their shelter so they can eat after dark and they eat until it is gone - no idea when they empty it. At 130am when I get home I give them a 5 minute gorge-fest, then toss some oats or scratch in the shelter... maybe a handful (21 5wk old meats).
I also try to give them something different each day - sliced grapes, bits of apple, a mash of their crumbles in warm water, oatmeal and old plants pulled from the garden. I am hoping to fix a "Clampett" tractor tomorrow so they can get back to having grass etc available to them.