Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[griffinkid02]

I see a trend developing here, north = no flies, south = many flies.

All that oogleing (sp) the hot male actors on the crime shows wasn't for nothing!!!

Well, I will add to the evidence Kassa, Alabama here, and I have to wrap my face while spooning out the FF to keep from eating and breathing little @#$$&*&*%($$)$##*@@@#&

Although I also have more gnats and fruit flies than actual flies, but still plenty of all.

 

[crazychickenwom]

My cx are 5 weeks old now and average 4 - 5 lbs. I got them from Myer Hatchery and they seem to be doing great weight and forage wise. I let them out of the tractor now a couple hours at a time twice a day, morning and evening. I wish I could let them out all day, but I am just not confident enough in their ability to fend for themselves. Maybe next time when I get 50 instead of 20... it will be this fall and I won't have my garden to worry about, lol. I have also just added scratch grains to the grower mix, so we will see how they like it this morning. I am sure I will get some funny looks!

 

[reereechickens]

They didn't like it one bit but no aggression towards each other....but I about lost a finger or two at feeding time.

I'm trying to stay off the forums for a bit...it was taking over a good bit of my mind and time for a bit. Not good.

Vfem...did you get your birds from Central Hatchery like me? If you did, no amount of feeding these birds up are going to work, I don't think. They are just substandard CX, IMO. They were fed more than my last group and my last group were 10 lbs live weight by 8 wks....these are now 10 wks and not a bird would go over 6-7 lbs, even after two weeks off free range. They are shorter, have a shorter body and breasts and just don't have the double muscling that my last CX had. It has nothing to do with the feed...both groups were fed the same feeds except the last group were only fed once a day! This group have had more feed, better nutrition of the FF, more good foraging opportunities, etc., and they still don't measure up.

I'll not buy from them again. Great foragers, great health....but small finished product.

One person stated they were not true CX but more DP birds than CX...this I can now see. They forage as well as DP, have similar body structure of the DP and, though they look like the CX in body style and ugliness, they just don't get big enough.

BJ, I thank you and I sure wish you could be here too....50 CX by myself have been no treat. After doing the first 12 as usual, plucking and all, I decided they weren't worthy of that level of care in processing. Now I just split open that breast skin, take off the breasts, take off the thighs and legs and toss the rest...I hate to waste the little bits but they don't have enough meat on them to warrant all that effort. I do the same exact thing! My DH doesn't help but my 11 yo and 9 yo DS's will, so they help me cut the heads off to bleed them out. I feel guilty about "wasting" so much but really it is the best parts, IMO!

Sure makes processing easy now....I drop the tailgate on the old truck, bring a bucket of water and two paring knives and kill 6 birds each morning. I just use the tailgate itself to kill them and use it as my processing table as well. Clean, quick, easy, fast. I love the tailgate idea, the last time I processed I was fussing about needing a table. I have been off of BYC b/c of vacation and you are right, BYC can take alot of time up. Now I can start my FF!

 

[vfem]

Unfortunately I got them at TSC a few years ago and they can never tell you exactly where they get their chicks....they seem very vague and say they get them from various hatcheries. The chicks I saw at TSC this year were just as small as those I got from Central Hatchery, which were almost half the size of the ones I got from TSC in the first batch. Go figure!

I got mine from TSC this year, which was from Mt Healthy. I have go in and out for YEARS from TSC, I've seen their shipping slips and they all get their chicks from Mt Healthy. Its a corp contact. I have read OVER and OVER again that Welp Hatchery has some AMAZING Cornish x. So if I can find someone to split an order with me next year, I may just order from them.

I am happy to say, I did another weigh in last night and my 2 lightest birds finally hit 5 lbs and the bigger of them are now over 6 lb each. So we're getting there. That's enough that I will process them next week one way or another. So I'm not really screwing much up!? lol

Ok, swinging by the feed store today to pick up the flock raiser again... its probably the cheapest option.

 

[jrsckn]

Figured I would update this thread with my week 1 results from my CX ff 'vs' dry crumble experiment. The results are surprising; the crumble chicks appear to be converting feed better than the ff chicks at this point. The first weights were taken on Friday after the ff chicks started eating better but they were still probably a little behind the crumble chicks. Next week should be interesting.

Day 8 6/6/12 WEEK 1 Complete

Weights
Ounces FFC CC Average Weight FFC CC Difference
1) 4.75 4.375 4.2847 5.0625 0.7778 oz
2) 3.5 6.0
3) 2.75 4.75 Feed Given 20C 10C
4) 5.125 5.75
5) 4.375 4.625 C eaten / chick 1.11 1.25 0.14 oz
6) 4.0 4.875 1C = 5oz
7) 3.75 5.75
8) 3.75 4.375
9) 4.375 Weight Gain Since 6/1/12 FFC CC Difference
10) 4.75 2.6177 3.1095 0.4918
11) 4.875
12) 3.875
13) 4.375 At this point, it appears the CC are converting their feed slightly more
14) 3.875 efficiently than the FFC; they gained almost a half ounce more while
15) 4.875 eating 0.14 oz more. But, the 20C isn't all eaten yet so not 100% accurate.
16) 5.25 FFC 2.35oz gain/oz feed; CC 2.48 oz gain/ oz feed
17) 3.875
18) 5.0

 

[vfem]

JR, that's some great information! You're going to keep this info all the way through until process?

 

[jrsckn]

JR, that's some great information! You're going to keep this info all the way through until process?

Yep, I'll update this thread weekly and I started a new thread to post all my data daily in one place so it doesn't get spread out all over this one lol. Here's a link https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/672135/meatie-experiment-ff-vs-crumbles

 

[myhubbycallsmechickeemama]

Figured I would update this thread with my week 1 results from my CX ff 'vs' dry crumble experiment. The results are surprising; the crumble chicks appear to be converting feed better than the ff chicks at this point. The first weights were taken on Friday after the ff chicks started eating better but they were still probably a little behind the crumble chicks. Next week should be interesting.

Day 8 6/6/12 WEEK 1 Complete

Weights
Ounces FFC CC Average Weight FFC CC Difference
1) 4.75 4.375 4.2847 5.0625 0.7778 oz
2) 3.5 6.0
3) 2.75 4.75 Feed Given 20C 10C
4) 5.125 5.75
5) 4.375 4.625 C eaten / chick 1.11 1.25 0.14 oz
6) 4.0 4.875 1C = 5oz
7) 3.75 5.75
8) 3.75 4.375
9) 4.375 Weight Gain Since 6/1/12 FFC CC Difference
10) 4.75 2.6177 3.1095 0.4918
11) 4.875
12) 3.875
13) 4.375 At this point, it appears the CC are converting their feed slightly more
14) 3.875 efficiently than the FFC; they gained almost a half ounce more while
15) 4.875 eating 0.14 oz more. But, the 20C isn't all eaten yet so not 100% accurate.
16) 5.25 FFC 2.35oz gain/oz feed; CC 2.48 oz gain/ oz feed
17) 3.875
18) 5.0

Is the feed for the FFC's and CC's both measured in dry or the FF as is and the crumbles as is? Was asking because if they are both measured in dry form, that seems really odd compared to what I have been seeing and the difference is huge.

 

[KeilFamilyFarm]

Yeah Im wondering the dame thin because my chickens eat barely anything on FF.

 

[KeilFamilyFarm]

WOW, I can't spell! I'm wondering the SAME THING haha