Meat bird growth ?

[chiknlady]

Thank you Will--It kinda makes me wish I had an accurate food chart for people... kinda wish we could just tweak our carbs or proteins etc. to get the results we want

 

[SandraMort]

Read The Zone, that's exactly what it's about. Fabulous diet, though confusing math. South Beach is similar, but less mathy, so it's harder to precisely tweak the numbers.

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[SandraMort]

What do you use to boost protein?

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[SandraMort]

How old are they?

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[SandraMort]

OK, so, I've got 3 baby cornish cross mixed in with my layers. It hadn't occurred to me that the chick crumble they were eating would be bad for them. Unfortunately, I only have chick crumble and turkey food. Can I mix them half and half to get something more appropriate for their needs? I can put them in an aquarium INSIDE their brooder to give them their own broiler food there. Would that help them grow better?

 

[willheveland]

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There are a few things you can use to boost protein.Some use soybeans.I use ProvAAl-BASIC, it's like 83% protein then I mix it with my 16% grower mash.I mix it like 9 to 1 to get about 22.7% protein. If you buy from a mill,your feed guy can help you with this.Just ask him how you can boost your protein. Will

 

[Richard]

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at the time of that post they were 3 weeks and 3 days old they will be 5 weeks old tomorrow they are up to about 3/4 of a pound of food each per day and about 10 gals of water (and the weather here is cool right now high in the upper 50s today)now as of tomorrow afternoon they will be on there 11 th bag of feed so thats 550 pounds of feed so thats 10.78 pound of feed so far per chick I will weigh 10 birds tomorrow 5 cocks and 5 hens and try to get an average weight .The last batch that I did was in the early summer I slautered at 7 weeks and they were huge I had at 2 or 3 roosters over 9 pounds live weight

 

[blueskylen]

this brings a question about my chicks: mine look a lot like the pictures at 5 weeks now - not fully feathered and skin showing.
it is getting to be in the 40's at night and now the day temps have dropped to below 60 - probably will stay that way for a couple of weeks.

do they still need the heat lights?

I think that they got too hot the other day when it was in the high 70's and one died. now that it is cooler they have perked up, but i am not sure how much additional heat they need. i am using the deep bedding method of adding DE and straw layers each day ( will clean it all out after they are processed ) and it generates some heat on its own.

would too much heat slow down their growth?

thanks

 

[chiknlady]

hi blueskylen--Mine were fine in the lower temperatures as they huddle together and they generate some body heat on their own--the most important lesson I learned is the feed type and availability. Mine are growing better with 20% protein offered 24/7 with plenty of water. Their feathering etc improved dramatically when I made these changes. Mine also free range--but I make sure they have access to good feed at all times now. I would say to turn the bedding or fluff it and only when it gets matted down to change it. If it is wet that's different--but the deep litter method does generate natural heat due to the breakdown of the natural materials--kinda like a compost pile. If you notice them shivering or if it dips below freezing then you can think about supplemental heat--but at 5 weeks most birds are ready for the outdoors.

Good luck!

 

[blueskylen]

the bedding is not wet, as the DE really dries it out, and i lay a pretty heavy layer of new staw morning and night,
but it still generates some heat. it would be an all day job,shoveling out the bedding each day for 50 of them-by the time you got it shoveled out - they would have it all poohed up before you got the new straw down.