Fermenting Feed for Meat Birds

[Beekissed]

So, back on topic ..
We're considering getting a few cornish cross chicks in the spring, and partner has tasked me with figuring out an estimate of how much they will eat in their brief life. Can anyone point me to the chart I know I remember seeing somewhere?

Most of the hatcheries have that chart on their site. You might see some variances with how they are raised and what they are fed as to the actual feed amounts/costs. Mine came out much lower than what the hatchery sites and most other folks report because of the free range, restricted feed and feed choice.

 

[Triple Willow]

Now that is something to store in the ol' brain case.  Please report back on this, TW.  Sure would be nice to add that to the all natural treatments pantry. 

Bee, if I had thought of that on the beginning it might have done wonders. I don't know if anything will help now but we'll see. The damage is not real bad but they are looking like they might lose a little bit of comb and wattle.

@ChocolateMouse... thanks for reminding me about plantains!!!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Well, TW, happy to help! XD

Margaret, mine ate about 19lbs of feed each to dress out with 5-6lb carcasses. That's just how it was for me!

 

[Angelicisi]

"i did it all for the cookie!"

That's so cute lol

Got a funny to tell about my dog, Jake, a lab/border collie mix.  His wireless containment system is over 10 yrs old and is finally on the blink, so I have purchased a new one but have not put it in place yet, so he has been challenging his boundaries....no..he's been making little forays to scrounge for food when I am not looking.  That's a more accurate assessment of what is going on.  He knows this is a big ol' NO, so he's very careful to sneak and do this.  He has brought back many discarded animal parts that had been placed out of his reach for a reason...so our yard wouldn't look like a giant hyena den. 

Today I threw some oatmeal cookies out to the birds to eat and they picked at them and moved on to forage for real foods out in the leaves and grasses.  Later I noticed Jake a little ways out of his boundary,head down in that border collie stalking mode, taking very slow steps towards something I could not see.  Very tiny movements, sloooooooooowwwwwwlllllly stalking something...it looked like he was walking on brittle egg shells so softly did those paws alight on the ground....I move to a better view to see what he was focused on and ready to kill. 

A cookie. 

The dog was focused on a cookie left behind by the crew and he was trying to sneak and do it without me seeing him leave his boundary.  Good try, sneaky dog.  I knocked on the window and he scurried, head and tail down, back to his inner sanctum of recognized boundary.

I love that dog!     He makes my life so very interesting and full of comical episodes that bring a laugh to my life.   

 

[KrazyChromatics]

CM, I ferment alfalfa pellets and mix in corn, scratch, BOSS, and sometimes other seeds if they are on sale... i keep my feed in the "cold room" so once in awhile ill throw in a soft pumpkin, or squash... next year we're going to grow more squash types so i have more to throw in... but i feed this to both my chickens and rabbits.... we did a butcher about a week or so ago, and i was impressed nice meaty birds with a decent amount of fat but not too much.... well one roo was an obvious glutton... he had an enlarged off colored liver and a lot of fat.. i wish i had payed attention to which pen he came from to try and remember how much i had fed that group at a time.. oh well... but ive been feeding a lil much obviously and previous birds we had butchered that were FF fed with layer crumble, were a little lean with no spare fat, very pale colored, and all had very large gizzards but rich colored livers, even better than the free rangers we have... hmmm

 

[RoseMarie1]

"i did it all for the cookie!"

That's so cute lol

lol @ ole Jake. ;-)

 

[LindaB220]

Bee, I've been thinking. It seems that I'm trying to run before walking. I had it all planned out to order White Dorkings and Light Sussex from Sandhill. It seems that I might have to wait 6 mo for my order. I love white birds and I really like yours. White Plymouth Rocks? The idea of a breeding program is so advanced from what I'm afraid I can handle. Let's face it. I'll be 67 next month and my health may not allow me to do a lot of puttering around. What are you thoughts. Just gets some chickens the first year and enjoy them?

