Meyer Broiler Special Grow-a-long?

[KeilFamilyFarm]

so i was just about to order, but the price went from $20 to $40 with shipping.. is that normal?!

 

[SIMZ]

I usually pay around $17-$20 for shipping whenever I order chicks. That's probably about right.

 

[wsmoak]

so i was just about to order, but the price went from $20 to $40 with shipping.. is that normal?!

Sounds about right based on your location. Shipping was $15 for me. I don't even look at the price per chick until I see the total, then I figure it out and decide whether it's worth it.

One of the other hatcheries kept adding things like a "small order fee" and really running the price up. I don't order from them.

For me the chicks were about $1.50 each, which I think is reasonable for a small quantity order.

Human psychology is so interesting... I bet if they would advertise $1.50 per chick and FREE SHIPPING, more people would click that order button, even though the total price is exactly the same.

-Wendy

 

[Celie]

Ideal has the red and black broilers on special this week if anyone is interested in them, same 25 min order and the price is $.90 per chick plus shipping.

 

[Celie]

Update ----1 week today 3.8 oz on average, not too bad since I got all females, again. This is the second time I ordered these meat birds from Meyers and both times I got all females! They are slow growers compared to the males have gotten elsewhere. I think I will bump up their feed from 18% to 22% and see if that helps. They are too messy to use wet food indoors, but it won't be long and I can put them in the barn. It has been in the 80's during the day here, but drops as low as 40's at night, so they are still too young. I could use a heater, if I had electric to the barn ! And fans in the summer ?hmmmm......maybe DH's next honey-do? I am still not through the 1st bag of feed, and am using it for the 60 or so layers being raised with the meaties. The layers are 2 to 3 weeks old now and the meaties 1 week. The meaties are starting to out size the layers, now and should be quite a bit larger than the layers by the time they go into the barn and then, once outside, they usually start growing as you watch. LOL The 3 cornishX 1 year old hens are in molt like most of the layers and haven't started laying again yet. They have been penned in the barn in a 10x10 dog kennel for a 10 days now, with the Cornish X rooster, so as soon as they start laying, I should be able to start AI experiment ! I bought Oats today and mixed grain to go with the 22% Turkey and Game bird grower and corn, plus a couple hand fulls of BOSS, so I am ready to start my FF. How long should it take to cook, at my present claimant conditions? For me, fall makes more sense for meat birds, because they can't take high heat and do better in the South in cooler weather. They give off a lot of body heat, so added to my other flocks of ducks and chickens, they should be comfortable with over 300 birds to keep them warm. Well, next report in one week, or less if anything new happens !

 

[wsmoak]

Update ----1 week today 3.8 oz on average, not too bad since I got all females, again.

How are you able to tell that they are females this early?

-Wendy

 

[Celie]

I turn them upside down in my hand, let them relax and then watch what they do with their legs. If they extend them, it's a male, if they pull them back toward their body, they are females. Also by the wing feathers running parallel to their flight feathers.

 

[lclough1998]

does this method work for all chickens by any chance? I have never heard of this.

 

[Celie]

I was shown this by an old timer chicken farmer. He actually said to pick the bird up by the head and let the legs dangle. If the legs stay down, it's a boy, if they are drawn up and held there, it's a girl. I told him I was looking for a way to tell with baby chicks, and he showed me this method. It has proven right for me for 4 years now. I also called Meyers the last time I ordered meaties because they told me the day old chicks I would be ordering would be straight run, and this method told me they were all females. Sure enough they told me they had shipped all females to me even though I had ordered straight run. Their paperwork they had confirmed this. They were surprised to hear that I know they were all female. They said you could not sex a bird like that. Of course they also said I could not keep a CornishXcross past a couple or three week either and I have a rooster and 3 hens in the barn right now that are a year old !

 

[SIMZ]

My Meyer chicks (not from the special, though) are doing pretty well. They are 4 weeks old and seem smaller than my other batches at this age, but it is probably because they're 3/4 female. It's been so cold and rainy here that it's been hard to get them outside, but the forecast looks great for this coming week. I'll post a picture of the cuties soon!