I got some meaties today!! How old? pics QUESTION post 12

[jdywntr]

So, I had placed an order with Welp for 25 cornish cross pullets. Unfortunately due to their availability and my work schedule, I would not be able to get them until the end of March which would but processing at the end of May. In Florida, hot muggy yuckiness.

So, I woke up early today and started researching where I may be able to buy some locally. TSC is 1.5 hours away from me so that was a last resort. I found a feed store about 35 miles from me and called them to see if they had any cornish X in. They counted and said they had 16, I asked if they could hold them for me and I had to prepay over the phone (which was fine).

I assembled my brooder and headed out.

They packed them up and after counting 16 there was 1 left so I said I'd take it too. They were $2 each, so I spent a little more than I had wanted but also figure the feed store took any losses after shipping. But I got 17 babies that will be ready to process in April.

They did not remember a precise hatch date and thought they were between 1-2 weeks old. I searched on BYC and found some pics of 1.5 week olds. They are similar in size but some have kind of long wing feathers (1.5-2") and some tail feathers and others have short (.5-.75") wing feathers.

Here are pics of the different feathering. Any idea of more precise ages?

 

[Life is Good!]

Sorry, cannot age them exactly - to me, they look younger than 2wks.
Perhaps if you can get a weight on some of them (average), it might help you 'age' them. I know many posts here comment on weights at various ages. Try that and see if anyone can help!

 

[jdywntr]

Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't have a small scale though I may look for one.

 

[galanie]

Feed store people have no ideas about how old chicks are when they get them. Since it's TSC, I'm betting they haven't had them even a week. When they get them they are 2-3 days old. So probably they're only about a week old or less.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Just call the feed store and ask them to look up when their last chicks came in. Then add 2 days.
More than one and less than two weeks looks right.

 

[mama24]

They look about 5-7 days old to me.

 

[jdywntr]

Just call the feed store and ask them to look up when their last chicks came in. Then add 2 days.
More than one and less than two weeks looks right.

They get chicks weekly and it didn't seem like they kept track of what came when. When I talked to them they said 1-2 weeks so I was guesstimating 1.5 weeks to cover that. It amazes me that for people who should be knowledgable about these things, they have no idea.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

Yeah I would say a week.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Mine look like that at one week. Meat birds grow twice as fast as a regular chicks. You should be ready to butcher in 8-10 wks depending on the feed given. Good luck.

 

[halo]

I just picked up 7 at Tractor Supply. I too, was thinking about doing one more batch before summer, but I really didnt want to do 25, and here in Florida it can get pretty toasty pretty quickly, especially since we've had such a mild winter.

They do grow and feather out extraordinarily fast. They do look like about a week or 10 days old.