Thank you I will. I know I'll need to get some more meaties before long as my CRs are already over a week old. I just feel terrible, even though I thought I had done my homework I didn't find out about the limited lifespan and other issues my CRs could have until I had bought them. I hate the idea of my animals suffering, especially if it is because of breeding.
The main thing you need to do for the meaties is make sure they get some exercise & ration their food after 3 weeks of age. My meaties are in the same coop as my layers, so there's competition for food & they HAVE to get up & move around to get the food. I scatter most of the food on the ground in the run so they have to get up & move around to get it. There's no food in the coop at night, just water, so they get food about 12 hours on & 12 hours off each day. We also spread the feed out throughout the day. We split the feed into 2-4 servings over the 12 hour period. That way they can't just lay in 1 spot & get all they want. FF starts to disappear quickly from the bowls & then they have to go look around for the scattered dry feed to get the rest of their meal. The red & black broilers are not as bad about just laying around as the white cornish cross are. They will get up & run around & confront other birds, try to establish their place in the pecking order. The cornish don't even care about pecking order. They just want to eat. I haven't processed my 1st batch of meaties yet, so not sure which meat we will prefer yet, but they are 11 weeks old today for the reds so will be processed in about 3-4 weeks. The cornish are about 3-4 weeks behind the reds & the blacks are spread over the 2 weeks in between, so the blacks will get processed a week or 2 after the reds. The whites are 6-8 weeks old now, so will be in about 2-4 weeks, right about the same time as the reds since they mature faster.
If you're looking to do Cornish X birds for meat yet for this year I would suggest doing it soon if you can. I don't think they'd fare to well in the heat of the summer and you might run into more losses from the heat stress than you normally would expect. I agree that there should be a number of folks on here that live close to you... check the map in the signature of Missy and a few others here. That should give you an idea.We're on the other side of the state, I think. I'm about 15 minutes from Reyvaughn and I saw how far you are in an earlier post, or I'd say you got a deal.
Neighbors are pretty much out, they're either family (and already invested in the flock) or complain about the roos already within ear shot or refuse to get their own. We're pretty spread out where I live, so I don't know why they complain so much. I personally enjoy watching the sun come up with a cup of joe and hearing the boys ( each about a mile away in multiple directions). My interactions with some neighbors will be be further diminished if I have any roos in my flock, but then again I'm not worried as we're zoned for all livestock and I don't like them much anyway *insert smirk, rubbing of hands, a low evil laugh.* I think there may be some other people on here that are near enough that meeting up to split the chicks shouldn't be a problem.
After these 4 I'm staying away from the CRs, I'm thinking more like what Silkie had suggested or a dual purpose. Thank you for the reminder to be sure they are heat tolerant as well as cold, if this year is like last I may be giving the flock baths to help cool them. Which just gave me an idea, has anyone used a mister ( the kind attached to a fan) with their chickens in high heat?
Regular bulb will be fine.Guess she's a natural.Also, the bulb just burnt out in our heat lamp. Any tips? I'm going to stick a heating pad in there and maybe shine a regular lamp on it. Will that be enough until I can get a new bulb tomorrow?
Welcome! And just about everyone here has chickens available. They may not be POL (point of lay) they may be chicks or teens....check my signature for a map to find out who is close to you.
I didn't want Leghorns either...but gotta admit, I love my three. It breaks my heart that I'm gonna have to kill the twindiot, but have too many roos. One thing I learned (and this is just because of my unique coop) is that they like to roost up high! My coop is a converted garage. So when my carpenter built the coop, he only took the walls to the rafters....soon we had leghorns in the rafters....DH took all the loose chicken wire we had laying around and put it up in the rafters so they'd be forced to roost with the rest...mainly so we don't get pooped on!I have noticed that IF we can catch one and get it out it does behave much calmer. Stupid birds. My husband picked these out. I knew from the moment I wanted chickens that I did not want leghorns. Do they make good soup
If your luck is anything like mine...you'll have plenty of roos.Let's forget about chicken math for a moment. I just did some egg math. 7 leghorns, 3 dozen eggs a week, 12 more hens of different breeds, 14 bantams (my luck not too many roos) 12 ducklings (sex to be determined) what the heck will I do with that many eggsand I still want more chicks LOL.
Welcome! I'm just north of you in Gardners. For Wellies, try Whitmore Farms (not sure if he's sold out for this year) You can order just 6, and he's close enough you can do on farm pickup. (Just over the border in MD)Hello out there! Just found this forum and am quite excited to see so many of us Pennsylvanians out there! I'm from Lewisberry (15 mins north of Dillsburg or 20 min west of Harrisburg). Grew up in Gettysburg! Woohoo!Anyway, at my last count I have 8 hens. 2 RIR, 1 Wellie, 3 EE, and 2 BR. I have lost 25 hens and 4 roos in the past 3 months. These **** foxes/hawks/coons/ and everything else under the sun are attacking them. I am trying to build my count back up. I am expecting 3 EE's and 2 BR's on the 20th. Really want a couple of GLW or a couple of Wellies, but didn't want to order 15 more!
So anyway, Hi out there!
Don't forget, anything you bring in needs to be quarantined for a month. So the 10 week old would be 14 weeks old when you start to introduce it. The way I introduce new ones to my flock is I have a small wire coop inside my big coop (you could use a dog cage etc). I put the new bird(s) in there for several days until the older ones don't notice them anymore...then I open the cage and let them come out at their leisure.
Everyone keeps saying this...mine must be pigs...I don't have feed waste (now I said that and they'll dump the feeder and refuse to eat it)I found them on Valley Vet Supply, They are actually baby pig feeders. Have only had them up for one day but noticing a huge differnce in the waste of feed compared to the hanging feeders i used to have up plus frees up so much more space in my coop/run area. Loving them so far. Going away this weekend so i will let you know how they hold up with the birds left to their own devices for 3 days with themShould go fine.
Freedom Rangers http://www.freedomrangerhatchery.com/ are raised right here in Lancaster and you don't have to butcher all of them...you can save some to make your next generation.
Give me your zip and I'll add you to the map, then you can see who is close to you. Oh, and you have the same attitude about neighbors that I do.We're on the other side of the state, I think. I'm about 15 minutes from Reyvaughn and I saw how far you are in an earlier post, or I'd say you got a deal.Neighbors are pretty much out, they're either family (and already invested in the flock) or complain about the roos already within ear shot or refuse to get their own. We're pretty spread out where I live, so I don't know why they complain so much. I personally enjoy watching the sun come up with a cup of joe and hearing the boys ( each about a mile away in multiple directions). My interactions with some neighbors will be be further diminished if I have any roos in my flock, but then again I'm not worried as we're zoned for all livestock and I don't like them much anyway *insert smirk, rubbing of hands, a low evil laugh.* I think there may be some other people on here that are near enough that meeting up to split the chicks shouldn't be a problem.
Map is in my signature!
Hello out there! Just found this forum and am quite excited to see so many of us Pennsylvanians out there! I'm from Lewisberry (15 mins north of Dillsburg or 20 min west of Harrisburg). Grew up in Gettysburg! Woohoo!
So anyway, Hi out there!
I agree 100%. I always tell everyone who gets birds from me to contact me with any questions or concerns. I always ask them about other birds they have as well to see if there are any potential conflict issues with adding my birds to theirs. I researched the needs of meaties before getting into them & am trying 3 different types to see how each does with my set up. So far, I think I like red broilers best. They seem to be hearty & grow quickly. The blacks seem to grow a little more slowly & the cornish grow VERY fast. It will come down to actually tasting each bird to make a final decision on what I'll do for the next batch.
