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I have never had fly issue's with the meatie's...not sure why that happens to some people...
all my animal houses have fly strips hanging year round, maybe they just do not get a chance to get out of control..



Is this the onion snow ???
 
Woke up this morning to a pip in the bator! A full day early. Must be that hybrid vigor everyone talks about since it's a silkie mix. The olive eggers are rocking and rolling too! The Marans I have in, are just sitting there lol. If they're anything like last time, once one starts, they'll all start right in a row!
 
wingstone said:
I have never had fly issue's with the meatie's...not sure why that happens to some people...
all my animal houses have fly strips hanging year round, maybe they just do not get a chance to get out of control..



Is this the onion snow ???
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Technically I think this is the "You Gotta be Kidding me, Pain-in-the-Backside, Will it never End?" snow.
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I'm amazed at how often the plows run by here. 40 years ago it wasn't unheard of to have the road closed for a few days when it snowed then got windy. Then they removed the banks to reduce drifting.

Not sure I like progress. I enjoyed being snowed in. It was an opportunity to connect with the neighbors.

I remember snow fences, lol.
 
barbiegirl said:
:hit I found my Mr Spock dead this morning. I was so upset :hit   I guess he wanted to be with his name sake .
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I'm so sorry to hear that. Do you know wgat happened? How old was he?

chiques chicks said:
I'm amazed at how often the plows run by here. 40 years ago it wasn't unheard of to have the road closed for a few days when it snowed then got windy. Then they removed the banks to reduce drifting.

Not sure I like progress. I enjoyed being snowed in. It was an opportunity to connect with the neighbors.

I remember snow fences, lol.
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I wouldn't mind getting snowed in here for a day or two. Especially if it meant less taxes! :lol: Fat chance...
 
fisherlady said:
One thing I would warn you about with your plan.....though it sounds like a good plan to not get them till warmer weather it will probably cause you problems later on depending on what breed you get.  The classic 'meaty' is a Cornish/white Rock cross usually called a cornish cross (CX) or cornish rock, these birds grow incredibly fast and are usually ready for butcher between 7-10 weeks.  The big problem is that they don't deal well with hot weather.  I would strongly recommend having them butchered before mid June or not getting them till late summer with the plan to butcher them in October instead.  They are prone to heart and bone problems due to their growth rate and they can just drop over dead with little warning and it seems worse in hot weather.

There are alternative meat birds which grow slower and aren't as rotund as the CX, you would be feeding them for 14-18 weeks (depending on strain) and they behave much more like your normal back yard chickens. They have fewer health issues, but will have less meat (especially breast meat) so your feed bill conversion to meat produced would be lower, though they will forage for some of their food, so that can help.  These birds are often called 'freedom rangers' , red rangers or black rangers.  Most hatcheries have a version of these birds and it will explain their differences usually on their info guides.   The rangers can be raised with much less concern over weather.

Meaties don't need a full 'coop' but they do require the same protection from wind, rain and damp ground.  Tractors are a good answer for them and moving it frequently will help with odor/cleaning issues also.  Meaties can't roost like normal birds, they would break their legs jumping even a foot or two to the ground and their balance tends to be horrible so they are better with very low roosts such as 2x4's only a few inches off of the ground or even just a soft bed of hay (which would have to be changed out frequently)  Meat birds do need heat the first couple of weeks but we have found that if you have more than a dozen of them they need much less heat than normal chicks would. It just seems they grow so fast and put off a lot of body heat.  We had ours outside last year in 38-40* weather with a single heat lamp in their nesting area when they were 3 weeks old (protected from rain and wind but not in an insulated coop or anything like that)  We just partitioned off their 'nesting area' to further protect it from the elements and help it to retain heat.  They would lounge under the light at night and for periods of time during the day but roam out for food and water frequently. 
So in our experience, meaties are a great thing, but they are better suited to spring and fall for our preferred breed (the CX).  If we had more 'pasture' available I think the rangers would be a good choice for simpler keeping if we didn't want the breast meat/white meat as much.
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Blah, this is why we are still on the fence about breeds... Been going back and forth between Cornish cross and delawares for weeks. Then Google informs me that some guy bred a Cornell cross (Cornish and Delaware) back in 2002 and it looked like the perfect fit for pastured meaties... Didn't have the growth problems like cx but grew slightly faster and was meatier than the Delaware. But the guy moved to Europe in 2005 or something and the breeding stock became impossible to find. I'm thinking maybe we'll get both Delaware and Cornish for meat this year and just keep a few breeders in our flock and see what happens.
Here's the best link I found about the Cornell cross... Wish they were still available! http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=FNC03-460&y=2004&t=1
 
The Delawares will fill out if given enough time, the meat will have more flavor because it took more time to grow/develope. I have done some experimenting on meat flavors and textures. The best one I have found so far was a rooster that was a cross bred of Maran and Barred rock, but it takes a while for them to mature. I let mine grow and fill out to 8 months before I processed them. These were all hatchery birds. I tried Light Brahma, Buff Orpington, Buff Cornish, Dark Cornish, Saipan, Red Laced White Cornish, Barred Broilers and Ganoi x Barred Broilers. I would consider doing other breeds, but I have no need for it as I get plenty of meat from all my Cubalaya culls.


Liking this one a lot!
 

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