Letting my broody raise 20 meaties. Now I have a rooster raising 50 CX chicks~new batch!

[debir1966]

Wow, and wow again! I just read this whole thread and so thankful I did! I don't have a broody to raise my meaties that I will be getting in a couple weeks, but I am planning on free-ranging them with my DP chicks and I learned so much from this thread! Hopefully I will get the chance to try the broody raising at a later date (if I EVER get a broody LOL).

Thank you thank you everyone!

 

[CrunchyMeatEatr]

This morning I am processing 15 of the CX.  I wanted to wait for 10 wks but we have need of getting all these chickens gone before we have a family reunion here, so we can mulch the garden without it getting torn out and so that I can barter some of the chicken for beef before the family reunion....gonna GRILL! 

I would have preferred to wait so that all pin feathers would be grown, so the meat was more flavorful, so that they had a chance to be all they can be....but, alas, it is not to be.  They are all healthy as horses and doing well, still foraging, still flying up to the roosts and beyond, still tearing things up and pooping everywhere they shouldn't. 

This batch, overall, aren't as large as my last CX...they weren't as large as chicks and are still not as large at 8 wks.  They also are not as smoothly and fully feathered as my last CX were, so the genetics on these aren't quite as nice.  I doubt I'll just blindly shop for CX anymore without seeing a good sample of their grown stock first.  There is a BIG difference...these are more round and short, the others were taller, more elongated breasts and bodies. 

Still, it's more meat than any DP and I got 50 birds to 8 wks on around $120 in feed, so that ain't bad at all.  Will try and get some weights but all I have is a bathroom scale here and it isn't the most accurate...it's the old type. 

 

Bee its been a long while since anyone last posted but i thought i would say between your FF thread and now this one I have to say thanks for sharing your experiences with those of us that are new to the chicken raising experience.

How did your 50CX birds turn out? Did you end up losing any to predators and what was the avg weight with all the free ranging vs feed? 120$ on feed is amazing but I'm curious on the size of the birds vs having more control over their feed. I also noticed you didn't mention them getting tired and laying down as much near the end like your first batch. Do you think that was because you processed them sooner or because they never got as big?

I just processed my first 4 Roos and they were amazing, so Ive been looking at getting my first batch of CX birds when my nxt layer starts brooding. But like everyone nowadays cost is an concern, if I can save money in any way and still get quality healthy birds I'm all for it! That has been my wife's biggest complaint about my chicken raising experience is the costs of feed, fencing and the other expenses that go along with raising them. So any tips you can share are appreciated.

 

[Beekissed]

Bee its been a long while since anyone last posted but i thought i would say between your FF thread and now this one I have to say thanks for sharing your experiences with those of us that are new to the chicken raising experience.

How did your 50CX birds turn out? Did you end up losing any to predators and what was the avg weight with all the free ranging vs feed? 120$ on feed is amazing but I'm curious on the size of the birds vs having more control over their feed. I also noticed you didn't mention them getting tired and laying down as much near the end like your first batch. Do you think that was because you processed them sooner or because they never got as big?

I just processed my first 4 Roos and they were amazing, so Ive been looking at getting my first batch of CX birds when my nxt layer starts brooding. But like everyone nowadays cost is an concern, if I can save money in any way and still get quality healthy birds I'm all for it! That has been my wife's biggest complaint about my chicken raising experience is the costs of feed, fencing and the other expenses that go along with raising them. So any tips you can share are appreciated.

Those birds turned out good, though they didn't get as big as the first batch in this thread. I think maybe different genetics going on there as they were about half the size of the other ones, even as chicks. Short bodies and short legs and that wouldn't have anything to do with what feeds are fed. They were getting good weight on them there at the end but they still didn't have the carcass length that would give them nice, long breast fillets or the leg length that yielded big thighs.

They weren't having any trouble at all with mobility and probably wouldn't have no matter how old they were kept...they were something else! I think they had more Cornish genetics than White Rock...they had that whole squat Cornish body and shape. Take a look at this one at 7 wks...




I didn't lose any to predators. I never got to do finishing weights at all...my mother was having a fit for me to get them processed before our annual family reunion because she's a clean freak and was having conniptions about all the poop in the yard.

I would have kept them to a much older age if I had my way of it. As it was, I was left processing 50 birds all by myself in a short amount of time...so they were skinned and quartered and froze. Only a few were plucked and froze whole.

If I had to guess at finishing wts they were probably 4 lbs on average. Not my idea of a good finish but my hands were kind of tied on it...the original plan was to keep them for 3-4 mo. before processing.