Everybody else, any thoughts?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Linda, I would get some chickens that fit what I wanted from chickens that I COULD get. The worst that happens is they weren't excatly what you wanted and you got valuable experience and some great chicken dinners out of them.
I wish I had a flock of Ayam Cemanis. Guess how much that isn't happening? Id like to raise white laced red Cornish crosses that are slow growth and breed true... No space for a 100 bird breeding project. I am happy with a bird that fits my needs and wants that is less ideal... My australorps became on of my favorite birds ever, and frankly I am quite fond of my cheapo production reds as well. I was really sad when the hawk killed Nugget! I wanted to raise Palomino rabbits but would have to get them from New York and they would be sub ideal meat rabbits, so I raise boring op New Zealand whites instead. They have become some of my favorite animals and Id suggest them to anyone.

You might be surprised by how happy the not really ideal animal makes you!

 

[Beekissed]

Bee, I've been thinking. It seems that I'm trying to run before walking. I had it all planned out to order White Dorkings and Light Sussex from Sandhill. It seems that I might have to wait 6 mo for my order. I love white birds and I really like yours. White Plymouth Rocks? The idea of a breeding program is so advanced from what I'm afraid I can handle. Let's face it. I'll be 67 next month and my health may not allow me to do a lot of puttering around. What are you thoughts. Just gets some chickens the first year and enjoy them?

Everybody else, any thoughts?

I'm in the same boat as you...I really want to have heritage breed birds and you wouldn't believe the kind offers I have had and have even had birds sent to me! But...I'm not in a position to see a breeding program through to the end right now with my health. It's all up in the air right now and I cannot commit to long term projects at all.

I think if you could just get some breeds you like from wherever and just notice what you do or do not like about the breed, then you can decide how deeply you want to commit to breeding programs. Or if you just want to have some really nice birds in the time you have left.

That's where I am right now...I just want good birds in the time I have left but I don't want to waste the time of a good breeder who is wanting me to develop a line. I just can't right now, no matter how much I would love, love, love to get into heritage breed white rocks and take them all the way, I can't. No getting around that at all. And the bad part is I know I could do something great with the birds if given the right amount of time...that's the worst...knowing you could do it. I have a passion and an eye for that breed.

So, I bloom where I'm planted. If I lived closer to someone who had great birds I'd take some of their culls and live happily ever after. If I could only have one breed in my last flock on Earth, it would be the White Rocks. I have some of those and I have some BAs, which I also love, and I now have a completely ridiculous but oddly beautiful Cochin cockerel that I got in a roundabout way and was too skinny for eating. What a peasant to breed to those royal WRs!

Oh, well...God has a funny bone and don't I know it!

I say bloom where you are planted and just enjoy your birds!

 

[Beekissed]

Linda, I would get some chickens that fit what I wanted from chickens that I COULD get. The worst that happens is they weren't excatly what you wanted and you got valuable experience and some great chicken dinners out of them.
I wish I had a flock of Ayam Cemanis. Guess how much that isn't happening? Id like to raise white laced red Cornish crosses that are slow growth and breed true... No space for a 100 bird breeding project. I am happy with a bird that fits my needs and wants that is less ideal... My australorps became on of my favorite birds ever, and frankly I am quite fond of my cheapo production reds as well. I was really sad when the hawk killed Nugget!

I wanted to raise Palomino rabbits but would have to get them from New York and they would be sub ideal meat rabbits, so I raise boring op New Zealand whites instead. They have become some of my favorite animals and Id suggest them to anyone.

You might be surprised by how happy the not really ideal animal makes you!

Yes! This!

I'm never convinced a plain, white animal is boring at all...especially when they are so incredibly fecund as the NZ and as lovely, regal, and functional as the WRs. IMO, both have gotten to be common because they are dependable in their performance levels and get the job done better than other breeds. Everyone else seems to think that is boring but I tend to appreciate the hard working, but not so flashy creatures of this world....I ARE one...therefore I find them of greater value.