Flip?

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Don't get discouraged,everybody has losses.It's part of mother natures way.If you are in Ohio your not that far from me.This isn't the best time to be raising them,it's probably the hardest.If they are inside the smell will be horrible,you really can't raise them inside they are more of a pastured poultry.I just finished up a batch a few weeks ago and it was a pain.I will never try it again after sept.I had better results in the hottest season here in NY.
They were developed to do 1 thing, produce more meat in less time than and other breed.(not an easy task to do,but they do it)Sure there is a little more risk with these,but not alot if your conditions are right.
One way to look at it is you are growing Quality chicken for your family.The same chicken people are selling for $3,$4 and even $5. a pound,you will not have no where's near that into it.Wait until the end before you figure what you have into them.$ for $ and lb. for lb.
For the future remember now is the worst/hardest time of year to be raising meat birds in our area. Will
 
Thanks Greyfields for passing on the info. I too have had chicks who ocassionaly come down with cocci and eating medicated feed. I found that sometimes it's the change in feed from medicated to non when i've had one come down with it.
I've had the sudden death too only in growing and adult birds.
I've never raised cornish but would like to and process them. The death wouldn't discourage me from haveing them.

Good info and thanks
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Edited to add the cocci deaths i mentioned are very rare don't want to alarm anyone
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well i'll be waiting for ya updates
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i just dont want the birds for me,, i sell alot of chicks,, so i really need to watch the deaths of the birds, to see if its worth what i charge for birds,, or if i'll have to raise the price of "them"
again,, thankies redfeather,, ill be watching close hehe
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My feeling is don't get discouraged. The fact you are raising your own chicken meat puts you in a scant, less than 1%, of the people in the US. Your chicken is going to be higher quality and more wholesome than what you can buy at the store.

As you do successive crops, you'll just have to come to the realization that mortality is going to be 10-30%. It really does effect the bottom line. So, if you are raising your own to save money, then just quit now. If you're doing it becasue you care about the food you eat, continue onward!

It's always troubled me somewhat that the broilers die, we even have at lesat a few CRBs which flip on us. One part of hte problem is we've gotten too good at incubation, so even week specemins hatch and reach your flock. In nature, the hatching process is a cull, allowing only strong birds to make it. We've subverted this process.
 
How were you feeding them? What percentage of protien were you feeding them?

If you have more broilers at 4 weeks of age you need to restrict their feed. 24 hour feed regime is risky especially if you feed them high protein. If you don't take the feed away soon you will see more deaths in the next few days.

Hard lesson to learn but it's an easy fix. Don't get discouraged as this happens to a lot of us when we first try these birds.

Jeff.
 
I just started 12/12 Tuesday. I also just dropped from 21% starter to 20% grower the same day. That was kinda my plan from the start. I'm not discouraged just yet. I've endured the learning curve of many things. I think that is how you learn the most. I have learned a tremendous amount of information thanks to everyone here at the BYC as well. I had no chickens or any chicken knowlege prior to Sept 24th (that's when I got my 9 RIR's). It's amazing how much I've learnt since then. Less than two months later I have 33 chickens and plans to hatch more layers in a few weeks.

Thanks everyone for your help and support.
 
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Again, this is your experience. Plenty of people do 12/12 feeding programs. They obviously lose birds as well.

We need to all separate that how we do things on our own farms does not translate to other people, in other climates. Cornish X's croak, period, for no good reason.
 
If I keep them moving will it keep them from flipping? Mine will be 8 weeks this Tuesday and this week I've had 2 to die. One was not a suprise but the 2nd one was a total shock.

jackie
 
I had one batch that I lost most of, and decided not to raise Cornish X anymore. When they were nearly butcher age, we had a bad heat wave. I'd already lost a few early on. After the heat wave losses, we ended up with only nine birds in the freezer, out of 25. That made for some very expensive birds.

My DP and mutt birds were all just fine. Not a single loss. I will try the color rangers this spring, but no more frankenbirds.
 
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