meaties are **3 weeks** today!

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

They WILL be big enough to process at 8 weeks, I did mine at 12 and they were TOO big!

They are only cute for about 10-14 days.

I didn't withhold food at all. I didn't have too many problems, but did have more problems as they got older. I figured they didn't eat at night in the dark anyway.

 

[LindsayB]

I'm probably going to move them in their little tractor around 3 weeks. Its warming up pretty good here pretty close the 80's during the day. I might even move them outside during the daytime at 2 weeks and just bring them in at night.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Mine went outside at like 2 1/2- 3 weeks old.

 

[backyardmenagerie]

Quote:

It's still around 40-50 here, so I'll be waiting until week three - unless we get a sudden heat wave. Just out of curiosity, what % protein are you feeding them? My feed store only had grower/starter in 18%, which I know is lower than recommended. It will be interesting to see if % causes any difference in gain.

Any one else out there with week old meaties? Let's do a grow-along!

 

[LindsayB]

I'm giving them Dumor starter/grower 20%. It was warm and sunny today so I put them outside around noon. I just put them back in the brooder in the garage and they are pooped! Its amazing how much more active they were outside in the grass than in the brooder.

Heres some pics of their first time in the grass...They had a great time.

 

[backyardmenagerie]

That's interesting... from the pictures it looks like your guys have more tail feathers than mine.

Some of them have no tail feathers:

And some have just a few:

Think it's the lower protien? Or different bloodlines?

They look happy outside! And that's a nice run! It's supposed to warm up this weekend, so I think Friday or Saturday, my guys will get their first taste of fresh air

 

[LindsayB]

Oh trust me...the pen isn't nice at all! LOL its just a wood frame with chicken wire stapled around it. And then some extra plastic roofing from our chicken coop/run. It was all made from scrap that I had. I still need to do some work on it, but it works fine for now. My husband hasn't seen it yet (hes been in Cali working..oilfield engineer) and he won't be home until the first of april...I don't think hes going to be too thrilled about what I made...he always tell me I tacky up the backyard. haha

As for the different feathering in our birds...I know tractor supply where I got my chicks ordered from ideal. I don't really know anything about the bloodlines or genetic though. Could be the different amount of protein. But its just a 2% difference. Its fun though, comparing the birds and all!

 

[LindsayB]

Do ya'll think they would be okay if I started keeping them outside in the pen day and night with a heat lamp?? I really want to get them out of the brooder and in a bigger space...

its in the low 80's during the day and the mid 60's at night

 

[backyardmenagerie]

I would think that with temps that high, it would not be a problem (unless you are concerned about predators). But I'm not too knowledgeable, so I'd see what others have to say.

I'm ready for mine to be out of the brooder as well - they're starting to get gross

But it's still fairly cool here, so I'm going try to come up with something bigger in the house for now, and hope that they feather out fast.
It's interesting to watch their growth, mine are starting to show some differences in size. I suspect our next weigh in will have a larger range (instead of them all being the same weight). I wonder how pronounced the difference will be on butcher day... maybe my slow ones are the pullets?

 

[ostrichlover]

Quote:

It's still around 40-50 here, so I'll be waiting until week three - unless we get a sudden heat wave. Just out of curiosity, what % protein are you feeding them? My feed store only had grower/starter in 18%, which I know is lower than recommended. It will be interesting to see if % causes any difference in gain.

Any one else out there with week old meaties? Let's do a grow-along!

Mine are just over a week old, they're on 18% too.