My Cornish Rocks this morning.

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I just wanted to show off my now nearly 5 week old Cornish Rocks (5 weeks tomorrow). I have been taking extremely good care of them and I think it shows! My husband went out to help me muck out the brooder house this morning and he said "Those are some clean meatbirds! You should bring in a couple and take pictures of them to show the people on BYC." So I did

I picked a Roo and Pullet. Since I am now raising these for an income I am very proud of them.
I wanted to show that not all Cornish X are ugly, filthy, and featherless. In one picture you will clearly see that my pullet has a fuzzy butt! They certainly have areas with little feathers but they are far from half bald!
There are also a couple of pictures of the whole group.

Roo and Pullet

Pullet

Pullets Fuzzy Butt!

Another Butt Picture

Pullet with Lemon for size comparison

Roo

Napping...

Some of the others:

 

[farmerlor]

LOL! Yep, they look like mine though mine are about a week behind yours so just a little more bald. Those are some good looking meat birds sure enough. How many do you have and how are you going to process them all? Just curious. I'm trying to get husband interested in making a plucking machine but so far it's a no go and I'm dreading the job of processing our 30 Cornish.

 

[vortec]

How do you feed yours? Are they continuously fed or do you take them off the feed for a period of time. They do look great by the way!

vortec

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I have 42 right now but I've got 100 more coming.
I use a processor.

Compared to the first batch I ever raised these look 1000 times better. When I first started I had no idea how much care they needed, I just treated them like regular chickens. Now I know better and I spend over an hour a day caring for them.
My first ones had all poo stuck to their bellies and their feathers were never white, and they had no where near this many feathers, I could never keep them clean and I was starting to hate them like alot of people do. Then I did a second batch and I changed the whole way I did things and gained alot of experience. Now I have a system, and my birds are immaculate color wise, and they never have crud stuck on them or anything.

I just remember thinking after the first batch I did that I was eating the skin on the roaster, that had been laying in poo and mud and muck for 8 weeks

Never will I keep them like that again.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

I feed for the first week 24/7, and then change to 12 hours on and 12 hours off.

 

[vortec]

Quote:
I was not aware that you had to do 12 hour feeding with this breed until they were around 5 weeks and one was dead. Oh well, I am over the loss and am that much smarter now so I will do it the right way in the future.

vortec

 

[dbjay417]

I miss New England thoroughly. I love the Pine Burrow Farms page btw. When the page first mentioned the age of the house I immediately thought "Haunted", and then you mentioned that there were rumors that it was and I couldn't help but have a chuckle.

I'm curious as to what your rigorous maintenance consists of, because I plan on processing the birds for my own consumption, and like you, would be repulsed by the thought of eating a bird that spent its life covered in feces.

I dont think i'd be able to sell meat birds for profit here, as i would not be able to beat the supermarkets price, and things like, free range, and organic, and cruelty free are largely meaningless to the populace here. Cock fighting is still legal and is indeed a favored hobby among men of all ages. So those labels do not justify a higher price tag for the people here.

Rabbit meat however is quite the hot seller, and profitable as all get out. So thats what i'm doing in terms of raising livestock for profit. Oh also chicken eggs have proven somewhat lucrative. The neighbors pay for the feed via sales, and me and mine eat for free, so thats a decent gig. Also i sell chicks to the farm store on occasion. but this is all so off topic.

 

[chicklips]

About how much do they weight right now, I just started my cornish X they are three days old today. Alot of people think badly of the cornish X, thanks for being one of those that enjoys them.

 

[Want2BFarmer]

Quote:
Thats the truth....I am almost 2 weeks into my first batch and from reading every post on this site about them I knew what to expect. They sink after a while so I moved them to the shed and they are doing great. I am still amazed by how much they eat and drink. I have 20 and they are going through about 10 cups of food a day and growing.

I kinda miss when they where young last week. I would watch tv and hold 3 or 4 with me. Now they have moved out....Oh they grow up so fast

 

[walls0stone]

I have 26. lost 2. But no biggy. Only an hour a day?

I grew up farming so it's no biggy to clean the cage ect. I'm building a plucker. I plan to do this again and put them on a hillside with grass and shelter.