How big is the coop/run they are in?
My Experience with Cornish X
- Thread starter CommonRookie
- Start date
You might want to try a hoop house next time. You drag the hoop to fresh pasture as needed - when the meaties are close to full grown that once a day for me.
This is a picture of mine with the brooder setup inside. Cattle panels give it strength.
Theres lots of info / plans join BYC for hoop houses.
Last edited:
MichaelZ13
In the Brooder
I have a 6' x 12' tractor for 12 chickens. They are enclosed in a 6'x6' secure section at night. This seems about right,with daily moving of the tractor. The birds are staying clean and healthy. So 3 square ft per bird at night and 6 square ft per bird during the day.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #34
CommonRookie
In the Brooder
The chicken yard is about 800 square feet. 25 x 30 or so.
- Thread starter
- #35
CommonRookie
In the Brooder
I've heard a lot about using tractors and they seem like the most efficient solution to a lot of problems. I may build one on my next batch but I had the chicken yard fenced for previous birds already so there was no additional work or money to get it ready for meaties. If I have other birds in this enclosure I'll probably use a tractor but I do enjoy letting them roam in the current chicken yard. Netting looks like it's going to run about $75 to eliminate the hawk problem.
- Thread starter
- #36
CommonRookie
In the Brooder
Update: The hawk problem has subsided and I haven't lost a bird in many days. The birds are now seven and eight weeks old and a couple were ready for a practice run under the knife over the weekend. We butchered a rooster that was 6.2 lbs live weight and yielded a 4.2 lb roaster. We learned a lot.
We used a milk jug for a kill cone which worked great until it pulled through the screw when the bird started to kick sending a bloody kicking rooster rolling around my wife's feet. I'll use a washer next time to keep the jug from pulling through the screw.
We wanted to try dry plucking for kicks. I ripped the skin by pulling against the grain on my first pull. The rest of the job took about 15 minutes and I could have kept going. So, dry plucking ain't my thing. We'll definitely put up with the smell and scald the birds.
Gutting was simple and the only slight surprise i had was trying to navigate the removal of the crop which requires me to revisit some chicken processing videos. I'm sure there is a simple way to dig that out.
The bird went into an ice bath where is cooled for a couple hours. I then decided to soak in a brine overnight. We found tons of contradictory information about resting and brining the birds so we're going to cook this one tonight and see if we're happy with the results. This will be after 48 hours at about 38 degrees.
I'll do my best to post info here after we butcher so I can let people know what worked for us and any advice is much appreciated as i prepare to butcher the rest this saturday.
Cheers,
We used a milk jug for a kill cone which worked great until it pulled through the screw when the bird started to kick sending a bloody kicking rooster rolling around my wife's feet. I'll use a washer next time to keep the jug from pulling through the screw.
We wanted to try dry plucking for kicks. I ripped the skin by pulling against the grain on my first pull. The rest of the job took about 15 minutes and I could have kept going. So, dry plucking ain't my thing. We'll definitely put up with the smell and scald the birds.
Gutting was simple and the only slight surprise i had was trying to navigate the removal of the crop which requires me to revisit some chicken processing videos. I'm sure there is a simple way to dig that out.
The bird went into an ice bath where is cooled for a couple hours. I then decided to soak in a brine overnight. We found tons of contradictory information about resting and brining the birds so we're going to cook this one tonight and see if we're happy with the results. This will be after 48 hours at about 38 degrees.
I'll do my best to post info here after we butcher so I can let people know what worked for us and any advice is much appreciated as i prepare to butcher the rest this saturday.
Cheers,
- Thread starter
- #37
CommonRookie
In the Brooder
The first bird went on the table today and it was delicious. I did notice a slight difference in the texture of the breast meat from store bought. As others have described, it's a touch firmer. Preparing the bird for the grill I saw no signs of stiffness or rigor. I don't feel the brine was necessary and will plan to skip this step moving forward. I may brine before cooking as needed but don't plan to do this with 40 birds at once.
The plan for Saturday will be to take the birds through packaging but we'll let them continue to rest in coolers with ice for 24 hours before moving them into the freezer in batches over the next 36 hours.
The plan for Saturday will be to take the birds through packaging but we'll let them continue to rest in coolers with ice for 24 hours before moving them into the freezer in batches over the next 36 hours.
Just moved my 23 birds into their tractor, they love the grass and fresh air. Seem to be doing real well outside. I am going to try the 12 on 22 off food method, has this works for any of you guys ?
- Thread starter
- #40
CommonRookie
In the Brooder
Alright so here is our story from start to finish for those who might find the information helpfull. This isn't a guide, it's just how i did it on my first run along with a breakdown of costs and the results.
We raised 50 birds.
Weeks 0-2 the birds were fed medicated chick starter by dumor bought at tractor supply for $22/bag.
