My first meat birds

[emsevers]

I ordered my first meat birds from a local hatchery. I am going to pick up 10 Cornish X's on Tuesday. Are there any recommendations on what to feed them. I've never had meat birds before and I want to do this in the most economical way possible. Also with housing, I'm thinking of just using a pen I have out in the yard. It's covered so they wouldn't be rained on or anything but it doesn't have all the roosts and boxes that my laying hens have. Will that work?

 

[Chef]

Sure ...that sounds like it will work fine. They useually dont use the roosts anyways. They get to big and just plop on the ground. I would start them out on medicated grower crumbles for the first two weeks then go to an unmedicated grower crumble for the final process. They do make finisher feed as well but I dont use that. Just don't feed them the day before you slaughter. You should be really pleased with the results. Good luck!


Chef

 

[jaku]

Haha, you're going to get a ton of different answers on this one! Personally, I'd feed them unmedicated broiler feed. Just make sure you get some with at least 20% protein. I give it to them the whole 8 weeks. Definitely don't give them roosts, they're not good for broilers. Is your pen moveable? If not, be prepared to clean poo every day! If so, move it as much as you possibly can to keep them on fresh pasture.

 

[emsevers]

Thanks I'm really excited. Our neighbor lady used to raise birds so when it's time for slaughter she's going to come over and show us how it's done. I can't wait to have meat that I helped grow and know exactly what they've eaten and where they've been. It's going to be so great. I'm trying to grow all my own meat. I have a bunch of quail eggs coming and they are going to be used for meat and then I've been told the Muscovys make excellent meat so I'm going to get some of those too. The nice thing about the quail and the ducks is that I can keep breeding them. I can't do that with the chickens because I can't have roosters because I live in town. It makes me feel self sufficient to grow my own meat.

 

[Chef]

I feel the same way on being self sufficient. It's very satisfiying and rewarding!

Cheers

Chef

 

[emsevers]

So the poo is really that bad? It's not movable at all and we don't really have to space for a movable one. I think I am more inclined to use non medicated feed. I'm not sure of my reasons completely but it does make me feel a little more comfortable. How much fee do you think I will go through with 10 birds. I would just like to price it out a little bit.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
It's not THAT bad, unless you compare it to normal chickens- however, my experience is with a movable tractor. With a stationary pen, it's going to get bad. You'll want to be able to rake it out daily. How big is your pen? I put 25 birds in a 10x6 tractor, and if I only move it once a day, it gets gross and starts to damage the lawn. I use non-medicated feed because the medicated feed is far from a guarentee that your birds won't die, plus then your birds aren't all-natural, possibly containing traces of the medication. I couldn't tell you exactly how much feed you'll need, but I will suggest that you buy at a feed store instead of a place like TSC, and try to get the feed store mix, in bulk, rather than individual bags. Doing this, you will literally cut your feed costs in half.

 

[emsevers]

My pen is probably 10x6. I think it should be find for 10 birds. I'm not to concerned with the mess. It's good fertilizer right? I have a couple of local feed stores that I just discovered and I'm loving them. They are so much friendlier and more helpful. They also seem to know a whole lot more than other chain places. I don't think we have and TSC stores in our area unless I've just not heard of them before. Is that the name of the store of the type? I imagine it to be like a Wilco? If you even know what that is. I don't know if that's just in our are or not. Anyway, I like supporting local feed stores.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
Yup, it's good fertilizer- but pretty hot. Don't count on it fertilizing the area under your pen, that's for sure. But if you rake it out, and spread it, it will be great. I move my tractor a couple of times a day, and a few weeks a few weeks later, I see green patches starting to form all around my yard. TSC is Tractor Supply Co. It's a big chain where most of the employees don't know squat.

 

[emsevers]

I'm planning on having a real garden this year so I'm excited to see what happens with all me new fertilizer. I've planted in pots the last few years and have had bad luck so I'm going all out this year.