my cornish x's from ideal

[NewChickenMom]

here are the eatin birds!! they're 2 weeks old and i've only lost one so far!! i've been feeding them 3-4 times a day in a 12 hour period, then 12 hours without food. i'm feeding an unmedicated meatbird feed. i have 13 of them, is this normal eating? each time i feed them its a full pound of feed. this is my first time with mear birds, any advice?

here's them when i first got them

and today

yes, i have two crested pekin ducklings in with them, they don't fit anywhere else

 

[DouglasPeeps]

I hope someone else will come on and give you advice, but what I do know is that they should have feed 24/7 for the first couple of weeks, then just take the feed away at night. You might want to do a search on this as many others are doing meat birds.

 

[Red Tie]

Mine are three weeks old today. They are nearly fully feathered and weigh in at just under two lbs average. I fed mine 24/7 right up until this past weekend. Now I take away their food from 11 am to 8 pm during the hottest part of the day. Mine eat Purina Broiler Show Chow. I have 11 and they eat about 3 lbs or so of food, possibly more I will have to weigh it tonight. They are actually nice birds, docile and friendly. I got mine from Meyer during their "special" a few weeks ago. I also bought the vitamin and electrolyte packages Meyer recommends for their chicks. By the way, all of mine are walking and today they got to go out and play in the grass for the first time! It is their birthday after all.....

jane

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Mine came on June 4th or 5th I can't remember which and so they are almost a month old and weight about a pound each.. I thought that was good, now I'm starting to worry that aren't growing well... I've been giving them tons of food all day long but let them run out ad go without during the night. Maybe I should start feeding them at night or adding some scratch or something...

I have 25 and haven't lost a single one

I also have 4 turkeys with them (I just got 3 white turkey poults dumped on me by a neighbor).

 

[Red Tie]

Scratch doesn't have the nutrients needed for broiler growth. What are you feeding them now? What is the protein content? Be careful with the turkeys, they need even higher protein to avoid leg problems. Turkey starter is 26 percent.

jane

 

[cjeanean]

I don't know if that's normal feed intake or not, I've had mine for about 5 weeks now and they're only at like 4 pounds apiece...This is the first time I've done it, so I don't know. I did end up asking Miss Prissy about it, since she's the ruler of BYC on livestock info, so u might try doing the same. Or just wait to see if she notices this thread and replies to your question. Good luck!!!

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

They are eating Poulin Chick Starter and they do have acsess to Turkey Starter as well since I have them in the same brooder.
I don't have acsess to broiler feed, I've called around everywhere in three different states. Anything I can do?!

 

[DouglasPeeps]

Here is the thread from MissPrissy. It is very informative and should answer most of the questions about meat birds.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=27940

 

[blue90292]

at 4 weeks, they should be at least 3 maybe 4 pounds. at 4 weeks, cornish should be big enough to process as a cornish hen. if you have turkeys with your cornish, feed them straight turkey feed. the extra protein will be good for the cornish and the turkey, if fed less than 22% protein will weaken and start having leg problems or just failure to thrive.

and for the first 3 weeks, don't take the food away from the chicks. when they get older, if you feel they may need to lose a little weight, i would take the feed away. each area and each person raises their birds differently so you'll definitely have a learning curve to go through with the cornish cross and what works for you and your birds.

 

[chicken mamma]

I fed mine chick starter at 24% protein I also give them broiler booster in they're water. We're down to one and we will have to butcher any day or I'm worried we'll go out there and find a dead chicken. its right at 10 weeks and that thing is HUGE. We leave feed out 24/7 as for the heat...it hates it. DF makes a pool of water in the dirt for them to mud bathe in. It loves that, and keeps it cool, dirty but cool