New to Meet birds....

[cozycrestmom]

We have layers.. Which by the way, some are looking rather defunct! ! !

Okay, so we are getting 24 meeties... I think they are White Jumbo Cornish Cross... I am getting some mixed info... I went to a Poultry Seminar the other day with DH, They say 8 weeks til butcher,,, because after that, they grow too big and have health problems.. And then they said you can go up to 16 weeks... ugg I am a bit confused.. SO, we thought we would do half in 8 weeks then the rest 2 weeks later... I guess we will see when the time comes..

Also, do you let them out, and into their own run, or keep them tucked away in their side of the coop?

 

[PotterWatch]

The type of bird you have will determine when you should do the butchering. With cornish x, like you are getting, 6-10wks is the norm. We have some right now and will be processing females at 9wks and males at 11wks (ours are a slightly slower growing roaster compared to the super fast growing broiler). When we had colored broilers, they weren't ready for processing until closer to 16wks. I keep my meat birds in a tractor in the backyard. They eat different food than my layers and I don't want all their poop in the run with my laying hens. Here is a picture of the very basic tractor that we use:

 

[cozycrestmom]

Wow,, Love the pic and the advice... That sounds like it will fit right in to what We were expecting..
We already have an area for them...However,, it's all inside, But if we let them out in the run, we will have to section it off because our layers have it all,, Plus I don't want to mix the two together in any way..
Thanks again...
Stef

 

[nelgkel]

Quote:
Hey there! I like your tractor, I am new to meaties and have been researching as much as possible before I go out and get them. How do you keep your birds safe at night?? Do they stay in the tractor or do you put them in a dog crate to keep them away from predators.
I recognize your house from the easy garden site...saved your pic of the rain gutter planters..That was AWESOME!!!
looking forward to reading more about meaties.. have lots of pvc already..and some hardware cloth, so I am halfway there..

what is a colored broiler??

Thanks...

 

[PotterWatch]

Our meat birds stay in that tractor at all times. It is inside our fenced backyard so we don't have to worry about dogs digging under (except our own dogs who wear electronic collars that keep them from getting too close to the tractor). The tractor is too heavy for a dog to lift it and get under so the only thing we would have to worry about if it weren't in our backyard would be coyotes or other creatures that can dig. We would put a hardware cloth skirt on it if we needed to keep out digging predators.

Colored broilers means a meat bird that is slower-growing and generally some color other than white. They are more likely to forage and are about half the size of a cornish broiler at 9wks old. They don't have the same health problems as cornish x, and some people prefer them over the very fast growing cornish x. I have grown both and so far, I prefer the cornish roaster from McMurray. They aren't quite as fast growing as the cornish broilers so I don't have to worry about feed restriction as much but they should still give me a great table bird at around 10wks. With the colored broilers, I ended up having to butcher the males at around 12-13wks as they were crowing a ton and I am not allowed roosters on my property. They were skinny and not ready for processing at that age. I processed the females around 16-17wks and they were a good sized bird.

Thanks for the comment about the rain gutters. I can't wait to see how things look once the lettuce is growing!

 

[Urban Chaos]

PotterWatch, what size is that tractor and how many meaties do you keep in it? I've got an area near my layers coop that I think I can fit a 5x8 tractor on. I love how yours is put together, I'm considering coping it

 

[PotterWatch]

That tractor is 4x8. I will be putting 25 in it for my next batch and that would be the most I would be comfortable with.

 

[snowdayzed]

Thank you for posting the PVC coop pic. Why do you call it a tractor, because you can move it around the yard? We have 35 meaties from MacMurray coming in 3 days and I need to get ready for them. Do they need a warming light like the regular chicks? Do I feed them regular baby chick food?

I think I clicked SUBMIT MY ORDER a bit impulsively when I was ordering. LOL!

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Wife, Mother of 14. 2 dogs, 1 cat, 30 fish, 25 chickens (so far) buff orp, slvr-laced wyandott, red star, slvr leghorn, sicilian buttercup, delaware, black Jersey giant, buff plymouth rock, Hew Hamp red, and RI red.