ok, I was going to do meat birds but am now chicken!

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:

 

[mommy9994]

I love cc's! I haven't had the problems that others have had though, and mine do certainly like to free range. They peck at grass and plants (they love dandilion and plantain), and gobble up bugs with the rest of the chickens-- they just grow like crazy! If you leave oyster shell free choice, you don't have the leg problems so much.

Of my last batch, 1 died at 3 weeks-- I don't know what happened, we noticed one evening he was not doing so well, and he died during the night.

We had 1 with leg issues (this is before I learned about the os) at 4 weeks. My dh took roast cornish hen with baby red potatoes to work for lunch.

Aside from them, we processed the rest at 10 weeks-- they need the extra 2 weeks when they are free ranged. The free ranged cc's are considerably smaller. At 10 weeks, mine dressed out at about 4.5 lbs, which is fine by me, and customers tend not to want them huge either.

I tried to finish them on cracked corn, but they didn't want it:/ I wound up finishing them on scratch-- they knocked the corn onto the ground and ate everything else The ducks came along after them and ate up all the corn

my current batch is 1 week old, and went out this morning into the outside brooder that my darling built me this weekend
I lost 2 of them the first night, but the rest are thriving. They will be out in a few weeks pecking with the rest of the birds.

I *think* maybe one reason that mine do so well is because I have them on the ground early-- my last ones were on the ground (though in a pen) at 3 weeks. Maybe when they are kept in the brooder so long, they miss out on learning to peck? I don't know, just a thought.

Exactly. I am feeding them out to serve my better interest not their own.

yup, what she said. They are food. They are well treated food, and they have it FAR better than their factory counterparts, but when it comes down to the line, they are FOOD.​

 

[greyfields]

I suggest doing Cornish Crosses for your first crops. Then, if you have all kinds of problems, there are different 'breeds' available which are easier to raise and far prettier.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

If heat and humidity are so bad for Cornish Crosses (or the various commercial equivalents) then why is the broiler industry concentrated in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas?

My daughter has 45 Cornish Cross broilers in the barn right now. They are 5 weeks old today and she has not lost any so far. I simply don't understand why some people have such horrible results with these birds, afterall if they were such difficult birds to raise the industry would not use them.

Jim

 

[MissPrissy]

I only do the Jumbo cornish and have never had a problem.

I think alot of the troubles stem directly from the strengnth and faults of the parent stock. You know as well as I do that not all chicken farmers are created equal. While we work hard to provide above board for our birds there ar others who do not. Also you have to consider the roll of the dice with genetics. Some crops of birds are just better than others.

If my laying hens are suffering and panting and have a hard time in mid august coping with 100F heat plus 95% humidity I know the stress on the meat birds is going to tax them at least double because their bodies are already stressed from the fast growth.

The whole process of raising them is "managing" the birds in your environment and getting the best table bird for your dollar. If they are dropping like flies in august heat well then you are loosing money every day.

Where I am and for alot of the south it is just too hot without proper conditions and facilities to raise a giant bird and not expect some casualties.

Therefore I choose the warm - cool temps of fall and know they are not panting and their hearts aren't racing trying to keep their blood ciruclating to keep them cool.

Have you ever been to a factory facility for the big chicken producers?

They are in auto environments that are controled and not left to the normal elements of weather like most of us are.

 

[OHChick]

OK you have made me feel much better!! And I had not thought about it being too hot for them, but that's a good point. I should pick a slaughter date maybe 1st week of October and count my way backward or something to be safe. Plus we have half a cow coming July 17 so we hopefully will have eaten our way down to some freezer space by then.

Thanks to all for the great advice.

 

[greyfields]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

If heat and humidity are so bad for Cornish Crosses (or the various commercial equivalents) then why is the broiler industry concentrated in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas?

My daughter has 45 Cornish Cross broilers in the barn right now. They are 5 weeks old today and she has not lost any so far. I simply don't understand why some people have such horrible results with these birds, afterall if they were such difficult birds to raise the industry would not use them.

Jim

The farm I worked out was better temperature and climate controlled than most houses. There was little to no variation in temperature.

As I was told by a speaker from OSU, it's not temperature that kills broilers, it's temperature fluctuation they cannot handle well.​

 

[thewobsers]

we just had 11 cornish chickens processed at 8 weeks and they were such beautiful healthy birds.
We didnt lose any and they were big (had to put them in 2 gallon size freezer bags, they wouldnt fit in the 1 gallons.
We didnt allow feed after 7pm and kept their coop cleaned daily. We bought the chicks thru meyer hatchery in ohio and didnt have any leg issues either. It was a nice experience for our first time. We are looking to do another batch this fall. Cant wait to eat one now.

 

[blue90292]

Quote:
i'm no expert to the cornish but i was thinking that was what happened to laurie's birds. the fluctuation of temp from the cool basement to the breezy, but still warm outside temp probably was too much for them.

my cornish (that are 3 weeks old) are outside in the houston heat and humidity and are doing fine. but they've started out with that heat. they were never inside the air conditioned house. i give them plenty of feed and plenty of water. i actually saw them dust bathe this weekend.

my older cornish X pair that are about 5 months old wander around the yard also, with the rest of the chickens in this heat and humidity. they actually rest under the pecan and ash trees (which is the coolest spot on our property) with the layers after they've eaten and drank their water. i do feel a little sorry for them and think i should eat them especially since they'll probably die quite suddenly. they're always walking with bug eyes, like they're really not quite sure what they're purpose is and what they should do next. and yet i keep them around. they're my little giants.

 

[greyfields]

From what I recall, they kept them at a constant temperature which was somewhere in the 90's. It was brutally hot walking in there. I'm sure someone did a paper at some point defining the optimum temperature (to the nearest thousandth of a degree) for broilers.