U_Stormcrow
Crossing the Road
I have 8 Hoover Hatchery Rainbows purchased from TSC, which I initially miss identified as New Hampshire Reds - you know how TSC is about their labels, and all the birds were identical as chicks and later in their growth, hardly what I expected of "rainbows".
Anyhow, I'm a first time owner and have poured over this board looking for numbers to compare to, as a way of gauging how my seemingly happy birds are doing, relative to whatever passes for "the norm" for these (essentially) baryard mixes.
My birds are all 11 weeks now, all seemingly healthy and happy as I said. They share a large coop (effectively 8 sq ft / bird at present) with four CornishX (also TSC, and 4 weeks younger) and 8 pekin ducks. About 35 sq ft/bird in their run, where they are contained overnight. Every day, they free range about 10 hours, with 1.5 acres to their use, though they self restrict their foraging to about half that. Three days a week, they also free choice food all day (16% grower/finisher), while I offer smaller amounts of that, plus fermented corn/seed mix on a daily basis. I **think** I'm doing things right.
But... they are now 11 weeks, 2 days old each. Spot checking the birds, they seem to have good physical size in terms of height and length, but their keel bone seems very prominent still, and their weights are only about 3 1/2# on average, with some just at 3# and none topping 4#. For comparison, I have 7 week old CornishX at roughly half the physical size, all of their keel bones covered in meat, and weighing a solid 4# each. I've no other birds (or prior experience) to use as reference.
The intent here is to get eggs from these birds first,to build flock, and then stock pot them long down the road, not to bulk them up fast for the dinner table, but still...
Are they too light for the age? Should I free feed them more? Is it maybe heat related (we've been upper 80s/low 90s for weeks now, and I've [now] read this "breed" is sensitive to higher temps)? Am I just worrying because I've not done this before and I'm overthinking it?
Any tips would be appreciated.
Anyhow, I'm a first time owner and have poured over this board looking for numbers to compare to, as a way of gauging how my seemingly happy birds are doing, relative to whatever passes for "the norm" for these (essentially) baryard mixes.
My birds are all 11 weeks now, all seemingly healthy and happy as I said. They share a large coop (effectively 8 sq ft / bird at present) with four CornishX (also TSC, and 4 weeks younger) and 8 pekin ducks. About 35 sq ft/bird in their run, where they are contained overnight. Every day, they free range about 10 hours, with 1.5 acres to their use, though they self restrict their foraging to about half that. Three days a week, they also free choice food all day (16% grower/finisher), while I offer smaller amounts of that, plus fermented corn/seed mix on a daily basis. I **think** I'm doing things right.
But... they are now 11 weeks, 2 days old each. Spot checking the birds, they seem to have good physical size in terms of height and length, but their keel bone seems very prominent still, and their weights are only about 3 1/2# on average, with some just at 3# and none topping 4#. For comparison, I have 7 week old CornishX at roughly half the physical size, all of their keel bones covered in meat, and weighing a solid 4# each. I've no other birds (or prior experience) to use as reference.
The intent here is to get eggs from these birds first,to build flock, and then stock pot them long down the road, not to bulk them up fast for the dinner table, but still...
Are they too light for the age? Should I free feed them more? Is it maybe heat related (we've been upper 80s/low 90s for weeks now, and I've [now] read this "breed" is sensitive to higher temps)? Am I just worrying because I've not done this before and I'm overthinking it?
Any tips would be appreciated.
