Meat birds dropping like flies!!

[justlearning]

related question. First timer--my meaties are in with my egg layers. Is it ok to restrict the egg layers food? We are starting small. Only have 5 cornish xs for 4H. Depending on how it all goes, we may do more next year.

 

[HLAC]

What kind of feed are you giving them? What protein percentage? Can you cut open this last one that died? Is there lots of fluid in the body cavity? Are the intestines filled with blood?

 

[stargazer2014]

We are feeding them chick grower now, however....

The day has come.

At this very moment, my husband is preparing to process them today. He is happy with their size, and decided last night that he probably was overfeeding them, and that instead of loosing more, he'd just process today, and move on to next time.

So, big thanks to all of you for your advice, and for commisterating with me! Everything you've told us is going into the book for next time, and we will be smarter for the next batch, which may be later this year.

Thanks again, all! Your assistance and advice was/is very much appreciated!

 

[stargazer2014]

Quote:
Protein percentage I think was 17%?? Don't quote me on that...but I think that's right.

 

[HLAC]

Next time you might want to try a higher protein grower. Meat birds need a lot more protein than the slower growing 'regular' chickens.

I am currently using 21% protein broiler grower from Agrimaster and am quite happy with it.

 

[FiveHens]

I'm so sorry ...I don't know much about meat birds...but I do know that getting pinfeathers at just a few days old is 100% normal, and chicks grow like weeds! It's unlikely that they're too old. If you got them shipped, they have to be that old, because it's only within the first few days that they can survive without nourishment.
Good luck!

 

[stargazer2014]

Quote:
We were told not to use such high protein on them because they would grow too fast. Live and learn, I guess!

 

[stargazer2014]

Five birds were processed this afternoon. He stopped because they seemed too small. We're going to see if they can make it another week before we process anymore.

 

[stargazer2014]

Bad news for our meat chickies....

We've lost 5 chickens in the span of 6 hours today, and there's one out there that isn't looking like it's long for this world. We're down to 7 left in the tractor, and they really aren't big enough to process yet. We're very discouraged at the moment.

 

[bustermommy]

Cornish game hens are only about 12 oz in the store. Small is better than none.