Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[chicks1234]

Congratulations! These girls are early layers! I got my first egg last week when my girls were 19 weeks. It's also from my smallest hen.

 

[chicks1234]

My first egg was a triple yolk!

 

[BullChick]

 

[LearninMyFlock]

Lebanon, pa

 

[Chaos18]

Lebanon, pa

Welcome from Beaver County.

 

[BullChick]

Lebanon, pa

Hi! Welcome!

 

[LearninMyFlock]

Thank you! I'm really enjoying it so far although I've spent too much time reading over everything today and won't be able to keep that up

 

[BullChick]

LOL! No, it will drive you mad! Though we used to be very entertaining about four years ago!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Lebanon, pa

welcome from Cambria county!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Our girls are 17 weeks old today and we got our first egg. It is just a tiny thing. I am not sure which of my girls laid the egg I am thinking it was our SLW. Hope the eggs get bigger. Very Eggcited

:cd Awesome! Congrats! That is early! The eggs definitely get bigger!

I strongly advise against getting a dog from Lancasterpuppiescom. Lancaster is notorious for its abusive and unsanitary puppy mills. I know people who have gotten dogs from that website only to find they have poor health and diseases like Parvo. I recommend going to a shelter in your area. There are plenty of dogs that are put down in shelters each year. You may not get the exact breed you want but you'll be giving an animal a well-deserved home. Good luck!

X2!

[COLOR=0000FF]​Way behind on posts.  Just wanted to say hi to everyone.  Also, got a meat bird question.  Anyone know what preprocessing weight should be on Cornish Cross?  My son is raising some for Fair, but they are looking ready to me and we've still got almost 5 weeks till Fair.[/COLOR]

My first egg! From my smallest hen! They are 17 weeks!

That amazing! The first eggs are always so fun!

did u fart?

We try to process after 7lb mark....on average I figure you will get about 70% of live weight on initial process (for me initial process is just done like an average turkey, gutted, no organs and neck removed)
On average you will get a 5lb broiler from a 7.5-8.0 lb live weight bird, nice roaster size and great for parting out. If you like bigger wings you will want to wait till they hit the 8lb+ size.

The best time to process from a financial angle is determined by weighing the birds every 3 days or so and tracking their weight gain rate vs their food consumption rate. They do sort of plateau with regards to the weight gain, once they hit around 9 lbs your losses to congestive heart failure and leg problems increase greatly which offsets any potential benefit from extra meat.

Keeping them healthy past the 10 week stage is difficult and if that is the plan then they actually need managed for extra age from the time they are a couple of weeks old, they need more focus on portion and protein control to allow a bit slower growth and they need to be encouraged to be more active and move around more and even to forage, it will help keep their feet and legs in better condition and reduce the severity of heart failure.

Typically we aim to butcher between 8-10 weeks, we process in smaller groups to remove birds which have hit our preferred size range and to take care of any which are showing any concerning health signs (sluggish behavior, poor color, fluid retention or limping)

If they are looking ready to you and there is still 5 weeks to fair then you may run into trouble with their health,(especially since it's the hottest time of year) hopefully not, but a definite toss up.

Bookmarking this info for later.... Thanks!

My first egg was a triple yolk!

Wow! M

Lebanon, pa

Welcome!