- May 15, 2012
- 35
- 4
- 24
I am enjoying having my second batch of happy broilers running around the coop.
They are 2.5 weeks old and are eating a mixture of non-medicated chick starter and crushed barley (at a ratio of 4:1 ) all fermented with ACV. Last time I processed at 8 weeks and got some really nice weights but that was without adding the barley. I am wondering if mixing in small amounts of low protein feed in addition to the higher energy requirements of a chicken growning at lower temperatures would reflect on my processing dates. Should I push it back by a week? My original idea was to process in two batches of 25. One at 8 weeks and one at 9 weeks. Should I do 9 and 10 instead? We had very few chickens last time with weights below 5lbs dressed and we have had some requests for smaller birds but I don't want them ALL to be small. Any feedback appreciated!
