High altitude meat birds dying

[iwltfum]

I'm at almost 11% loss. I had 65, lost 7. I got reimbursed for 5 from the hatchery.

Not the worst loss. I would see if it levels off. At least they reimbursed you for the five.

 

[highrockieschic]

Not the worst loss. I would see if it levels off. At least they reimbursed you for the five.

I sure hope it levels off. I hate seeing the little things die after surviving hatching and being mailed. It's so sad.

I started using a Bemer PEMF device on their water this morning before giving it to them. It's interesting how their behavior changed in just a day. They aren't as jumpy. They are still active, but don't freak out as much when I change their water and refill food. It's the only thing I changed today. We will see how things turn out.

For anyone who doesn't know, Bemer helps cellular function and blood flow in animals and people. (Also helps plants) It's pretty amazing.

 

[highrockieschic]

Lost 2 more. Man this sucks. I've lost 9 total.

 

[highrockieschic]

I think we are good now, phew! No more losses. All of them look good, so I'm down to 56 from 65. I now have half in my garage and the other half in a chick area in my coop. They are the most skittish chicks I've ever raised. They freak out over nothing and all huddle in a scared bunch. They are easier to manage in smaller group and they seem to be growing fine!

 

[highrockieschic]

Update on my meat birds.... ended up with 48. I randomly lost birds periodically. I don't think I had much control over the deaths. I kept them on chick starter/grower. I tried one bag of meat bird feed and the protein was too high. I lost a couple from that bag. Then I switched back to lower protein and didn't lose any more for a while.

I started harvesting them at 14 weeks (they need longer to grow at high elevation). I did all the aggressive roosters first. Two of the roos were really skinny because they got picked on constantly. I let them grow a couple more weeks to fatten up. I also had some smaller hens that needed more time, again because of the aggressive roos. I had a huge area for them to spread out with lots of feeders and waterers, but even with those the 22 roosters were a big problem. Things were better once they were gone.

Yep, not doing that kind of meat bird again. It was a learning experience! And my kids say "Never again will we do that many!" They helped me harvest about half of them. My boys are 12 and 13 years old. They learned a lot, too.

 

[NatJ]

Update on my meat birds....

Thank you for posting that. I've never lived at a high elevation, so I never thought much about the effects on chickens-- I found it very interesting to see all the things that were affected.

 

[MildlyOffensiveChicken]

Definitely not doing these birds again. I just read that Murray McMurray has a couple broiler breeds that do well at high elevations. I'll try those next time.

I am at about 4,200 feet and have approx 26 of the mcmurray Delaware “broilers”.

Certainly lower down. they are thriving at around 9 weeks. No losses.