After 2 bags of chick starter we moved them to a locally milled feed that is 18% protein and sold for just $11/bag. (I was worried about the lower protein content but a local guy recommended it and I thought we'd give it a try.)
The birds were turned out to pasture (chicken yard) as soon as they couldn't fit through my 2x4 woven wire fence and left on the 18% feed 24/7 for the duration of the grow. We tried a brief stint of 12/12 but I decided to move back to 27/7. I'll feed 24/7 moving forward. Perhaps the lower protein feed slowed growth just enough to avoid problems.
Around week 5 we started have a red tail hawk problem. I installed copious amounts of heavy test fishing line, built scarecrows, checked the coop constantly but none of this made a difference. The hawk would plunge through the line and was not deterred. We lost over a dozen birds to hawks who would eviscerate the chicken, eat the heads and usually leave the rest untouched. We actually ate a couple of hawk kills as the meat was untouched most of the time. We lost about a bird a day for 2 weeks and then the hawk went away. We never solved the problem but will install netting for our next batch of birds.
The first birds broke the 6 lb mark at week 7. We weighed them frequently to monitor growth. In general, my pastured birds on 18% feed were about 1 week behind the Cornish x growth chart. I attribute this to lower protein feed and the extreme heat we had this summer which left my birds panting and lounging in the shade for 10 hours per day.
We had no losses, other than hawks, after 2 weeks and ended up with 36 birds total. Most of our losses were hawks.
The birds went through 2 bags of medicated chick starter at $20/bag and 10 bags of unmediated 18% protein feed at $11/bag.
The feed bill totaled $150 which is extremely low considering they has access to feed 24/7. It's hard to put a per bird average since we lost several at weeks 5 and 6 but in the end we got 36 birds so the feed came in at 4.17/bird and would have been 3.10/bird without the dang hawks.
I am a huge proponent of cheap feed after this experience. I see no reason to buy top brand feed with higher protein content at this point. I'm not selling by the pound and a chicken, is a chicken for my family so any lost growth is inconsequential for me.
Feeding and watering supplies came to $90.
3-gallon waterer for the brooder $20
two 14 lb circular hanging feeders $15 each
a trough feeder $10 (this sucked, i wouldn't buy again)
gravity waterer with a recycled 50 gal barrel, some PVC and chicken nipples. $30
Total input cost to raise them (excluding enclosure): $240
Next post will cover butchering.
We raised 50 birds.
Weeks 0-2 the birds were fed medicated chick starter by dumor bought at tractor supply for $22/bag.
After 2 bags of chick starter we moved them to a locally milled feed that is 18% protein and sold for just $11/bag. (I was worried about the lower protein content but a local guy recommended it and I thought we'd give it a try.)
The birds were turned out to pasture (chicken yard) as soon as they couldn't fit through my 2x4 woven wire fence and left on the 18% feed 24/7 for the duration of the grow. We tried a brief stint of 12/12 but I decided to move back to 27/7. I'll feed 24/7 moving forward. Perhaps the lower protein feed slowed growth just enough to avoid problems.
Around week 5 we started have a red tail hawk problem. I installed copious amounts of heavy test fishing line, built scarecrows, checked the coop constantly but none of this made a difference. The hawk would plunge through the line and was not deterred. We lost over a dozen birds to hawks who would eviscerate the chicken, eat the heads and usually leave the rest untouched. We actually ate a couple of hawk kills as the meat was untouched most of the time. We lost about a bird a day for 2 weeks and then the hawk went away. We never solved the problem but will install netting for our next batch of birds.
The first birds broke the 6 lb mark at week 7. We weighed them frequently to monitor growth. In general, my pastured birds on 18% feed were about 1 week behind the Cornish x growth chart. I attribute this to lower protein feed and the extreme heat we had this summer which left my birds panting and lounging in the shade for 10 hours per day.
We had no losses, other than hawks, after 2 weeks and ended up with 36 birds total. Most of our losses were hawks.
The birds went through 2 bags of medicated chick starter at $20/bag and 10 bags of unmediated 18% protein feed at $11/bag.
The feed bill totaled $150 which is extremely low considering they has access to feed 24/7. It's hard to put a per bird average since we lost several at weeks 5 and 6 but in the end we got 36 birds so the feed came in at 4.17/bird and would have been 3.10/bird without the dang hawks.
I am a huge proponent of cheap feed after this experience. I see no reason to buy top brand feed with higher protein content at this point. I'm not selling by the pound and a chicken, is a chicken for my family so any lost growth is inconsequential for me.
Feeding and watering supplies came to $90.
3-gallon waterer for the brooder $20
two 14 lb circular hanging feeders $15 each
a trough feeder $10 (this sucked, i wouldn't buy again)
gravity waterer with a recycled 50 gal barrel, some PVC and chicken nipples. $30
Total input cost to raise them (excluding enclosure): $240
Next post will cover butchering.
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