new user need help raising broilers

[gib]

I am trying this again as I was not able to post wth success last night.

Please forgive me as I am somewhat new to forums and really new to raising chickens.

I have to young sons that are in 4h this year raising broilers. I have read everything possible to this point on broilers regarding coops, feed, water, temperature, sanitation, etc.

My concerns:

1. We have 75 chickens coming, and at what point do I start culling? I will need to eventually reduce to 6 and the res will be supper.

2. What points would you give a newbie regarding the production of the meatest chicens for show?

Thank you for your help,

Gib

 

[turnerstar31]

If you are raising broilers they are usually all called within an eight week period. If you let them go any longer they say that they develop leg problems and can have heart attacks and usually do not make it that long. It depends though if you have the cornish x or the slower growing ones as the slower ones is usually around 12 weeks that they are processed. I can not help you with the showing thing but if they are for next year they might not make it to than. As for the showing I can not help you with that one as I have never done it before.

 

[gib]

Sorry about that - I should have clarified.

We will get the chicks around Thanksgiving and they go to show roughly six weeks or so after that. I guess this would mean they are the fast ones.

We kept the culled ones last year about 10 weeks and a couple of them were jsut starting to show leg problems and a couple of others died on us in route to butcher - presumably heart attack. We will not hold them as long this year.

We are in south Texas, and I have not began looking for mills that mix feed for chickens.