Help!!! I think some of my Cornish Cross are too small!

[shanmaria1]

This is our first year raising Cornish Cross chickens. We got 36 chicks 5 weeks ago today. They have all done really well (except for the stiff one we found on day 2), so down to 35. I noticed this week that a couple of the chickens are small.... The smallest being 2 lbs. The rest range from 3.25 up to 4.5. I am feeding them finishing feed (Game feed non medicated) as of yesterday. Any suggestions on how to catch up a couple of the birds?? Or is this normal?

 

[AgroUrica]

At 35 to 36 days I've normally got some males that are in the 2.5 kilo (5.5 lb) range. If I so chose, I can start slaughtering those birds as that's a reasonable market weight here.

There are always laggards, usually females. They'll be more heavily feathered and look slimer in the breast than the males.

Once I start slaughtering the larger birds over a period of days, I usually arrive at about day 42 and am amazed at how my "small" females now look like decent-sized chickens. They still run smaller than the males, but they're still marketable.

For the record, my birds are never restricted on their feed.

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

What is the protein % of your game feed? How much are your birds eating? When I had a really small bird, it had this build up of fluid in its cavity, it barely ate, and just sat around looking sickly.

 

[shanmaria1]

The percentage of protein in the game feed is 17%. They just started that yesterday and NONE of them seem to like it! It's 920 am and the feeder is mostly full!? It is pellets, and the starter was crumbles. Usually feed is almost gone by now! Up until yesterday the were fed starter at 20% protein.

 

[CoopDeViIIe]

Your feed was fine then, maybe you have some sick birds. Mine were much larger than that at 5 weeks. Cornish X leaving a full feeder? Unheard of!

 

[ChickenJerk]

At the age your birds are they all should be bigger. I suspect a nutritional problem.

For whatever other reason the two small birds are now culls and are not worth the next bite of feed they take, let alone all they have eaten previously. It is time to cut the losses and get them off feed,