first meaties coming Fri..do I have everything I need?

[hensonly]

HI,

I have 30 Rangers arriving Friday. I plan to use the same brooder setup that worked for my layer flock, a box 4 ft x 4 ft, two feet deep. Then they can be loose in the chicken house(roughly 8 ft x 10 ft), still with a heat lamp as needed.

Question 1: Do I need two heat lamps in the brooder or is one enough? The brooder will be in the new chicken house we just built (sorry, laying girls,

you'll have to wait a little longer!). Our temps run 60 degrees or more daytime and around 40 at night though we can still have frost through the end of May. I don't want them piling up in the corner to fit under the lamp...

Question 2: Is 20 % protein chick starter the right thing to start them on? That's what I keep reading, but then some talk about using gamebird starter. JM says they will be ready for processing at 12 weeks...so I assume I'll switch to grower/finisher, but at what age do I do that for Rangers?

Question 3: BYCers have mentioned something about taking the food away at night after a certain age... why? I thought you'd want them to eat as much as they will, so they grow faster.

Question 4: Can I give them the same treats and extras that I gave my laying hens at each age? Or is there something I shouldn't give my meaties? I plan to give them access to the new run that goes with the new chicken house, when they're big enough to not get out through the fence!

Question 5: Should they get any vitamins or electrolytes or other additives to feed or water? Initially and/or ongoing?

I plan to set up everything tomorrow and Thursday, I want to have the right stuff! Thanks for any info/advice anyone can give.

 

[vtfarma]

Set up the lights the day before and turn them on the day before so that the temp is right for the birds when you bring them in. Do two lights so if one blows you have a back up. Nothing is worse than losing your birds because the bulb blew.

Taking feed away at night (or just feeding a certain amount 2 times a day - which is what I do) is so that these birds don't get what is called Ascites. They grow so fast that their hearts basically explode. They get this fluid build up inside them and they die. I had a horrible time with some I got a few years ago and lost about 85% of my 150 chickens. The state vet was sure I had a major illness. It was that the birds are bred to convert crappy feed efficiently for the likes of Perdue and such. When they get to us and we give them good feed well they gain too fast for their bodies to handle and they die. I feed them Game grower because they grow slower AND as importantly it is not medicated. I do not feed medicated feed to any of my animals. I don't want to eat that junk and I don't want to eat the animals that eat that junk. I pitch in grass with the clumps of roots attached to help with grit issues and keep them with plenty of water. You can get an electrolyte powder solution for the chicks to start them out or you could just do the first batch as sugar water. Be sure to dip each chicks beak in water when you set them in so they know where the water is. Its great with 30 - tiring with 150 to 200!

I would offer them treats to a point but realize that not all of these birds are the brightest bulbs - they are bred to grow. Thats about it. I have had a few that are remarkable. We kept a roo that became our main roo in the yard for many years and he was amazing. The others just didn't seem to have a clue. You pitch in a worm and the run away from it. Or if I put grass in and they keep screaming away I know that the batch is really not all there. Smaller amounts of birds together works to get to know them anyway. Butchering will be anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks if you got fast growing ones it will be more like 8 otherwise 12. We end up with some huge birds and can do them at 7 to 8 weeks.

Good luck with the birds - oh water with one of the regular chick waters. Open pans tend to end up with dead chicks. But you probably already knew that.
Laurie

 

[hensonly]

Thank you for your input. I think I will have less trouble with these birds as they are Rangers and not cornish crosses. At least I hope so! I will get another bulb and holder, as these guys will be brooded out in the chicken house not on my porch as my layers were - much harder to know if the light goes out, that far away!

Is 20 percent protein about right? I assume that even with Rangers, the game bird starter is too much protein (24%). Why the game grower instead of chick starter? Is it better? I do not plan to medicate, though my local feed store suggests terramycin in the water for the first week. I did that with my layer chicks but after reading more on BYC decided not to do it again...we ordered 30 chicks so if some died we'd still have enough...there are only two of us! Though we do share!

Anyway, thanks for your response...I'm looking forward to having chicks again, though it's too bad they're being born just to die young...but hey, someone has to do it!

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[vtfarma]

I feed 16 to 20% feed. It seems to be just about right. Given that you don't have the aggressive growers I would probably go with the higher percentage feed. The Game bird feed I get is a mash for the first bag. It is the only feed I can get that is not medicated here that has the right proportions. That is how I got started on it and I found that my birds did very well on it. I now feed game bird crumbles and pellets as they go. As a matter of fact it may be game bird crumbles to start out. I can't remember if they made a mash in the feed we use.

You will love the difference in taste on these birds. It is so much better. As a point of interest, I have never switched to finisher on these type birds. Basically, all it adds to our birds is a layer of fat. Most of these birds are already fat enough. The year we got cross over Ethiopian chickens that were still 4 pounds at 16 weeks even finisher wasn't a help. The only way to put anything on them was to transplant it. Its just my opinion. I hate have to peel a 1/4" to a 1/2" layer of fat out of my birds. I don't eat it, I like lean meats. Why waste the money to throw it away? They still have a nice fat layer without it. You can feel your birds as they are getting older, don't be shy grab a drumstick or thigh and feel if its boney and use your judgement. They may take it personally. You will know how you are doing.

Laurie