My Cornish X experiment

[Double Kindness]

Wow Ralphie, you have got to be exhausted! Great job though!! Wow, 7.5 lbs dressed is a huge chicken in my eyes. I can't even really imagine.

I got 6 muscovy ducks a couple days ago. I think it might end up being my "fast" meatie bird. My dp meaties are still so small.. hurry up and get big enough for freezer camp already.

How do I get ducks to go roost or just go into the coop? I'm tired of chasing them... so I left them huddled under the coop which is enclosed in a double enclosed run. My bf saw keets when we got the ducks and said we should get some, but idk with the way you describe it...

 

[KCMOLisa]

Double Kindness - I think you said you live in a pretty populated area if I remember. You do not want guineas if that's the case. They are loud, loud, loud! I don't have any, but my closest neighbor is a half a mile away and I can hear his guineas all the time.

Awesome job on the processing day, Ralphie! Your CX was huge! I know you free ranged yours and didn't feed them a ton. How much feed did you end up going through?

I'm planning to do all mine when they get about 5 1/2 pounds live. It's looking like that day is coming sooner than I expected. A couple of mine were 3 1/2 pounds when I weighed some randomly. I keep thinking I have plenty of time still, but then I realized they will be 5 weeks old tomorrow. I think they'll probably hit 5 1/2 pounds around 7 weeks old.

 

[Double Kindness]

Yeah, I'm trying to not make my neighbors mad at me lol. The crowing here really isn't bad at all. Lenny lets out a few in the morning, the slw does it too in the morning for a few minutes then stops his pathetic strangled ERRRKKK sound.

Caponizing equipment cleared Chinese customs, it really can't get here soon enough. My bf was saying maybe I can't get cx in the spring b/c I'm getting my other rare breed chickens and my ducks will start hatching eggs then too. It looks like my laying flocks days are getting shorter, as soon as they start to slow down, I have 10 more pullets that will start to lay me eggs in the spring and out of 9 in my laying flock, 2 are destined for freezer camp very soon.

I might do 50 cx in the spring though while the rare breed chicks grow out, the cx will be "done" by the time the others will be ready to move outside. I might get cx in early march.

 

[duluthralphie]

DoubleKindness, Crowing is peaceful and enjoyable to me. I have 15 Guineas they are noisy making racket all day long! They are the noisiest animal I have ever owned.

They NEVER shut up. When they get excited it gets louder. Each bird seems to be trying to out shout the other one. If you remember the old Tarzen movies and the monkeys and apes in the trees, remember how loud they got?

Double that and you have guinea fowl!

However, they are constantly alert. Yesterday they gave their screams when a couple crows flew over, within a minute every bird I had was undercover. A friend stopped by yesterday morning, he asked how I could stand all that noise... Neighbors and Guinea fowl do not mix well!


Unless you have a passive aggressive relationship with said neighbors.

 

[Double Kindness]

I like my neighbors, they donated supplies to build my last enclosed run for my dp meaties... I don't want them mad at me. They have even taken care of my chickens for us when we went on our yearly camping trip and think they're very cool!

Out of respect for my neighbors being so great with me having chickens, I'd like to make sure they don't get worn out by the noises coming from my property. No keets it is then!!

I'm on the fence between a&m or cortunix quails for spring. I really am enjoying raising my own meat/eggs and learning valuable skills on building things and taking care of a variety of critters. I can only imagine how badly things could have gone if I didn't start out now like this and waited to move off the grid to learn these things!

 

[LindaB220]

Wow Ralphie, you have got to be exhausted! Great job though!! Wow, 7.5 lbs dressed is a huge chicken in my eyes. I can't even really imagine.

I got 6 muscovy ducks a couple days ago. I think it might end up being my "fast" meatie bird. My dp meaties are still so small.. hurry up and get big enough for freezer camp already.

How do I get ducks to go roost or just go into the coop? I'm tired of chasing them... so I left them huddled under the coop which is enclosed in a double enclosed run. My bf saw keets when we got the ducks and said we should get some, but idk with the way you describe it...

I don't know it ducks roost or not. But you need to keep them penned up for several days and feed mainly in the evening so you can pen them up at feed time A lot of people use the tops of the large plastic dog cages so they are covered but have an opening to get in. Inside the run. I saw somebody on youtube put a large plastic blue 55 gallon drum, cut in half top to bottom to get 2 areas for them with bedding put inside. You could build a small enclosed area with something like that and a small door to open in the morning. Look for yard sales for plastic dog cages. They look like BIG kitty litter boxes. I have a 4 x 6' dog kennel that I made into a tiny coop. 24 sq ft. I'm thinking of putting one of those into it along with 15 ducks and let them out in the daytime in a small run. And keep a couple of pullets and cockerels for breeding later. I'm so excited for the upcoming year. It's seems that we all are on a roll for great things, right?

 

[hennible]

@Double KindnessDucks don't roost. You can round them up easier if you have a long stick to extend your arms to lead them around... Ducks are weird. Hit the duck thread if you haven't yet.

 

[Double Kindness]

Whoops I should have been more specific, I got 6 muscovy ducks this, past weekend... I read they do roost? They had a little duck hutch made from a plastic blue barrel with a hole cut out with goat fencing enclosure and 18 of them.

The coop where they're at has a wide drawbridge for the entrance, they seem to prefer it outside, so I lock the interior enclosed run door, there is a bigger enclosed raised run from that attached to my raised garden bed.

The ducks were closed up in the interior run today when the dp meaties escaped and all 25 of them went to different areas of my property, but the majority of my time was spent chasing the same 5 ones all over the place like some slapstick comedy bit... I heard my neighbors laughing at me while I did it.

I fear my dp meaties will drown in the Rubbermaid tote I have in the interior enclosed run, and they don't want to drink clean water from their nipple waterer, and the muscovies get the water pan absolutely gross.

I have been feeding them at night when the meaties are locked up, they seem to be adjusting well. Muscovy duck poop is very different smelling than chicken poop even on the same diet... I didn't know that. I'm thinking, we might need to move these ducks to their own duck area, my meatie pen is mostly mud now, after only 3.5 days of having muscovy ducks.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving, I'm making a duck and a chicken I raised and a ham, next year will be even better.

Ralphie- or anyone, how long does it take to get a turkey to get big enough for thanksgiving dinner from hatching? I'm definitely on the fence about adding a few turkeys in the spring. Tur-duc-en. Lol

 

[duluthralphie]

Doubleindness I have heritage breed turkeys, they are much slower growing than a broad breasted turkey. They also have a higher proportion of dark to light meat.

Those of mine slated to be guests of honor for thanksgiving were hatched in early May. I am hoping they will be big enough.

 

[Double Kindness]

Ralphie- so 7 months to raise a heritage turkey for thanksgiving? I too am a fan of dark meat.

How many turkeys need to be together? In June I tear down my indoor greenhouse and open my barn up, so they could very well hang out in the bunny rabbit area and go into the barn at night.. is that kinda what you do sans the rabbitry?

Turducken sounds very appealing no?

I'm starting to get very emotional when I think of freezer camp day. I'm going to see my dr later this month to get a xanax refill. And bring him eggs and home made gingerbread when I go for my annual checkup, and tell him that I'm a farm girl now raising 60 birds.

One thing I did note that you might be interested in ralphie as a fan of dark meat, I have 4 ayam cemani x mottled orpington chicks, that have pink skin, but looks like darker meat under the skin. I will take pictures when I process them and maybe that's a better bird for your tastes than cx? Ayam cemani are fibromelanistic chickens, so black/gray meat, it's supposed to be gamey tasting and have anthrotyacins and antioxidants that are good for us not so youthful people..