I need to butcher em right at 7-weeks!

[bnentrup]

Ok, I am trying to plan my calendar and be a GOOD husband without leaving my wife with a mess of birds to watch after. I need to leave for a business trip (week long) on July 7th-am. My cornish will be exactly 7-weeks on July 5. If I process them on their 7-week b-day, will this be too early? I have been planning to butcher them at 7-weeks the entire time.

Things to note (if you saw my other post).
-my guys are very small for their age now. A few hit 10oz today, and they are 2-weeks and 3 days now. Can they catchup to the standar cornish weights by that week?
-my goal would be 4.5lbs for this first batch.
-I have never butchered a large QTY of birds (I have 45) at a time, and want to be sure that I have enough time as well. If I butcher on sunday (6 weeks and 6 days) that will allow me to have family over to help out.

HAS Anyone had and underdeveloped flock at 2-weeks and felt they had sufficient weights at 7-weeks? I am in fear that I will find more that say it took 9-weeks for this condition.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Thomas423]

Maybe you could slow down the growing a bit so that you could butcher them at 9 weeks when you get back?
This is my first time so I do not know about the growing weights. Hopefully someone else can help you.

 

[bnentrup]

Quote:
I was just trying to have to avoid putting responsibility on anyone else. I kinda want to be there the last week of their life, if you know what I mean. When I bought them, I timed them for 7-weeks as many here have suggested 7-weeks. However, their growth is a bit slow for my liking, and I wanted to see stats if anyone else has had similar growth curves supporting a slow 2-week start, but strong 6-7 week finish.

 

[bigredfeather]

If your feeding a 20%+ feed they will be okay in a 5-6 weeks. At 5 weeks they really seem to "kick it up." It's amazing how much feed they can put down and how much weight they can gain in 2 weeks time. If you make sure they have plenty of feed in front of them, you'll get close to your goal weight. I have a batch the same age, and I plan on processing them the week before you want to do yours. i want smaller birds for grilling, and would guess they will be 3 1/2 to 4 pounds by then. Don't sweat it, they'll get there.

 

[bnentrup]

Quote:
Thanks-- just what I was hoping to hear from someone with experience! I am not going to be greedy and try to squeeze every lb out of em this round, but at the same time I do not want to risk heart attacks by an overly aggressive feed schedule. I have read that most people spend 15-30 minutes per day on their flock, try 3-4 hours per day with me. I am enjoying, tweaking, learning, educating. It is a family experience and my 4-year old learning as well.

thanks again

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Thanks-- just what I was hoping to hear from someone with experience! I am not going to be greedy and try to squeeze every lb out of em this round, but at the same time I do not want to risk heart attacks by an overly aggressive feed schedule. I have read that most people spend 15-30 minutes per day on their flock, try 3-4 hours per day with me. I am enjoying, tweaking, learning, educating. It is a family experience and my 4-year old learning as well.

thanks again

I don't see any problem w/ being a little aggresive with their feed schedule. They aren't as prone to heart problems as people think as long as your giving them a complete ration. I leave their food in the tractor for 24 hours a few days a week sometimes if I feel they are growing a little slow. Mine are on pasture, so they pick up some great nutrition from the clover and grass hay.

A family expirience is all part of it. My 4 year old DD loves helping me from the first day I get the chicks until processing day. She takes care of feeding them in the morning sometimes and she is now the official lung scraper on processing day. The biggest help is when she helps me get them out of the tractor. It's nice having a smaller person that can get inside of there and chase them to me. She knows more about cornishes than most adults. The best is when we eat them. She always says, "These sure are some tasty meaties." Gotta love it!