First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[duluthralphie]

I cleaned 8 DP's today/ I was impressed I had a Dixie rainbow dress out at 7 1/2 lbs, with no giblets included. I still have about 20 DP roosters to go before I start on the CX's.

I am thinking of keeping 2 CX's until thanksgiving before I clean them. They would only be 16 weeks old then, which is still a young chicken. I think that will get me my 15 lbs bird. I might even have a big meatball for Thanksgiving and let my turkeys go until Xmas.....


And on a higher note. My DP hens gave me 7 eggs today. I heard the egg song and went to look and found a nest with 6 eggs. 2 pink, 2 light brown, 2 dark brown and one brown speckled. These are my first eggs.... The 7th egg was dropped on the ground right behind the trailer I was cleaning chickens on. My wife found it. It was warm still. I am so jealous of her. I had been feeding them right there and she found the egg!

 

[LindaB220]

Ok, I will post this here as I've been following this adventure. What kind of birds are these? Are they a giant breed of bird? lol

I say this because I have Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Easter Eggers, Rhode Island reds, Silver laced Wyandottes. 26 in total.
All are 6.5-7 weeks
I tried your method of using a digital scale and weighing myself with out and with a chicken.
I'm happy to announce I weigh 180.5 lbs. with no chicken. and 180.5 with a chicken in my arms.
How is it your chickens weigh so much and mine are filled with air.
Is it the food? they are all on starter/grower feed. I give them eggs once a week. and cucumbers here and there with some plain yogurt.
I want fat chickens like your birds.

I tried to put one of the fatter orpingtons on the scale, the bird sat there for 4-5 minutes and the scale didn't register a single ounce and turned off.
I have a weight watchers digital scale.

I just want fat birds. Help me get fat birds.

Great to have you. This is the best thread!!!!!! Try something about 5 lbs. Maybe put it in a heavy skillet or something. It should register then.

 

[LindaB220]

Linda- how many are you ordering? Where are you going to get yours from?

Ideal is about 4 hrs from me and has sales on each week. Get on their Email list for the specials. This week is $1.40 SR but I don't really need that many. May have to bite the bullet. Keep some for layers.

The thing I like about my new coop is that it's an A frame. The heavy posts in there allow me to hang thing, like heat lamps and waterers. The other coop is a dog kennel that has tin on top and no way to hang things. I'd love to put a swing up in the new coop.

 

[KCMOLisa]

Jessica - How much ice did you go through? Camp day is here for me (tomorrow and Thursday), but I have no idea how much ice I will need. I don't really want to have to make an ice run once I'm elbow deep in guts. I'm going to put them all in a big cooler. Ugh! I can't even look out the window at them. I am so sad!

 

[duluthralphie]

Jessica - How much ice did you go through? Camp day is here for me (tomorrow and Thursday), but I have no idea how much ice I will need. I don't really want to have to make an ice run once I'm elbow deep in guts. I'm going to put them all in a big cooler. Ugh! I can't even look out the window at them. I am so sad!

Lisa do you have your own well or city water?

My well water comes up at about 45 degrees, I just continuously run the hose on them before I get them into the beer fridge.

 

[KCMOLisa]

Quote:
I'm not on a well, but that's a good idea. My water is usually pretty cold. I could cool them off that way and then put them in the cooler with ice. Thanks! I was mainly worried about burning through a ton of ice to get them cooled down. I've been making ice bricks with loaf pans all week, but I haven't stockpiled as much as I wanted to and I don't want to spend a lot on buying ice.

 

[Morrigan]

Do you mind if I crash your party? This is a great thread, and I've loved reading up on your experiences. A couple of weeks ago, we decided to get our own batch of cornish x chicks. It was a rough start -- the promised 1 day delivery turned into 3 days and out of 25 we ordered, 3 were DOA and another 3 died a couple of days after. Next time I'm going to do more research and try to find a hatchery I can drive too.

But, its 10 days later and all 19 survivors seem really healthy and active. I weighed a couple yesterday one was 8 oz the other 8 3/4 oz. Attached are some pictures of my chicks.

I started them on fermented feed from day 1 and have been very pleasantly surprised by the lack of smell. They are all still in a brooder in my tool shed for now, but I have a question for you experienced folks-- when can I turn them loose outside? Its in the mid to high 60s during the day and drops down to the low 40s at night. I was thinking of putting outside for the day at 2 weeks, but then getting them back into the brooder at night, until they were 3 weeks old.

So, how old and what temps was it when your meat chicks graduated from the brooder?

 

[JessicaThistle]

Lisa: I start with a block in the bottom and pack the chicken around it adding crushed ice as I go. If I use a small cooler, it seems to take one block plus two bags of crushed per cooler. The last time, I used a huge cooler, which took 2 blocks and 3-4 bags of crushed. On day 2 or 3, I usually add more bags of crushed. So, I generally buy at least 2 blocks and 6-8 crushed. I'm doing 25-30 chickens. You would adjust based on number of chickens and cooler size. I bag them up on day 5 after resting. That is my preference after cooking an improperly rested bird and not enjoying the shoe leather texture.

Love your idea of making bricks with loaf pans. If I was any good at pre-prep I would totally do that!

 

[JessicaThistle]

Morrigan - Welcome to the thread!! I think your plan to put them out at 2 weeks is excellent. Trust me: moving them back and forth is a pain! What are you putting them in outside? Is it possible to just put the heat lamp there for warmth at night? The guys are little cookers, so they do better in cooler temps over high ones. I don't think that 40 is too cold if you have a heat lamp so they can take the chill off if they need to. They snuggle for warmth too. If you were to see none of them under the lamp at all, you could feel comfortable just removing it.

Mine were almost 3 weeks when I put them out with a heat lamp. None of them were interested in being under it even at 40-50 degree temps.

 

[holm25]

I got my first batch on June 2nd. My second group on August 1st. I will not get a bunch until may now. BUT a good vacuum packer will allow me to eat chicken all year long.

I cannot have them during the winter months... Winter in Minnesota by definition is from Sept 1st until June 15th..

This is true