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

[PaulaJoAnne]

Is their weight tracking similiar to ones that would be fed feed all the time?
Last year, I fed ours three times per day, plus all the free range they could muster, but would love to cut way back this next time.

 

[dacjohns]

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
Oh, forgot to ask how much feed you estimate they are eating.......

 

[Beekissed]

You know what? I have no idea! I know we are maybe adding one or two more scoops than we usually use in the feeder...this one only fills so far...so its not much more than I am feeding my layer flock right now. Everyone seems fat and sassy, so no one is going without food right now. The forage is great at this time of the year with all the grass being new and tender, all the bugs hatching out and worms escaping watery tunnels.

I don't really think about the costs and food consumption when I raise my birds, as I know the benefits of eating one's own eggs and meats cannot be weighed in dollars and cents. I do know that I come out way ahead when I sell my eggs but I'm sure I'm even more ahead when I fill the freezer with these chunky birds.

Here's a pic progression:

First day under Mom!

First day on the green grass!

Today, at 1 month and 2-3 days old:

In the coop today, eating the leftovers from last nights meal:

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

We do think about the cost, because in Alaska, we pay a great deal more for real and commercial feeds.
And we were informed on Tuesday, that fishmeal costs are doubling, so we are looking at potentially $15+ per bird in feed, unless we can get more forage in them.
I will certainly be experimenting heavily this time.
Thank you for the real life glimpse into this method.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Beekissed Fantastic pictorial - it always amazes me how fast those Cxs grow.

 

[MamaDoula]

We fluked into a little flock of abandoned meaties in the TSC parking lot a couple of weeks ago, and they're quite feathered and ready for outside....

I can't bear the idea of them never going out, so I'm reading this thread with great interest! I think we're going to build a pen for them outside this weekend..I've been working hard not to overfeed them, and they're more and more mobile looking. Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

 

[Beekissed]

You are welcome! I will certainly post pics and tell the tale if these become too big to be mobile along the way. They may just be in a gangly teenage stage, who knows?

 

[aclee]

I have been free ranging mine everyday since maybe 4 or 5 weeks. They are out in the yard from 8 or 9 AM till they all waddled back in there at dark. Even now at 10 weeks they are very moble. The only ones that are not are the ones that hurt themselves running around. I think I'm actually going miss my little meatballs! I'm thinking about holding some of the smaller hens back to see how they do...maybe even one of the smaller males...we'll see what we can talki DH into tomorrow...

 

[Beekissed]

I know we are supposed to butcher at 8-10 wks but I can't imagine they will be big enough by then...maybe they will get a growth spurt or something? I'm wondering how long anyone has kept meaties for butcher. I know my niece brought me ten of hers a couple of years ago that she found she couldn't kill...they were around 5 mo. old.