I understand the business analysis, but man cornish x feel wrong!

[Bossroo]

Quote:
How about we agree to disagree? Sound good? You're right, I mean no offence. I guess I just look at things differently then others.

You see things with the eyes of a farmer trying to make a living,

some see things with the eyes of a hobbyist with little regard of $$$ return on investment.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

he's not getting riled, he's just speaking from experience.

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

There is no doubt in my mind that many of the unfortunate, excessive, losses of meat chickens reported on this forum are for the most part due to husbandry practices not suitable for the bird. Statements like "they die for no reason" are often an indication that someone is not familiar with the unique requirements of these high performance birds.

At our broiler farm we average a loss of 4.2% of the birds received when marketed at 41 days of age. The chicks we get are not transported very far but do have the disadvantage of not being sorted for quality as closely as chicks for retail sales. Unless the weather is unusually hot no more than 0.7% are lost in the last week. The average live weight per bird (as hatched) is 5.5lbs after 9 hours without feed. Dwarfs, birds with slipped leg tendons, etc. are considered mortality.

That weight is used to compute a 1.82 feed conversion ratio.

We get birds for three consecutive days. We have not had a flock in two years that required medication other than coccidiastats. They receive vaccinations. In those two years we used no feed additives that violate the Commonwealth’s regulations for being termed "medicine free".

The purpose of modern meat chickens (and turkeys) is to be consumed by humans. No ethics are being violated if the birds grow at a rate comensurate with the genetic potential and without waste of inputs resulting in a wholesome food product.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Sorry for a brief detour of the thread, but maybe you can answer a question for me...

Do you compute FCR live or processed?

I asked this in another thread and someone did answer but didn't exactly sound sure of themselves.

[Apologies to those who tuned in for one of my traditional anti-CX posts and just got this boring query. Now back to your regular programming. ]

 

[tiffanyg2]

Quote:
X2 ~ I agree I read some stuff about them and it doesn't seem natural.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Sorry for a brief detour of the thread, but maybe you can answer a question for me...

Do you compute FCR live or processed?

I asked this in another thread and someone did answer but didn't exactly sound sure of themselves.

[Apologies to those who tuned in for one of my traditional anti-CX posts and just got this boring query. Now back to your regular programming. ]

The industry uses live weight for FCR. If you notice, he said average live weight is 5.5 lbs.

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
Sorry for a brief detour of the thread, but maybe you can answer a question for me...

Do you compute FCR live or processed?

I asked this in another thread and someone did answer but didn't exactly sound sure of themselves.

[Apologies to those who tuned in for one of my traditional anti-CX posts and just got this boring query. Now back to your regular programming. ]

The industry uses live weight for FCR. If you notice, he said average live weight is 5.5 lbs.

Isn't that a bit on the small side?

ETA
Scratch that. Those are 6 week old birds.

 

[bt03]

When I went to buy some more layers before Easter the bins had been mislabeled & I ended up with CX. I couldn't be happier! Of course I had to read up & learn the best way to care for them but I wouldn't trade my chunkers for the best laying hens money could buy. They are sweet and love people and are just as active as my other chickens & like hanging with the ducks. I personally love the CX & I won't be culling ever just letting them live out happy chicken lives

 

[linben]

For some people raising meat birds isn't all about business but knowing where your food comes from. One can buy a chicken at the grocery store and you don't really know what it ate, where it lived and how far it traveled to get to the store.

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

Quote:
Thats the way I read it as well

Preach on BRF....having someone who is making things happen on a small scale is exactly why I read these forums.