Meaties not really huge

[Sami]

HI there
This is my first time raising meaties so a bit of a learning curve. I have 16 and have been fortunate not to have lost any even though we have gone through snow and tons of rain and hot temps to frost temps again since April. I fill their food bin up in the morning and give them a bucket of grass and clover once a day. They are eight weeks next week and are not really huge....some weight in at 5lbs and they are really heatlhy though. They are housed in a 12x10 outdoor pen so they have ample room to walk.

My question is what should I be feeding them to plump them up more. I will have to stagger the processing dates which does not bother me as some are larger then the others. I don't like to refill their food bin in the evening as they have scattered a huge amount of food all around the pen and I thought that they would get exercise by pecking around...they definatley are not starving I don't mind going beyond the 8 week mark if i means that they are not having any heatlh issues. I did mix in some chopped corn but they did not like it at all and just tossed it around the coop. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[carolinagirl58]

that seems small. At that age, most of mine were pushing 10 pounds live weight and a few even dressed out at close to 10 pounds. Mine were Cornish rock x.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Protein builds strong bodies.
I only give a high protein flock grower - something in the neighborhood of 20-24 %. Adding corn will drop the protein significantly.
Once they are close to butcher weight I'll add some wheat or corn in cool weather or oats in hot weather to slow them down.

 

[carolinagirl58]

mine got game bird food for the first month to help build a stronger foundation. After that they were switched to regular organic grower food.

 

[ZooSD]

My first batch of CornishX I processed between 8-12wks. (The delay was due to unforeseen family circumstances). I start feeding mine fermented (with UP/ACV ) turkey starter from 5-8wks. It's 28% protein and really packs on the meat. My smallest at 8wks was 6lb, the largest at 12wks was 10.5lbs those are dressed weights, live they were between 8.5 and 13lbs.

 

[Sami]

hmmm...my chicken grower is only between 18-20% protien. I just looked at TSC and they have a turkey finisher that is at 22% protien. Should i buy bag of that to mix or should i put two feed bins out and let them go to town eating? I would like some plump chickens Should I try to get some wheat?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wouldn't give them a choice. Since they're small and you want to fire them up I'd just feed the highest protein feed you can find and hold off on the grain (low protein) until you're ready to finish them.

 

[Sami]

okay thank you. I'll go pickup some turkey finisher as it is higher in protein

 

[Sami]

okay i have another question. When you feed your meaties in the morning are they runnign around "starving". I've read links saying that they usually swarm for the food. Mine don't do this. they all run to the refreshed watering dishes and do come around the feeder but there is no stampeed. Some even walked away and plunked there butts down to have a snooze will others when to play in the muddle puddle. Do they not like my food?

 

[LovedMyAlydar]

LOL. That is funny. I had to laugh. Mine are just a mishmash of chickens from TSC and ones I have picked up at swap meets. Not a "meat bird" in the bunch and they go bonkers in the morning for their food. Seriously, it's like a mad rush to eat and they are well fed with free ranging, feeders and the occasional treats in the afternoons. They seem to worry about water after pigging out.