Meaties 101

[justlearning]

Excellent post. Do you put anything in their water when they are in the brooder? Electolytes or tetracycline?

 

[bigredfeather]

Molases for the first few days (1 Tbsp/gal). I do not use any medication on my meat birds.

 

[finallyME]

Thanks so much for this thread. Last night I went to the farm store to get some more food for my Road Island Reds, and they had cornish cross at 4 weeks old for $1.40. I couldn't pass up and bought 4 of them. Hey, I am still small time and learning, hence only 4. Since this is my first time with a CX I came to the trusted BYC for info, and here it was in a very nice thread.

 

[MobyQuail]

 

[mcf3kids]

Bigred I love this thread and have read through it but I am wondering if 2 weeks is ok to have my chicks out in the tractor 24/7. Will they need supplemental heat at night like traditional chicks? Dropping 5 degrees a week thing - or do they feather out earlier so they need less heat at an earlier age? Our lows are in the 60's -70's. Thx

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Have you shut off the heat lamp in their brooder overnight yet?

 

[mcf3kids]

I haven't yet as they are only 12 days old - it is on a dimmer and I have it dimmed now. Is 3 weeks realistic to have no supplemental heat?

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Yes, I always have mine out at 3 weeks with no lamp. If they do okay thru the night with no lamp in the brooder, they should be ready to go outside. You may want to watch out for piling the first night w/out the lamp. Sometimes they freak out the first time. I would say they would be okay outside right now, but if they do happen to pile and smother some, I would feel responsible.

 

[mcf3kids]

Working from your design hubby built our tractor - I will hold off until next week to introduce them to it but here it is! It only needs handles and we will tack down the skirt each time we move it. Thanks for your inspiration!

 

[AlbionWood]

We had a couple of hens go broody at just the right time, so we put 18 CX chicks under them one evening. Seems to have worked out great - no heat lamp issues, no piling etc, they were out on grass from day one, and the hens seem to make them a little more active. Instead of just shuttling between the food and water all day, they go out and forage a little now and then. They are about 4 weeks old now and the hens are losing interest, so we'll see how it goes from here.