How many of you FULLY Free Range your Cornish X Meaties? Tractors do not count.

[duluthralphie]

I do not let mine free range until they start to roost, that way they come home before dark, just watch for vermin.

I would let mine free range from their tractor when they were little. I put 2-3, 2x4s under one edge and let the chicks crawl under. This did two things it allowed them to come and go from the tractor at will, and most importantly it allowed me to feed them and not have the other chickens get at it. I gave the little guys food at sunset and they would run in to get it, then I would remove the 2x4s. Once in a while I did have to run down the fiercely independent one.

I wanted to give the babies a place to get free of the bigger chickens incase they were over bearing. It worked well.

I have not found CX's to be much for roosting.

 

[bhanley]

As you may have guessed by my last post, I did drop the idea of a tractor in favour of converting part of my barn for chickens. I made significant progress on it last night and am confident that it will be ready for Saturday.

My wife had a good laugh when she came in to check on me at 11pm last night and pointed out that I hadn't moved an old desk that was in the corner and that I had framed it in the coop. DOH! Lesson learned ;-)

 

[duluthralphie]

As you may have guessed by my last post, I did drop the idea of a tractor in favour of converting part of my barn for chickens. I made significant progress on it last night and am confident that it will be ready for Saturday.

My wife had a good laugh when she came in to check on me at 11pm last night and pointed out that I hadn't moved an old desk that was in the corner and that I had framed it in the coop. DOH! Lesson learned ;-)

ROFLMBO!!!!!


wives!!! lol

 

[aoxa]

Our first generation cross girl is doing very well. Started laying without me noticing, because now she is broody. Here she is with our 8 week old CX girls. The one in the first picture that is a male is just a mutt. He blends in lol.






I started them again on free range at 2 weeks. It's been a hot summer. They do range, but not as well as last year. I think it is because I did not raise them with the layers this time around. They went in with my breeding chicks, but they did not get to free range at 2 weeks, so the Meaties spent quite some time lounging around the barn not understanding what I wanted them to do. They have the hang of it now. They probably really started ranging around 4 weeks. I haven't lost any.

Honestly we have been slack on fermented feed this summer after I was in a car accident and it was just too much work. Back at it now though

 

[JRNash]

I've spent the morning trying to convince people they can free range. I had to take a video to prove it. Imagine that. My pictures weren't enough to show it. They said their legs couldn't support them running. 

Obviously some run weird (so do I!) but most run just fine. At least they are running! 

I haven't lost a single one on free range. No flipping, no heart attacks. 

They are healthy robust birds. Some should be ready to process shortly. 

 

[JRNash]

 

[JessicaThistle]

I don't know what you were trying to say by quoting Aoxa's post but I can say that Aoxa's videos are what led me to raise my Cornish Cross. I have a CX hen that will be a year old on August 5th. My thread documents both of my batches of free range CX that I raised as well as several of my followers that did the same. My thread is:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...at-birds-and-super-excited/3000#post_15269797 if you want some more info. There are 4 of us that will have 1 year old CXs in the next few months.

 

[JRNash]

I found the thread to be very encouraging. I will not be using tractors. Intend to free range the birds on an acre and half. Fenced.

 

[Proverb31mama]

Hi!
My husband and I are getting ready to order our first batch of Cornish cross and we are trying to figure out how many we can do. How much coop space do the Cornish cross need? We are planning to let them free roam with the rest of the birds in our large (prolly 1/2 acre) backyard. There is plenty of room for more birds in the backyard so that is not a problem. But we are trying to figure out how many we can have in the coop. I know the standard is 4 sq ft per bird in the coop but is that the same during summer? Since we will not be keeping these through the winter how many sq ft do they need?
Thanks!

 

[Proverb31mama]

Oh and if I can get 2 week old chicks would they still need to be in a brooder? Or can I just start letting them outside right away? What kinds of questions would you ask someone who is selling 2 week old Cornish cross chicks on Craigslist? Would they need to be quarentined?