New to meat birds

[Betsy57]

Why not give them a big serving in the am and a small one at bedtime.?

I have a heat lamp but also a brinsea brooder/heater. I don't like it cuz I can't see the chicks cuz they get under it for their warmth. So I guess I will do as you indicate and limit food. Most printed stuff says food 12 on and 12 off but I read here where people just give them food maybe 3 times a day and let them eat 10 minutes or so at a time. Or I read where someone just gave them a limited amount of food in the morning and then that's all they get. Since I work long days, I'll just have to get them a limited amount in the morning and maybe some again at night when I get home. We'll see how that goes. And then when I move them outside, they can have natural light plus a night light over night. How's that sound? And 2 weeks of medicated chick starter and then meat bird crumbles?

Why not give them a big serving in the am and a small one at bedtime.?

Probably will do that.

 

[petrel]

I've got 30 "white broilers" on order from Meyer. They should arrive around October 9th. This is my first attempt at meat birds, so I've made arrangements for two re-homing sites if they are too much for me. I've also arranged for some slaughtering support as well. Our Farm and Garden center will have my favorite brand (Countryside) of organic feed on hand in starter and grower, when the time comes.

I plan to start them in a 4 X 8 brooder (I used it for my layers) and have started designing an 8 X 16 tractor. Meyer recommended that I move them to the tractor at around 3 weeks. Hopefully, they will be ready to go into the freezer in late November or early December. I hope they don't completely destroy my yard!

 

[Double Kindness]

I'm trying not to break down and get cornish x b/c I have 26 chicks I have on high 26% protein gamebird feed and grass/dandelions.

Buuuttt, even though they are growing fast, they aren't getting big fast enough.

If it runs true that girl chicks get their feathers in faster than roos on their breast and back/neck, then I have quite a few pullets. The br seem most social with me, the suspected slw are a bit flighty atm. And the hardest to wrangle into the coop at night.

I have a few doors I'm going to turn into a brooder box in the barn. I just need to find a screen door or something for the top (experimenting with black meat chickens of ayam cemani x orpington) and getting svart honas and white bresse for a sustainable meat/heritage project.

I need to get more deep freezers, the butcher just called. My 1/2 of a grass fed organic cow needs to be processed and I think it's not all gonna fit in my stand alone upright freezer. So it looks like I need to get another deep freezer & put it in the barn or the garage for the atm a total of 30 meatie chicks. Whhaat was I even thinking?

 

[petrel]

You were thinking about putting up safe, wholesome, sustainable, food for you and your family, much like many of us are. So you overshot the mark a little. Freezers are a good investment, so long as you don't live in an area prone to power outages.

I'm starting meat chickens with the Cornish X's or White Broilers as training. If I survive it, I want to spend some time working with more self sustaining varieties like you are.

 

[Double Kindness]

I tried finding cornish x or rangers and still can't find any locally. Which is why I ended up doing it like this, these were the chickens I found lol.

Around springtime the new chicks I'm just now starting to get will be laying fertile eggs/breeding, and I'll keep some back to keep a sustainable flock of meaties and cold hardy layers.

I'm very envious of those with cornish x & rangers that are growing so quickly, as I look at my slower growing dp chicks.

 

[petrel]

After I "practice" on the Cornish X this fall, I hope to start a dual purpose flock in the spring. Right now it looks like they will be Australorps. The folks at Meyer Hatchery recommended them and I've never read of a dissatisfied Australorp owner.

 

[Double Kindness]

Astralorps are very beautiful though I know nothing about them.

I do have some high hopes for these cemani x orpington chicks, bresse are shipping monday, svart honas in 2 weeks. My bf keeps saying no incubator, you don't need more chickens than what we have & have otw. Atm I have a total of 40 dp chickens!

It looks like a trip to the feed store is on the agenda this weekend. I need more feed lol. So many chickens eat a lot!!

 

[petrel]

Those are quite a few mouths to feed.

 

[Double Kindness]

No kidding! I spoke with my friend today I got my latest 5 teensy weensie chicks from the ayam cemani x orpington, and she has more *happy dance* but the one that I have that always had a hock issue is very far behind it's littermates.

It's still alive after 4 days, but idk wtd for it, it escaped it's hobbles several times a, day, so after today I will stop trying to fix it's hock.

It's 3x smaller than it's biggest littermate. I may be too softhearted, as I keep rooting it on to keep going and live, even if it is a runt. If it's a boy, it'll be good caponizing practice? If it's a girl, idk I guess headed to freezer camp. If it makes it through this weekend idk wtd, to take it back to my friend to have her pass it on? Try to put it with the new teensey weensies I'm probably picking up of more ayam cemani x orpington? 12 bresse are otw on Monday to me, 3 svart honas in 2 weeks (hoping for 5 maybe + the svart honas in my friends flock from the same breeder.

She said possibly she had 2 purebreed ayam cemani in this hatch. She's probably going to want to keep them but maybe some of her cemani from wolfwhyte not the Smithsonian ayam cemani, but the others he had/has, these are her cemani lines.

The itty-bitty peep peeps are all growing so fast!! Last night my bf was talking about adding the biggest hens to our laying flock. Sorry to have told him since these are on special high protein feed, they wouldn't be good candidates for moving in with our layers, as I was hoping to move some of these fm leaning ayam cemani x orpington chicks that are females to my layer flock.

 

[ccr chickens]

I want meat birds but I'm not liking the idea of them being genetically enhanced

I want healthy happy birds, what are my options?