Meattie order from Central Hatchery ... great price

[Swampfarmer]

Swamp, I got my order from Central and I had 4 extra also!

Two of them look to be RIR cockerels but the other two extra are CX. They've had their first meal of warm buttermilk/starter mash, have learned the nipple waterer without any training on my part and are now drunk on food and warmth. Some are still out in the cool area trying to pick up some of the BOSS I scattered there for entertainment and forage training.

Can't wait to see this batch grow!

Good luck! Let us know how they progress. I'm very happy with them so far.

Ralph

 

[SIMZ]

Ok- I'm on day seven of dealing with water spills and cleaning waterers (all day!). I'm really interested in this nipple waterer thing. Can you direct me to any info or good links?

My Central babies are doing great and growing well! I had 4 extra as well! This is my first time raising 50......I'm a little nervous about it.

 

[Beekissed]

Let me find the link to a good pricing on the nipples:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Chicken-D...121?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1a4a72e1

They are amazingly easy to install into buckets, PVC pipe, etc. There is no dripping, that I can see, even when the chicks are accessing the nipples...all the drips seem to go into their little mouths!

I placed a little silicone caulk around them after screwing them into the bucket just to make sure. I'll never go back to open waterers after seeing just how nice these nipples are and I regret that I hadn't tried them sooner.

I was amazed at how quickly they discovered the water source! One of the very first chicks to walk under the waterer looked up, pecked at the nipple(they are red for this purpose), got a drink and kept on drinking. Other chicks saw it happen and ran over to try the same game...it was fun to watch.

 

[SIMZ]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Buster52]

I'm going to subscribe to this thread. I've heard conflicting reports about the "meaties" from Central, some reporting that they aren't really Cornish Cross. I will be interested in your results.

 

[Swampfarmer]

Interesting, I'll let you know how they work out for me. This is my second batch of 100. The first batch did not come from Central, but I was extremely happy with them. So far, my birds are three weeks old. They look identical to my first batch but they are bigger and growing faster than the first batch. When I received this batch of chicks, they seemed a bit smaller than my first batch, so I had a bit of doubt initially. Given their current growth, I don't think I have anything to worry about. I also lost a few chicks on my first batch. I haven't lost any with this order.

Ralph

I'm going to subscribe to this thread. I've heard conflicting reports about the "meaties" from Central, some reporting that they aren't really Cornish Cross. I will be interested in your results.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm going to subscribe to this thread. I've heard conflicting reports about the "meaties" from Central, some reporting that they aren't really Cornish Cross. I will be interested in your results.

To be honest, they look a little on the small side to be CX chicks and their legs are much more slender than my last batch of meaty chicks. I'll be mighty disturbed if they turn out to be just white birds and not CX. But then, the CX at TSC looked exactly the same way...too small, too slender to be CX in my thinking but only time will tell with these.

 

[Swampfarmer]

Here are mine at 2 days and also at 2 weeks

 

[Beekissed]

Look like CX to me! Great looking, clean and happy CX, at that.....look to be putting on weight well.

 

[Swampfarmer]

They are three weeks old now, but I haven't taken a picture this week. I'll get one tomorrow. They are much bigger, only a week later. 104 birds have eaten about 450 pounds of feed in three weeks. Only Cornish Cross can do that. At three weeks, the legs on these birds are almost as big as my 5 month old Leghorns. They are now moving with the Cornish waddle.

Ralph