MEAT BIRD'S " TELL US HOW YOU DO IT"

[bruceh]

prices are climbing everywhere, so to all who posted on cost. tell us how you raise yours.

 

[WinklerFarms]

I raise mine on lean gain 95 hog mash. It is 16% protien and the birds grow great on it. I process my own and sell directly off the farm. I am limited to 1000 birds which is enough for me for now. I am currently working on getting a contract for 5000 birds for next year for a local producer/processer.

 

[WinklerFarms]

Oh yeah and mine are all pastured after 3 weeks old.

 

[Beekissed]

Chick starter twice a day until the bag is gone, then layer mash/whole grain mix twice a day and then once a day when they are older. Buttermilk with the starter for the first few days, fermented feeds from then on. Free ranged from 2 wks.

Deep litter in the coop with pine shavings. Unpasteurized apple cider vinegar in the water from day one. Poultry nipple waterers, rain guttering feeders on 2x4 feet.

Bought 50 CX chicks from Central Hatchery, they sent 54 chicks and total cost, including shipping, was $60...break down was $1.11 per chick. The chicks were all healthy, though smaller than my last batch of CX chicks from another source. No chicks died from unknown causes.

The bedding costs/needs were minimal due as there was less smell in the coop due to feeding the FF and free ranging all day. Total costs of all feed and bedding came to feed/$165, bedding/$21. I don't count equipment cost due to the fact that it wasn't bought specifically for feeding/caring for the CX, but for the layer flocks to follow as well. I do all my own processing and the equipment consists of knives, killing cones from bleach jugs(if I use this method), tables, and scalding pot(if used). All these items already here and not purchased.

I don't count labor costs, no more than I calculate the cost of my time spent in housekeeping, cooking, getting in firewood, skinning and processing a deer kill, or gardening. Feeding, care and processing are all just normal chores here and nothing for which I would expect payment or recompense.

 

[WinklerFarms]

My bedding is pine shavings that I get for free from my father in laws wood shop. I also use some straw that I get from a neighbor in trade. I help him move cattle once in a great while and he gives me a few bales of straw each time.

 

[bruceh]

week 2 update:

32 cornish x no losses

the birds are a little over 1/2 way feathered out running jumping getting under foot when feeding.

the birds are quite large. they gained growth in leaps and bounds. they are 4 times their 1 day size. ( my scale went south on me)

they are feed generous portions of fermented feeds 2 x daily ( morning and night )

do not drink that much at all around 3/4 gallon per day that includes the pine shaving that get kicked in the water

so far they have eaten roughly 40 lbs of feed. 1 week chick starter 5lbs. then 35l,bs. 16% grower

they will go on pasture next week (3 weeks )

the brooder is still clean. no real smell of chicken waste. ( mind you these birds are being kept in my big brooder in the basement)

stools of the birds are firm and shaped.

light kept on is 14 hour fluorescent and heat lamp red bulb. 10 hrs just heat bulb.

cost to date

32 cornish x -$ 48.00

chick starter 5 lb - $ 5.00

35 lbs milled mash from grain mill @ 16% - $ 7.70

total investment to date ( 2 weeks) = $ 60, 70 or 60.70 / 32 = $ 1.89 per bird


cost of feed used to date- $ 12.70 or 12.70 / 32 = $ 00.3968. per bird

cost per day .3968 / 14 = $ 00 0283 or $ 00.03 per chick

 

[Beekissed]

Oughta make ya some nipple waterers, Bruce...takes all that shavings mess out of the way.

It really cuts down on water waste and time spent cleaning out waterers, trying to keep shavings out, etc. They are super cheap and easy to put into any container you can hang up...I've even seen pics of one on the end of a syrup bottle!

 

[MyTDogs]

bee, can you tell me how you set up your brooder? is it just your hoop house with hay bales blocking the walls? pix?

thanks!

Oughta make ya some nipple waterers, Bruce...takes all that shavings mess out of the way.

It really cuts down on water waste and time spent cleaning out waterers, trying to keep shavings out, etc. They are super cheap and easy to put into any container you can hang up...I've even seen pics of one on the end of a syrup bottle!

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah, pretty much. I blocked off half of the hoop house until they got a little bigger, then spread the bales out and added to them to cover the base of all the walls, then eventually took them out altogether.



This is the brooder before the chicks...just added a piece or two of plywood to keep the warmth of the lamp in at night and would open it up in the day. The pic below is when the brooder was opened up to include the whole space and I kept a board across in front of the shavings to keep them in one spot and they would all bed down there. Yes, that is a rooster trying to broody hen those chicks...he was a little confused but he did a good job for awhile. He wouldn't stay on his roost, just kept getting down with the chicks and trying to put some under his wings. Funny thing to watch...

The grey bucket was what I graduated to when they got out of the little brooder...four nipples on the bottom.

 

[bruceh]

thank you bee,
i think i will try the nipple water. i also have to graduate to a 5 gal. bucket. the 2 gal buckets just is not getting all that food fermented enough. when i have to add water the bottom bucket it over flows. i will just take the 2 gal bucket and put nipples on it.

bee i think we are going to get good results. no slackers in this bunch. knock on wood. i don;t want jinx it.

i was out in the double shed today. it has good meat and potatoes. i am designing it now. it has a upstairs loft in it. so on the coop floor i am going to put in a l.c.d tv with jacuzzi.

i have heard this alone will relax the hens enough to lay 2 eggs a day. have you heard about this new method