First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[KCMOLisa]

Congrats, Double Kindness! I think you will be shocked at the difference between CX and your DPs. I am not sure if I'm right about how to tell the difference between male and female, but I noticed about half of mine got tail feathers way earlier than the others. From what I have read, those are the females. I have 12 that are almost fully feathered and 13 that have basically just wings and barely any body feathers. So maybe look for the ones without tail feathers starting if you want boys..

Mine will be three weeks old tomorrow. I don't know what they should look like or how much they should weigh, but here is a pic I just took. Do they look up to snuff?

 

[duluthralphie]

I can kind of tell the boys from the girls but it is hard.

The boys grow faster and have thicker legs and a little more red in the combs now...

The boys seem to gain faster than the girls/

 

[LindaB220]

I've always said which hatchery I got my Cornish X from. I got my layers from local feed stores and my newest babies from the side of the road. I don't know if the forum has rules on that or not. I never got flagged.

They don't. People are interested in the best experience you have with different hatcheries.

 

[LindaB220]

My first batch of chicks (15 layers, 10 cornish x) shipped this morning from McMurray. I am crazy excited, but super nervous at the same time. I have a 4x8 brooder set up, and started FF tonight to have it ready to go. I swear waiting for them is almost as nerve racking as waiting on a baby lol.

Woohoo. Great news.

The FF will be ready by the time they are ready to eat. Sprinkle a little dry crumble on top to get them interested. Keep us updated on your progress.

 

[mountain mom]

It looks like I am going to ft collins soon to pick up cx chicks. If my bf will drive me, which is kinda iffy atm... but I thawed out steaks and made home made vanilla bean ice cream for dinner tonight. Wish me luck on that. The sucking up to my bf part to drive me to go buy more chickens that is.

The guy at the feed store said they're a week old, how to tell boys from girls at that age, I'd prefer all boys. $1.95 each, they have 50 left. I can do 10-15, as there may be some losses no matter how careful one is with chickens I have found.

Unless I can find someone to go get them and bring them to me in exchange for organic grass fed angus beef? As there's a whole freezer full here, I also make killer desserts!

I have a bunch of cheap huge stock pots my bf bought at harbor freight for cheap. I wouldn't cook anything in these, but for scalding, they should work fine on our camp stove.

How many are hand plucking, or how is everyone plucking?

Yay!! You will be getting them from the same batch as me We will have to make comparisons along the way!
We hand plucked last time and will again. The key to ease is scalding them just right. I will look up the link to a website we found to be heaven sent!
I would offer to bring them to you, but I am not allowed to drive to Denver My hands and legs go numb...not so good for driving.

 

[LindaB220]

Welcome to BYC and this thread amanda and CoHomestead and whoever else has visited. The posts come so quick that I can't keep up sometimes!

CoHomestead - That is so exciting that your first flock is on the way! I have never been happier since getting chickens. I absolutely love them! My teen daughter actually made a comment that she hasn't seen me smile this much in a long time. I wish I'd gotten chickens years ago!

Make sure that you glean all the information you can from this site and ask all of the questions that you can! You won't find a bunch of more knowledgeable chicken owners than you will here.

Some important things to remember about Cornish X:
1. They don't have the same needs that your layers will. They are very hot bodied and won't need the heat lamp for very long.
2. They will grow so much faster than the layers that they will be ready to move to their "rest of the time" home between 2-3 weeks, whereas your layers could stay in the brooder until 5 weeks or even longer.
3. They will eat way more than your layers and since they get so big so fast, they will crowd your layers away from the feeder. Pay attention and add a feeder if needed. This is another reason to move the Cornish X out. I move mine out in the chicken tractor on the grass at about 2 1/2 weeks. Trust me, you will see.
4. Free range them if you can. They will be so much happier and cleaner. They love running around pecking and scratching!
5. Don't leave food out 24/7. Some say not to after a couple of weeks. I don't feel bad if mine go without food for an hour even when they are small. I think it encouraged their scratching and pecking.
6. Pay close attention to these guys. They have a potential for health problems and if they all of a sudden act weird something may be wrong. Just be prepared and don't beat yourself up if you have loss.

And the final and most important thing - If you have any questions definitely post here for help! You can PM me. I'm don't claim to know everything or really very much, but I will do my best to help if I can!

This is the BEST thread. Love it. Jessica, you have done so well. And your videos are priceless. Keep it up.