I'll tell you what...there is a lady on here who I helped to process her CX she did on free range and FF and they were the biggest chickens I've ever seen in my life. They were around 15 lbs live wt and were a good 10lb and up average on finished wts, though no one weighed them....they were difficult to lift with one hand to place them in the cones, they were that big! Organs were all extremely healthy, no losses and they free ranged clear up to processing all over her acres. She had gotten her chicks at TSC, just like I had gotten my first batch.

Best birds I've ever seen, though ugly as old sin. She fed organic layer mash and whole grains, fermented.

I'll tell you a good investment to make for future meat bird projects...electric poultry netting. Cost about a dollar a foot but has built in stakes and a simple fence charger will cost around $30. They say it lasts 10 years with good care, so it's a great investment that has other applications....it can be a good dog containment system or can keep critters out of the garden when not in use on birds. Can make all the difference if you want to put them out on paddock/pasture and you have to worry about stray dogs and preds.

Another savings, even with the FF, is mixing in a 30 gal plastic trash can...it seems the deeper the fermentation on my feed, the less I have to feed. When I was doing my CX I was only getting a couple of days of ferment out of each batch because I was using one bucket system. With my smaller layer flock my FF has been sitting longer before I get to the bottom of the bucket and the ferment is greater...and I'm feeding around 1.5 cups of feed for the whole flock of 14 standard birds once a day.

If I had to do CX all over again, I'd be keeping bigger batches of feed, with a longer ferment on the feed. I'd also increase some fats and proteins in the end to lay some extra fat under the skin for the finish. These last birds had zero fat anywhere on the carcass...the skin was like rubber and not worth leaving on. They had walked off all their fat!! Leanest meat I've ever processed off of birds, even layers.

 

[CrunchyMeatEatr]

You don't think it has anything to do with the lack of feed? Have you had many batches of meat birds since, how did they turn out? I think I will need to make my run alot bigger before I get more birds though. The 24x40 run I have already gets picked clean by the 7 birds I have left and I want to get 15-25 meats but can't free range due to the neighbors dogs... I've already lost 3 to them.

 

[Beekissed]

Nope...I don't. They got plenty of feed and returned to the coop each night with a full crop from foraging. They got the same amount of feeds that my first batch of meaties got...one meal a day of layer mash mixed with whole grains. One batch finished bigger due to a difference in genetics from the hatchery stock, as both batches were processed about the same age.

 

[hogster160]

Bee, I have a question for you. My meaties arrived on Wednesday. So they were 3 days old. My broody hatched out 6 chicks tues -wed. Do you think mama would be willing to take on 16 other babes? I feel so bad for the meaties in the brooder box. Especially when I see how happy and carefree the 6 chicks with mama are. Mama took her babies outside yesterday and was showing them the ropes of their life, and they all just had a blast. So all the babies I have are 3-5 days old today. I would really really love to try it, these are my first meaties and broody hatched chicks.

This thread is an awesome example of mother nature and also reminding us that she knows whats best.

I don't have a lot of grass left in the pen its 40 x 120, and its shared with 13 other chickens and 2 turkeys. The turkeys will be moved, they are getting close to maturing and the female is getting nasty with the chickens. But I do have the DLM going in their run in 3 good sized areas. About 6 construction bags of mulched leaves and grass clipping and 2 bales of straw with their normal droppings.

Thanks,

Deb

 

[Beekissed]

Deb, you can try it and see what happens. You'll know at first light if it will take or not. Do it under cover of darkness with only a dim flashlight to light your efforts. Don't move the hen, just slip the chicks under her one by one and turn off the light and listen. All quiet? Get up at first light and watch the interaction between mother and chicks...if there is the least bit of a sign of her rejecting the chicks, get them out of there. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If she accepts them that morning, it's not likely she will reject them later on. You might keep her and the chicks in a separate pen than the rest of the flock until the chicks get a little older and faster, as it will be tough for her to defend that many chicks and keep track of them all. My hen was able to because there was room to avoid the flock and go off on their own to forage but they didn't go out on range until they were a bit bigger than your chicks.

 

[hogster160]

She and the chicks are in the same coop, but closed off from the other chickens. They have their own room. 3x5 maybe. Totally closed off with walls of hardware cloth and roost, food and water.

Wondering if we should put all of them at once, or like 5 a night until all under. hmm things to ponder!

thanks Bee

 

[Beekissed]

All at once..the older they get the less likely she will accept them. Good luck and let us know how it went?

 

[pipemum]

Alright, I have a broody silkie/Polish. Coincidentally, I'm getting 15 CX chicks on the 20th. How can I get the broody to raise these chicks for me? Any chance I can get away with not having a heat lamp for these chicks (lows near freezing, highs in the 70s) if she takes over? I've never had a broody hen before and have no idea where to start. She's in the regular coop, nicely nestled in a nest box. Should I move her into a nest box in the meatie coop? There's not enough space in the regular coop/run to isolate her and 15 chicks.