Meattie order from Central Hatchery ... great price

[Beekissed]

What are you feeding, Swamp?

 

[Swampfarmer]

Nutrena Meatbird from start to finish

http://nutrenaworld.com/nutrena/products/poultry/naturewise-poultry/naturewise-meatbird/index.jsp

 

[Beekissed]

I was looking at the poops there in the bedding and they look to be quite normal in color and form and you had mentioned less smell...that is wonderful! Are you feeding free choice 24/7 or do you have a schedule?

 

[Swampfarmer]

24/7 until 3 weeks old. Starting tonight they are 12 on 12 off.

Ralph

 

[Swampfarmer]

Three week old photo added to the bottom.

Here are mine at 2 days and also at 2 weeks

Three weeks old

 

[Beekissed]

Wow! What a difference a week can make, huh?

Those are some big ol' piles of meat coming along there! What finishing weights do you normally have on your birds?

 

[Swampfarmer]

Dressed weight 5.5 to 6.5 pounds not including giblets.

Wow! What a difference a week can make, huh?

Those are some big ol' piles of meat coming along there! What finishing weights do you normally have on your birds?

 

[Beekissed]

That seems to be the norm, doesn't it? Mine dressed out almost exactly the same weights except mine were done at 11 wks, though I must say they didn't gain any additional weight/size past their 8th wk. I just didn't have time to butcher them at 8 wks... and I also was waiting a little extra time to see if they would/could get even bigger. They didn't, so we ended that experiment.

Funny thing was that mine were only fed once a day on layer ration and whole grains and they free ranged with my layer flock and they still finished out the same weights as those raised in a more traditional way for CX. Wonder how that can happen? Do you think they are just sort of programmed to gain a certain weight by a certain age no matter how you raise or feed them?

 

[Swampfarmer]

That was the weight of my last batch at 8 weeks. This batch seems to be putting on weight faster. We'll see if that continues. Maybe I will process them earlier or maybe they will weigh more at 8 weeks. I'll let you know.

I've seen charts that plot weight gain vs. feed intake. Apparently, the efficiency decreases after 6 weeks. This is why most commercial growers process them at 6 weeks. The broilers I see in the grocery store are typically smaller than my birds.

Ralph

 

[Beekissed]

I noticed that as well...guess it is more cost efficient for the producer that way. I had the hardest time trying to fit mine into ziploc bags and most of them wouldn't~it was ridiculous~ so this time I'm getting the vacuum bags.