First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[kippycoo]

MM that's a good point. I don't think it would be possible to grow all our chicken that we would eat. We are just too many. Maybe I'll have to stick to cooking home grown in a different way so we won't be able to compare.

I'll never have to worry about selling eggs or birds. We buy 10 packs of 18 eggs from Costco every second week. Phew. I'm not a people person nor business minded.

Jessica you were never a big baby just a kind hearted farmer! If my dh would do it I'd be more than happy.

One reason we got chicken is that they'd eat bugs. Ralphie mentioned they ate Asian beetles. I was excited! lol. Now I wonder if they'd taste bad if they ate a lot of them? We get infested every fall. Anyway one of my chicks caught and ate a moth. 3 others chased a mosquito. I think I need new screens.

We put together a new brooder last night. They were out growing the IKEA medicine cabinet (we are renovating and it was just handy at the moment). Here is the 2 yo trying it out with a chickie

 

[kippycoo]

I agree with you Jessica. They are out to make money of course.

A lot of people are like that! Frustrating. Good that you have enough customers without that silly lady. I don't want to pay that much either which is why I eat crappy mass produced eggs from Costco.

 

[Peep a Cheep]

City people. I really don't get them. I also get so frustrated and annoyed with people who are hung up on the buzz words and don't actually do any research to see what it is that they are truly getting.
Like this nonsense about chickens being fed a vegetarian diet. Are you kidding me?! Chickens are not vegetarians.

Sorry, I will be done now.

I feed my turkeys wild game feed once a day, away from the chickens. The chickens always get to it eventually. The turkeys eat the layer pellets too. I sort of try. When they were babies though, they got all the wild game feed they wanted.

Hi All - Hope you don't mind me joining your thread, I've read a bunch of the beginning and some of the end, I just have to go back and read the middle. I have 6 layers and want to get some meaties. Trying to decide if I have time this summer/fall to build a coop/tractor and try prior to the Cold coming...or if I should focus on building the second garage and start with meaties next spring. If I can find somewhere to get just a few to try this late in the season in West-Central Wisconsin, maybe I will give it a go!

I moved to the country two years ago, we have 10 acres in the woods. 10 acres good, but they put the two neighbors houses really close to ours...grrr. They are nice neighbors though, we are lucky. One house of the two is for sale - anyone want to move to WI??, you all seem nice and I fear another "citiot' moving in (pronounced city-ot, Noun - meaning those folks described above who think meat and eggs come from grocery stores not real working farms, who think they need Rules and Regulations for every little thing because how else will we all get along if we don't have Associations)

I think they forgot about the good old fashioned values of respect and that thing called talking to your neighbors

. We lucked out though - our neighborhood (about 3 miles) has mostly awesome peoples.

Anyway - any advice for trying out meaties with say - 2-5 birds??

 

[mountain mom]

Hi All - Hope you don't mind me joining your thread, I've read a bunch of the beginning and some of the end, I just have to go back and read the middle. I have 6 layers and want to get some meaties. Trying to decide if I have time this summer/fall to build a coop/tractor and try prior to the Cold coming...or if I should focus on building the second garage and start with meaties next spring. If I can find somewhere to get just a few to try this late in the season in West-Central Wisconsin, maybe I will give it a go!

I moved to the country two years ago, we have 10 acres in the woods. 10 acres good, but they put the two neighbors houses really close to ours...grrr. They are nice neighbors though, we are lucky. One house of the two is for sale - anyone want to move to WI??, you all seem nice and I fear another "citiot' moving in (pronounced city-ot, Noun - meaning those folks described above who think meat and eggs come from grocery stores not real working farms, who think they need Rules and Regulations for every little thing because how else will we all get along if we don't have Associations)

I think they forgot about the good old fashioned values of respect and that thing called talking to your neighbors

. We lucked out though - our neighborhood (about 3 miles) has mostly awesome peoples.

Anyway - any advice for trying out meaties with say - 2-5 birds??

I love it, "citiots"!! Perfect.

Needless to say, I think you will fit right in here! Welcome!
I am sure Ralph will make you take the quiz, but you may get a pass with "citiot"...

My first round of meaties was quite small. Just 5. I was not sure if I could handle doing it. Or if it would be worth it.
Jessica jumped right in with 50, I think. Maybe it was 25, but I thought it was 50.

If you are thinking starting with just 5 (I would recommend at least 5 to make the processing and all the set up worth it) I would encourage you to consider making a larger tractor or coop to accommodate the larger group you will get the next time. That is, if you choose to do it again.

Ralph lives in Minnesota and he just got his meaties. So I would say you are in the clear before it is too cold. As I am sure you know, we all like to grow them a bit slower and give them happier lives. I just processed mine at a couple of days over 11 weeks.
Ralph will wait until they are geriatric chickens...

 

[mountain mom]

On the feed topic-
I am certainly no stickler. I have been strongly considering mixing the wild game feed with the layer pellets and calling it good. Everyone eats at the same feeder, no more selective feeding in the morning.
They get plenty of bugs, worms, grass, kitchen scraps, scratch, even mice and toads. I've never been concerned about malnutrition.

The friendly man at the feed store would likely be very opinionated about how I plan to feed non laying birds layer pellets... but I don't really care. In the summer everyone eats so many other goodies, they really don't go through feed very fast anyhow. I have 2 new bags and I am sure it will last a couple of months. Even longer if I mix it!

Really the only birds I am a stickler on is the meatballs. And that is because I want them to be able to live a healthy and happy life until it is time for freezer camp.

 

[LindaB220]

LInda, do you have any pictures of your Mama alligator sitting on her eggs and when will her babies come?

You are too bad. I haven't seen the two babies for fifty years. Yup, not going swimming at Lake Bisteneau.

 

[duluthralphie]

I don't have my meaties yet. They will be coming in the next few days.

You have plenty of time to raise them now. The nice thing about getting them now is when it gets cooler out (sept) they are large enough to live outside and still gain weight. They are easy to keep warm the first two weeks this time of the year.

I am not sure if just using noun citiot is enough to get him out of the test. Maybe we could just give him a 10 question quiz though.

I was just out tilling, it is amazing how many chickens will follow me while tilling the garden. Two hens were fighting over one grub worm, it was funny. Ed had it first and gave it to one of the hens but the other took it... ED being a wise man stepped back and let the hens argue.

 

[Kildare49]

I live in South Central WI.

I will be getting 25 on the 21 of July ( from sunnyside ).

They should still have available for a August purchase. That would be when I normally do 2nd batch.....but fox raid on 1st batch has my schedule mixed up this year. August is my preferred time. Chicks still have warm weather.

Not sure were you live. I order mine through the local ag coop. I never checked on what the minimum order is.

 

[JRNash]

Welcome to the thread! Beutiful baby Kippycoo!

 

[JRNash]

My little medical vacation ends next monday. The company I work for called.

have to pour on the coals getting coop done.