First Run of Cornish Cross Meat Birds and Super Excited!

[Double Kindness]

All my cx meaties puppy pile on each other like that.. I don't like it because eventually one of them gets injured or killed from all the weight

No idea on the maurauding bees, they were a darker almost black bee my new bees are russian, something else and Minnesota hygenic hybrid cross, so they should be super strong. We're wrapping the hive tonight to winterize it.. the cold weather is coming now. Pikes peak got snow yesterday.

A meat bunny buck died in the colony yesterday morning. I had 3 bucks and 3 does that were supposed to go to freezer camp Sunday, but I went to a you pick produce farm instead to get the last of some tomatoes to can for the winter and yesterday I spent the day naking bacon jam abd onion jam

 

[holm25]

What age should I butcher scovys??

 

[JessicaThistle]

I keep going back and forth in my head on whether to start keeping bees - I have a lot of wild bees (honey, mason, and others) all over my property, so I hesitate to add more population pressure until I get my orchard started to keep them fed...

How do the CXs sleep at night in the tractors? I ask because my New Hampshires and Naked Necks (about 6 weeks old) still prefer to sleep in a big chick pile. They have started making a real racket at bedtime, so tonight I went to watch them to see what was up. All 23 of them (big boys and girls, at that) were smooshed into their dust bath to sleep, and they were pushing and shoving to get comfortable (with some crowd surfing over the top). I gave them a second sand bin thinking they'd appreciate more room. They weren't interested - they seemed determined to squeeze themselves into the smallest possible area. (For reference, highs are mid-80s, lows are low 60s. It was over 80F when they started piling up... Not cold.)

There are 23 chickens in here!





- Ant Farm

That is so absolutely adorable!! My CX all cuddled in chick piles in the tractor on the ground for their whole life at night. I'd probably remove those bins at night so they would spread out more. I've lost plenty of chicks to piling and would try to spread them out more if you can.

 

[Double Kindness]

I butcher muscovies at about 14-20 weeks old, but only the drakes.

It started raining last night and hasn't stopped. I moved 25 of the cx meaties outside yesterday

but when it started to rain last night I put them back in the barn on some straw. They are 3 weeks old today.

Would it be ok to kerp them outside during the day bring so cold and rainy?

 

[JessicaThistle]

My CX, or any of my chickens, never seemed bothered by rain. If they have something to get under to get out of the rain if they feel the need, I would suspect they will be fine.
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[Fire Ant Farm]

That is so absolutely adorable!! My CX all cuddled in chick piles in the tractor on the ground for their whole life at night. I'd probably remove those bins at night so they would spread out more. I've lost plenty of chicks to piling and would try to spread them out more if you can.

This is very good advice - thank you. One of the Naked Necks had a cut on her neck that I think came from being stepped on, so I'll do that tonight. It's going to be rainy today/this week - how do you guys handle chickens on wet ground? (It rains rarely here, so this is actually the first time it's come up.)

- Ant Farm

 

[JessicaThistle]

My CX never minded wet ground. It think they kinda liked it actually because it was cool on their tummies. I don't know about Naked Necks though. Do they like to roost? Maybe adding a roost to the tractor so there is that option.
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[Fire Ant Farm]

My CX never minded wet ground. It think they kinda liked it actually because it was cool on their tummies. I don't know about Naked Necks though. Do they like to roost? Maybe adding a roost to the tractor so there is that option.

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Alas, they have roosts - they are ignoring them.

 

[holm25]

I butcher muscovies at about 14-20 weeks old, but only the drakes.

It started raining last night and hasn't stopped. I moved 25 of the cx meaties outside yesterday

but when it started to rain last night I put them back in the barn on some straw. They are 3 weeks old today.

Would it be ok to kerp them outside during the day bring so cold and rainy?

What do u use when butchering muscovys?? We had a heck of a time plucking ours!!

 

[JRNash]

Got a dozen silver dorking hatching eggs to add to the incubator