 

[LindaB220]

Congrats, Double Kindness! I think you will be shocked at the difference between CX and your DPs. I am not sure if I'm right about how to tell the difference between male and female, but I noticed about half of mine got tail feathers way earlier than the others. From what I have read, those are the females. I have 12 that are almost fully feathered and 13 that have basically just wings and barely any body feathers. So maybe look for the ones without tail feathers starting if you want boys..

Mine will be three weeks old tomorrow. I don't know what they should look like or how much they should weigh, but here is a pic I just took. Do they look up to snuff?

Early tail feathers are the girls.

 

[CoHomestead]

Thanks for the welcome and guidance! The little ones made it to Denver around noon, but I didn't find out until four that they wouldn't be at my the local post office until tomorrow morning. I would have driven to get them had I known earlier. I've been fretting about them spending an extra night in the box. Morning can't come quickly enough lol.

Double Kindness, glad to see you are getting some cx! I ordered mine from McMurray, but can't say anything as far as a recommendation yet. We are just outside of North Colorado Springs.

Jessica, this thread has been a huge help to me already, and I really appreciate all the info! I have a 8'x14' coop, and a 20'x60' run attached to it. To start I have two feeders and 3 nipple waterers, but I plan to add more nipples as they get older. I don't have a tractor to put them out in, but they will be able to free range. Do you think I should plan to build a tractor? I was worried about them being out at night when the temps start to dip low.

 

[JessicaThistle]

I had a busy work and chicken farmer day today! So many posts came in on this thread today! Wow! I don't know if I can even keep up. I am so excited that so many awesome chicken people are visiting my thread and sharing info, asking questions, supporting and encouraging each other. This is totally the reason that I created this thread. I need this after crazy work days!

Linda - This thread is the best because of all of the awesome people that contribute to it! I am so humbled that so many people are interested in sharing this experience with me! It wouldn't be so great without all of you!

So, a few things today:

Double Kindness: How much feed to expect to go through for 25 chickens. At this time, I do not serve fermented feed. I use Nutrena Meatbird food 22% protein from beginning to end, except for the week before and week of hitting the ground. I mix medicated chick starter in to help their immune systems build against cocci. On my first batch, I started with 31 chicks, finished with 28 and served them up 380 pounds of feed. I got 147 pounds of chicken not counting giblets with most going to 9 weeks old. On this batch, I again started with 31 but am down to 25. I am estimating 275 pounds of feed or less as I have restricted feed a little more and free ranged more. Since this is the amount that I have purchased, fingers are crossed that I don't have to buy more. My chicks will most likely go to 9 weeks again because my husband has to have a hernia surgery next week, the day after they turn 8 weeks. I don't want him to have to deal with that the night before. Of course I don't know what to expect in the end yet, but I will definitely post it here!

Lisa: Your 3 week old CX looks perfect! At 3 weeks mine weighed between 1 lb 4 oz and 1 lb 10 oz in both batches. Most likely the smaller was a hen and the bigger a roo. I'm not great at telling the difference until a good comb and waddles pop in on these guys! However, since they only go until 8 weeks it really doesn't take too long to figure it out.

CoHomestead: I am so glad you are benefiting from this thread. That was the whole point of my starting of this thread in the first place! I really needed the support, advice and encouragement that I was looking for and am so excited to see so many people joined in to make what I needed happen!
You may try these guys in a coop and run but they eat and poop alot. If you have the room I certainly recommend a tractor for the sheer reason that you can keep them cleaner by moving them to clean grass a time or two a day ad avoid all the shoveling of dirty bedding. They will stink otherwise. I have put a heat lamp in my tractor to keep these guys warm but they do their chick pile far from the heat. If your temps are in the 40s they are fine in a tractor. If I were you, I may just use what I have and learn from it. Adapt as I went and change if need be.

Plaid: These new chicks are super adorable and spunky. What an awesome find for me and FREE is always the best! I hope you and your peeps are well!

Who did I miss? Ralph, I know you are as good and crazy as I am. Anyone else?

 

[Betsy57]

16 little meat birds (McMurray shipped an extra one) arrived at the post office at 5 am this morning. I zoomed over there and they're tucked in their plastic tub in the bathroom. So glad our post office lets me pick them up at the shipping dock when they arrive. I called at 5 am and she said they are there. Noisy little buggers. They all appear to be okay at this point and are drinking. Will give them a little moistened feed soon. I think giving them just water first for a few hours before feed helps keep their bottoms clean. At least it does with egg birds; this is my first try with meat birds.