how much feed?

[ricky bamboo]

i have 20 cornishx birds at about 6 weeks old. i weighed a big one today and he was just over 7lbs. i'm impressed.
my concern is that they may eat me out of house and home before they go to slaughter. i feed them twice daily and a 50pound bag of 18% multi fowl lasts about a week. i also supplement with lots of veg from the garden (mostly tomatoes) and bread waste from a bakery. No matter how much i give them, they seem they could eat more and the feeders are always picked clean by night.
how much should a bird eat without over doing it?
thanks.

 

[ghulst]

You can cut cost by feeding some whole corn. It will take a few days for them to get used to it.

 

[Motel Chix]

They are ready for the freezer now. Just remember the younger they are the more tender they are. I usaully waint until 7-8 weeks.
They average 7-10lbs before processing.
Good luck.

 

[ricky bamboo]

I know they are ready......but I don't process myself and cant get them in until the end of October.. Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend and the processor is incredibly busy to get everyone's turkey and chickens done for the holiday. At $2 a bird with a government inspection tag, I can't complain. No blood on my hands

 

[bigredfeather]

You could mix your current feed with corn. Start adding a little corn each time you feed them, and increase it slighlty each time. Cracked corn is usually much cheaper than feed. It will save you some money. The problem with corn is that it will put some excessive fat on the birds, which I don't like. I think you can feed them oats as well. Again cheaper, and mixed with feed will extend how long a bag of feed lasts.

Enjoy your homegrown broilers!

 

[patandchickens]

One thing that would save you a noticeable amount of money is to process *some* of them now, yourself. Just however many you feel like doing in one sitting. Even just one would make a difference in the feed bill

There are good illustrated instructions linked to in the sticky at the top of this forum section.

They're at the age where basically they get more and more expensive to feed as time goes on -- conversion efficiency is already heading well downhill. They will get larger and (slightly) more flavorful, but also less tender and less economical and a greater chance of losing some of them to heart attacks etc.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[bshpqr]

i feed them twice daily and a 50pound bag of 18% multi fowl lasts about a week

Thats not to bad. I had 38 colored rangers that were going thru 100 lbs of the feed and 50 of cracked corn every week for the last 4 weeks​

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Thats not to bad. I had 38 colored rangers that were going thru 100 lbs of the feed and 50 of cracked corn every week for the last 4 weeks

My 63 4 week old Cornishes ate 24 pounds of feed yesterday. Still have 4 more weeks. They will be going thru 50 pounds a day near the end.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
The best way to cut feed costs is to buy in bulk- have it ground at the mill. This will cut your feed bill in HALF. Buying individual bags from TSC or even a feed store will kill you!

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Oh man.... I went through 450 lbs of feed yesterday... It would be weird to go through just 50 lbs. Between layers, turkeys, and 400 broilers. Once the broilers and turkeys get out of here I will be down to about 2 bags a day.

However to your post... try to drop their protein. If you have a feed mill get 14% to maintain their body weight. In your situation you don't want them to grow much more as they will likely flip if you use a higher protein than 15%.