First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[daskhan]

I am ready, but I cannot sleep,  I am thinking about my poor chickens.

Always happens, but after they have been gone a few weeks and I start eating them, it is all worth it.

I have a dilemma on the flip flop front.  The straps have broke on mine and there are none in the stores right now.

Quick fix walmart... Or Burlington but try tommy Bahama they are awesome and last a real long time they are about 60 bucks though

 

[daskhan]

My cx's

My light brahmas, Dominique's, rir and ee

My silkies in the tote they are small and only five I'm afread to put them with the others
My hatchery so far need to add two more sections for my silkies and new breeds coming in November

 

[JRNash]

Good set up Daskhan.I just hatched out 6 barred rocks, when I tried to put them in the brooder with Lucky(asil) he attacked. So I had to go get another large tote for them I have an outdoor large brooder,starter pen but the broilers are in it. Looks like you anticipated needing more than one brooder.Smart.

 

[Pendragonz]

I'm a week into raising my first batch of meaties. They were hatched 9-30, and I got them on 10-2. I have lost 1, but the others all seem to be doing well. I can definitely see why some call them winged piggies. I can't believe how much they are eating. I am doing fermented feed. I took them out of the box 1 at a time, and introduced them to their water. By the time they were all in the brooder some of them had already discovered their food. I have not had any problems with pasty butt, and their feces has all been somewhat solid. I had been lurking around the website for a month or 2 before I got my chicks, and figured it was time to join, and say thanks to this thread and to the fermented food thread. I had some idea what I was doing before my chicks even arrived. So thank you!

 

[JRNash]

Welcome Pendragon,I think that's the way most people have came to the thread.lol
Listening to Jessica,Ralph and others convinced me that CX CAN be raised humanely And that it doesn't have to be a bad experience for us or the birds,at least until camp day.lol You've probably noticed we get off the beaten track at times,the folks on here have a lot of different experiments and experience. It makes for some very entertaining and informative reading.
Post pictures when you can, I beleive we all love seeing others birds and their progress

 

[JRNash]

I'm curious has anyone tried using cat litter in there brooder? What do y'all think?

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I'm curious has anyone tried using cat litter in there brooder? What do y'all think?

Gail Damerow (who wrote the Chicken Health book, and also a very good book on Hatching and Brooding) says that the plain pine pellets that are used for cat litter (and horse stall bedding) are good brooder materials because of their absorbency - and she specifically says they are the best for brooding messy waterfowl. (But not to use the stuff that's meant to be burned, as it has additives). I don't know about the other stuff in kitty litter, since it's dusty and there's other stuff in there that I'm not sure they should breathe all the time.

I haven't tried it, but whenever I finally get going with ducks, I'm definitely going to try it then.

- Ant Farm

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

@JessicaThistle - I wanted to let you know - I got the plans for the stress free chicken tractor after reading your initial posts, and built it for my current batch of Naked Necks and New Hampshires. After moving them out three days ago, I finally made the first move this morning (a bit overdue). I was really stressed out that it would be too heavy or that I would run over the chicks or they would escape. But it was very easy to do on my own, went pretty quickly, and it was easy to go slow and watch out for the little ones while moving to make sure they were ok during the move.

Thank you so much for mentioning/recommending these plans - I LOVE this tractor! (Good thing, too - it looks like I'll need to build another soon...)

- Ant Farm

 

[JRNash]

Good info Ant farm

 

[JessicaThistle]

I'm a week into raising my first batch of meaties. They were hatched 9-30, and I got them on 10-2. I have lost 1, but the others all seem to be doing well. I can definitely see why some call them winged piggies. I can't believe how much they are eating. I am doing fermented feed. I took them out of the box 1 at a time, and introduced them to their water. By the time they were all in the brooder some of them had already discovered their food. I have not had any problems with pasty butt, and their feces has all been somewhat solid. I had been lurking around the website for a month or 2 before I got my chicks, and figured it was time to join, and say thanks to this thread and to the fermented food thread. I had some idea what I was doing before my chicks even arrived. So thank you!

Welcome! Yes, posts pics if you can and don't be afraid to ask any questions.

@JessicaThistle - I wanted to let you know - I got the plans for the stress free chicken tractor after reading your initial posts, and built it for my current batch of Naked Necks and New Hampshires. After moving them out three days ago, I finally made the first move this morning (a bit overdue). I was really stressed out that it would be too heavy or that I would run over the chicks or they would escape. But it was very easy to do on my own, went pretty quickly, and it was easy to go slow and watch out for the little ones while moving to make sure they were ok during the move.

Thank you so much for mentioning/recommending these plans - I LOVE this tractor! (Good thing, too - it looks like I'll need to build another soon...)

- Ant Farm

Thank you! We love those little tractors. We currently have 3 of them. Two that provide shelter in our brooding area that we have added roosts to and one that my silkies live in. I think we are going to build a couple more for the ducks to live in rather than try to build something elaborate. They are just so darn convenient and you have so much flexibility with them. Plus they are cheap compared to building a larger permanent structure.

I love that they are light enough to move super easy too. I was worried too because I have fibromyalgia and I just don't have the strength sometimes to move anything heavy without hurting myself. Even I was able to move that thing myself. I moved it 3 times per day when they were bigger.