meaties are **3 weeks** today!

[backyardmenagerie]

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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.

Awesome! Glad to see I'm not the only one feeding low.
Do you know what their weight was at a week old? Any pictures?

 

[averytds]

With what Orscheln's had their bags of 18% chick starter on sale for and since that's often all they carry/recommend for meatbirds I'll bet there are quite a few using the 18%. That's what we're using this go round.

 

[Robo]

Mine are on 18% also and they are 11 days old today, I don't have a scale at the moment so don't know the weight.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

I want in! I want in!

I bought my first ever cornish X chicks (4 of them) at one day old on Feb. 28. I too am SHOCKED by the size already! I am itching to move them out of the brooder, but am a little worried about them staying warm enough. I wish I had found this thread yesterday: I had some RIR chicks that were born the same week as my cornish X and the size difference was ASTOUNDING...but alas, I sold the RIR chicks yesterday. I do have some EE chicks with them that were hatched the same day though so I will try to get some pics but the size difference isn't quite AS dramatic. I too am feeding 18% starter/grower and have them in a large brooder box with heat light. I offer food all the time and they have a heat lamp so they eat 24/7 but I do occasionally find that their food is empty in the morning. We hope that we can butcher by around 8 weeks. I am subscribing to see how ya'll's do too!

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Oh and I am also planning to buy some more cornish X on my payday (which is Mar. 31) and every month thereafter until TSC quits carrying them so we can have a group to go in the freezer every month eventually.

 

[LindsayB]

Well, my 6 little nuggets were outside all day yesterday but I ended up bringing them back inside the garage for the night. I did however take away the heat lamp; our garage is around 75-80 degress at night. hopefully the end of next week they can be outside full time, they definitely enjoy it!

I weighed a few again last night and they are around 6 oz now. they gained 1-2 oz in 4 days! wow...I'll weigh them again at the 2 week mark, which is tues.

 

[LindsayB]

I want to buy some more after this batch but I'm alittle worried about the heat. It was 82 yesterday and they were all panting in the pen outside...the whole thing is shaded and they had plenty of water. guess they're just not made for warm weather.

 

[backyardmenagerie]

BigDaddy'sGurl :

I want in! I want in!

I bought my first ever cornish X chicks (4 of them) at one day old on Feb. 28. I too am SHOCKED by the size already! I am itching to move them out of the brooder, but am a little worried about them staying warm enough. I wish I had found this thread yesterday: I had some RIR chicks that were born the same week as my cornish X and the size difference was ASTOUNDING...but alas, I sold the RIR chicks yesterday. I do have some EE chicks with them that were hatched the same day though so I will try to get some pics but the size difference isn't quite AS dramatic. I too am feeding 18% starter/grower and have them in a large brooder box with heat light. I offer food all the time and they have a heat lamp so they eat 24/7 but I do occasionally find that their food is empty in the morning. We hope that we can butcher by around 8 weeks. I am subscribing to see how ya'll's do too!

Welcome!

That's too bad you sold the RIR, I would have loved to see pictures. Having a few each month sounds interesting, seems like it would cut down on the work involved a bit (assuming your summers are fairly mild). Do you plan to butcher them your self?
What is your weather like? Your guys should be almost three weeks, right? How feathered are they? Are you going to be weighing yours each week?

Lindsay, I too am worried about the summer. I figure my guys will be ready to go around mid-May (I'll be butchering at 8-10 weeks, depending on how they're doing), and not long after that is July and August, were it usually gets around 90-100 here. I was told by a local farmer that turkey poults love the heat, and so she raises her chickens in the spring and fall, and starts her turkeys just after her spring batch of chickens. I'm thinking of trying that... if I do, I'm getting a pair and naming them Thanksgiving and Christmas

 

[LindsayB]

ooo I would LOVE to have turkeys! Maybe someday when we get some land...

backyardmenagerie- is this your first time with meaties too?

 

[backyardmenagerie]

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Yes, it is. I've been a vegetarian for over 4 years, but have decided I wouldn't mind eating meat if I raised it and knew what went into it. I have 4 acres, and have always wanted to make better use of the property, maybe do some "homesteading." So after getting the laying hens, and TSC started chick days... getting meaties just seemed like the next step.