One of our broilers died.........

[the_great_snag]

Quote:
I had similar results with broilers when allowing them to eat 24/7. Butchering them earlier is NOT a good option either, because if they are not fully feathered they are an absolute nightmare to pluck. Their skins are absolutely covered with pinfeathers rather than grown, pluckable, feathers.

12 on/ 12 off is definitely the way to go if you want nice birds for butcher.

 

[Chickenfortress]

I think you are doing it right. I had a fairly high mortality with meaties myself. We even had one get drowned by its siblings while I was trying to get the crud off their bellies. I had been told they were leghorns, and didn't have a clue why they were 5 times the size of the rirs.

 

[ponyathome]

I raised cornish cross birds too. I had no problems with several batches of them. Then i got some bad advice at the feed store and several died at 3 weeks and 4 weeks. I too, wondered what happened. But here is what I think" They told me that broiler chicks could eat regular chick starter at the feed store and that is what I fed them. Now I believe that is not true, because that was the batch where I lost a lot of birds. Cornish Cross birds develop faster than the normal chick, and the regular chick starter does not have the nutrition in it that they need. They put on muscle too fast, thier legs are not strong enough to hold them, they have trouble standing up, they fall over and develop pnenomnia (That is where the labored breathing comes in) and then they die, despite the good care you give them. Feed the cornish cross BROILER STARTER, NOT CHICK STARTER . I think that may be the trouble?

 

[the_great_snag]

Quote:
This is a very good point. I wish more feed stores sold the higher protein broiler feeds. Most of them around here just peddle generic chick starter.

While I agree 100% with you on all that you said, I still feel that allowing 24/7 access to feed is a bigger problem than the type of feed you are using. It's just due to the fact that their feathers, organs, bones, etc., don't grow much faster than they do in any other chicken.

Think about it. Compare the size of a store-bought (cornish rock) gizzard to the gizzard on a home-grown heavy breed (non cornish rock) bird. They are a tiny fraction of the size. The heart and liver are similarly disproportional...

 

[juliemom25]

Again, thanks to all who replied! You guys are really great about helping a girl out. These chicks are our first and I just want to do the best I can with them.

I did raise the lamps up some and when I went out and checked them before bed they seemed to be resting comfortably.

I think maybe I need to start them on broiler feed? Can you get that medicated?

Thanks again!

Julie