First time with Cornish X

[SunnySkies]

Well, mistakes are how we learn. Anything can happen.

You are gonna be astounded at how fast these chicks grow!

 

[RandRRanch]

Well, mistakes are how we learn. Anything can happen.

You are gonna be astounded at how fast these chicks grow!

I am loss free today and starting to think that the feeder was the problem more and more. They seem so lazy it is hard to believe that in 5-7 weeks from now I will be having an amazing chicken dinner. No More foster farms for me!!! They still look so small though. Like little fluffy baseballs or softballs.

 

[Angelicisi]

How they doing?
Hope all is well and they're fattening up for you!
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[RandRRanch]

How they doing?
Hope all is well and they're fattening up for you!
Happy Thanksgiving!

They are doing great thanks. The are sprouting feathers or something that looks like feathers at this point. Seriously think it was the feeders which is good because now I know. Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. Been busy here getting things ready as I am still making pies right now. Love this holiday. Have a good turkey day everyone.

 

[aoxa]

I am loss free today and starting to think that the feeder was the problem more and more. They seem so lazy it is hard to believe that in 5-7 weeks from now I will be having an amazing chicken dinner. No More foster farms for me!!! They still look so small though. Like little fluffy baseballs or softballs.

Oh they won't be cute for long

I have 20 right now that are 14 weeks.. yes 14 weeks. Our processing day has been put off time and time again with issues coming up. They are HUGE. HUUUUUUGE.

I'm surprised they haven't squashed my large laying hens they are that big.

I always seem to lose a few.. First batch I lost 6 out of 50. Second I lost 4 out of 25. The first batch they had cocci. I am surprised I only lost 6. I lost 10 layer chicks. Second batch the cat killed 1, 1 had failure to thrive and two died for unknown reasons. All before 2 weeks of age. After 2 weeks I haven't lost a single one.

 

[RandRRanch]

So I have a new curve ball to deal with today. I went to change the water out as I normally do and when I moved one of the lamps, the breaker for the barn blew. I can only run one lamp now as the breaker blows with two. Not sure how I made it over 2 weeks and now this is happening, but it is. Wouldn't be such a big deal as they are almost 3 weeks and about to head to the tractor. Of course then I read the weather is changing to wet and cold. It will be in the upper 60's today. Wednesday they are predicting Lows from 5-20F and a high of 48 with snow down to 2500ft. We tend to see snow when they say that and I am just not sure these guys are feathered well and they have been coddled a bit with the dual heat lamps. So should I leave them with the one for the remainder and let them toughen up or should I try to get the second one up and running and give them an extra week in the brooder? Brooder is a 4x5' apple crate with half sheet metal roof and half wire roof. There are currently 35 birds in the brooder as 10 were given to a friend as part of a group buy deal. The tractor they are heading for is 8x8 with sheet metal roof over 6ft of the top and about 5 ft of the sides but I am thinking I am going to make replaceable roof piece that can be either screened or roofed to allow for a complete roof or partial roof. Any thoughts from the experts. By the way what do you think those birds will dress at Aoxa? 15lbs? They have to look like little turkeys at this point.

 

[SunnySkies]

What they dress at will depend on how long you take them. My FR were an average of 7 lbs at 11 weeks.

I'd see how they look tonight with just one lamp, and work out a solution to add a second if necessary when it cools back down.

 

[RandRRanch]

Just over 3 weeks into this now and freezing temps in the 18-25F range are wreaking havoc on things. One bird dead under a lamp likely from suffocation and I have another one in the house right now guppy breathing and looking pretty bad. The rest are doing there thing but this guy is probably not going to make it. So far this is shaping up to be a rough adventure at this time of year. They are predicting snow tonight so this is going to be a long weekend.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Just over 3 weeks into this now and freezing temps in the 18-25F range are wreaking havoc on things. One bird dead under a lamp likely from suffocation and I have another one in the house right now guppy breathing and looking pretty bad. The rest are doing there thing but this guy is probably not going to make it. So far this is shaping up to be a rough adventure at this time of year. They are predicting snow tonight so this is going to be a long weekend.

Sorry about your losses.

We raised our first set in our basement, which was pretty cold.....I had to wear gloves and a coat when I was in there. We only had one lamp, but what we did was put the lamp on one end of our brooder, with the food and water on the other end. We had a screened frame on the top of the brooder, so we draped an old comforter over the end away from the lamp, but arranged it so that it was far enough from the lamp so as to avoid fire risk. This prevented draft and provided a bit of insulation and would hold in some of the heat on the food side of the brooder

This way the birds could stay under the light to stay warm, and could go into the cooler area to eat and drink, then come back to the light.

I don't know if anything like this is feasible for you, but it seemed to work for us.

 

[RandRRanch]

Sorry for the lag in record but my computer decided to take a break with a faulty power cord. Never buy Asus! They are not what they used to be. So after stretching out the brooder time to 4 weeks there was a break in the cold and I figured what the heck. Lets see if they are going to live. They had reached capacity of the brooder anyway and I wanted them to have a better life than a foster farms chicken so I had to get them into the world. They seem happy enough but they weather is predicting 1 more night in the 20's so I hope I wont regret this. On a side note, it appears I made a miscount at some point as I counted 34 and not the 33 I thought I had upon moving them to the tractor. They are a pain in the butt to count when they are moving so I will just have to wait and see what losses look like tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Half way point I guess.