New to show chickens (FFA)- Meat

[izzymeliss]

Howdy! This is my first year showing chickens. I am very excited and nervous! I wanted to join this forum to get ideas, tricks, and tips to help raises my chickens. Does anyone have any raising suggestions? Thank you!!!!

 

[Acre4Me]

What is your timeline on your chickens? When do you show them?

Have you ever raised chickens or meat chickens before?

What general place do you live? Knowing general climate is helpful when giving advice.

 

[izzymeliss]

I will have my chickens for 6 weeks and will be showing in January.

I have never raised chickens or even meat chickens.

I live in the gulf coast area of Texas.

 

[Acre4Me]

Meat chickens drink a lot of water….lots and lots, so make sure they have plenty and you are checking it to make sure they don’t run out.

Do you show individual chickens or a pair? If a pair, they usually are required to match in the sense they are same size, etc. so you need more chickens to get the best pair.

Some may die as chicks, so buy more than you need/expect 1-2 to die. We usually have 1-2 (out of 16-24 meat chickens) to die.

Buy day olds that you can pick up in person and immediately give them food and water. I have read an article indicating meat chickens that are shipped/don’t eat feed until day 3, never quite catch up to ones fed more quickly. We drive to pick up ours, we bring them home and spend an hour inside getting them all out, checking them over, making them drink water*, dosing them with a drop of poultry vitamins**, and dropping feed crumbles for them to begin to eat. We watch them (a few at a time) for a few min to see if any issues like leg issues, or lethargic behavior. Once this is done they go to the brooder.

Meat chicks need heat, but they also need to be able to get away from it too. They seem to overheat much easier than a regular chick.

* Drink water: we cut down some plastic cups and hold the chick and dip their beak in. They need to put their head up to drink, so we dip them put them upright, still holding them, and dip again once they swallow. When we put them down, the cups are short enough for them to drink on their own.

** vitamins: we use Nutri Drench. It’s a poultry vitamin, and we use a toothpick to get a small drop, then touch it to their beak, where it runs in and they swallow. If you do not want to buy the vitamins, it is not required- we have them bc we raise other chicks too.

Note on additive water: sometimes people say to use Apple Cider vinegar, or electrolytes etc. If you do that, that is fine, but ALWAYS offer plain, additive-free, water too.

 

[izzymeliss]

Thank you so much!!!!!!

 

[Acre4Me]

YW.

Meat chickens do not graze or free range very well. So, you should plan to keep them under cover/in a pen. Inside a garage can work very well too. You will need to manage poop. They poop a lot - remember, they are little muscle making machines, they eat, drink, poop. Their poop is wetter and a little different than a regular chicken. So, if in a garage, you will use pine shavings, which will need to be turned and then replaced periodically.

Buy 20-22% protein meat bird start to finish feed. It is crumbles. I’m sure you will have a good brand available to you. You want to be on the higher protein side bc they are meant to create muscle. A regular chick feed crumble is a little lower in protein, that is why they make meat bird feed.

Provide feed and water 24/7 for first 3-4 weeks. Personally, I provide feed 24/7 almost their whole life. Some people will provide 2 feedings a day after the 3-4 week mark to manage their growth (allowing them to eat their fill over 20-30 min each feeding). You have a 6 week project, so I’ll suggest a 24/7 access.

They get big quick. My current batch are 5 weeks old. we hang their feeders and waterers bc once large, we’ve had issues with them toppling over if they walk on an uneven surface (like a paver that we set a feeder on top). Once they topple over at a larger size, they cannot get up and will suffocate. So, same goes for startling them. When we go in to get the waterers or feeders to refill, we move a little more slowly so as not to startle them terribly, they walk away from us, rather than freak out.

Good luck with your project!!

 

[izzymeliss]

This is very helpful thank you so much!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yep, excellent advice. The only things I'll add.

Handle your birds to get them used to being handled.

You might chat with the person running the show (usually with the extension office so start with the extension office) to see if they have any suggestions. If they are doing the judging they may offer interesting insights or suggestions on how to feed them.

Do not overdo it, but oil can make the feathers prettier. Give them a very few Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (full of oil) or drizzle a small amount of vegetable or even mineral oil on their food. More is not better, it does not take much.

The rules probably do not require the birds to be washed. The judge should be looking for things like confirmation, things where being washed doesn't matter. But if it is a tie human nature will give preference to the one that is not dirty and stinky. Wash them before the show and maybe a couple of times before so you know how. Many people use Dawn dishwashing liquid.

 

[izzymeliss]

I will for sure wash, thank you!

 

[Acre4Me]

I will for sure wash, thank you!

With regards to washing, I agree with @Ridgerunner - a clean bird is regarded better if possible.

For washing, try to use a low sudsing wash- way easier to wash and rinse your birds. Also, low to no fragrance. Birds respiratory systems are sensitive, so fragrances are to be used with caution.

When we wash at the fair, we bring two tubs, one for soapy water, one to rinse. Two people are helpful, but not required. With meat birds it is less of an issue bc they are less active. We found a low sudsing dish soap in the baby aisle at Walmart. No fragrance, marketed to washing baby bottles and related items. But we tried out a few options bc some washing products are not as easy to rinse out ( like Johnson’s baby shampoo -weirdly enough).

Once washed we wrap in an old towel to soak up the excess water. We blow dry with a hair dryer, focusing between legs and under wings, two areas that don’t get a lot of air circulation. Basically, we dry them enough to keep them from getting chilled- it’s more of an issue with more heavily feathered breeds, and meat chickens are not heavily feathered and lack a lot of the fluff other chickens have. The chickens actually like the hair dryer - at least every chicken we’ve washed and dried!