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

[halo]

So about the plucking...how do you do it so you dont end up as feathered as the chickens you just de-feathered? Once dunked, dont those feathers just clump and stick all over you? Do you wash off after each one, you and the chicken?

 

[Hillsvale]

well I just finished a trial run of 7 birds... the bigger feathers don't stick but the littler ones ending to hang around... I just kept swishng my glove in a bucket of water.

They plucked very easily.

BTW... bees, I used the evaceration pictures you posted as my guide... I did adapt it some but at least I knew what I was lookng for. Thanks!

 

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
How long did you let it rest? And did you rest it in a cooler or a fridge? And did you sit it in salt water?
I'd like to know so mine come out nice like yours

Just plain water in a 5 gallon bucket in the fridge. I'm sure a cooler with ice and water will work just as well. Most of them at least 24 hours, some longer, just depends on when we have time to get back to them.

 

[sassychickengirl]

Quote:
How long did you let it rest? And did you rest it in a cooler or a fridge? And did you sit it in salt water?
I'd like to know so mine come out nice like yours

Just plain water in a 5 gallon bucket in the fridge. I'm sure a cooler with ice and water will work just as well. Most of them at least 24 hours, some longer, just depends on when we have time to get back to them.

I followed the advice on letting them rest as well. My fridge isn't big enough so I used a large cooler with lots of ice. I let them sit for 48 hrs. and they came out great

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
You are quite welcome! This is exactly why I started this thread...so that others could try it as well.

I think a mixed brood would work very well as long as you had adequate room at your feeder for the young chicks....the meaties tend to crowd out everyone until they get their fill. I had a continuous feeder during the chick stage so this wasn't a problem for me and mixed chicks would have been fine.

I don't think meat chicks suffer as much as the grown birds do....they have less feathers and haven't gotten to the stage where they are trying to carry so much weight. I think what you are describing would be okay as long as your brooder had plenty of good airflow and the chicks weren't overcrowded. My brooder has two walls consisting of only wire, so mine had plenty of flow and then the chicks were outside the rest of the time.

So about the plucking...how do you do it so you dont end up as feathered as the chickens you just de-feathered? Once dunked, dont those feathers just clump and stick all over you? Do you wash off after each one, you and the chicken?

I didn't wear gloves and the feathers only stuck momentarily. As they hang for plucking they are draining well....a quick rub of the hands together now and again got rid of most of the clingy feathers. These birds don't have much and they don't seem to have the real downy layer with the tiny hairs that a regular hen has . As they air dried it got easier and easier and feathers just weren't even an issue when you finally got them to the evisceration table.

I think, if I pluck the finer feathers dry next time and then scald for the dirtier and tougher feathers, I might implement my shop vac to contain them.

Just rig up the shop vac hose to where it is attached near the fence on which I pluck and turn it on, keep feeding the handsful of dry feathers into the hose until done. No trying to stuff them into a sack and trying to keep them from flying away in the breeze. One could line the shop vac with a plastic bag and just sack up your feathers at the end of the day. Who know? Maybe one could just suck the finer feathers off without pulling? Hmmmmm.......I'll have to give that a try.......

 

[Buster52]

Heat can be devastating for Cornish Cross. I don't raise them myself for reasons detailed in myriad other threads, but friends in my area who do won't raise them this time of year because of it, sticking instead to fall and spring broods. As it was one guy was losing them right and left in June because of the heat. These things were bred to be raised in climate controlled conditions.

We are also experiencing 100+ temps this week with high humidity. With their genetics, I can't imagine how they would be doing this week.

 

[Young MacDonald]

Great! I'm going to try it. We'll see how it goes. I hope it's as successful as your experience.

 

[bumpershoot]

Hey Buster, try adding heat and 6800ft above sea level. It gets tricky, but here in NM the window for growing anything can be brief. I will say that so far I have been successful with the meaties at this altitude due to a couple of reasons. First, I bought Privett birds, who aren't ever going to be the biggest on the market. That means I am losing fewer to heart attacks, etc. Second, I have added vit/electrolytes to their water. It's made a huge difference. Mine are seven weeks and we are hitting 95 F and then some, but so far I've only lost one bird.
I have some friends who live at the 5500ft above sea level mark and they can grow McMurray's birds (who are HUGE) in chicken tractors. They do fine in the 95 degree range with no special accommodations. Frankly, at temps higher then that we have to watch all of our animals. Heck, even cattle can drop from heat exhaustion once it gets too hot. 100 plus temps is brutal on all creatures, not just meaties.

 

[Beekissed]

I wonder if Joel stops growing meaties in the summer......

 

[card5640]

We have been having very high temps in Maine ( it's true) my meaties were having a rough go, panting and spread out. I put their tractor in the shade and watered down their area daily, made them muddy but cooled them off, I hung a fan from the top of their tractor to blow air on the hottest days and it made a big difference in the comfort level. I kept them only 9 weeks. I have another batch that are a week old. Wished I had waited a bit longer to get my next batch.