Question on when to process cornish x and amount of feed?

[Chicken411]

I am new to the chicken raising world and we are raising our first batch of organic meat birds for our own personal use. My question is, why do some people process cornish cross at 8 weeks, while others wait until 10 or 12? Is it more cost effective to raise them to a larger size? Is it less cost effective to do so? Does it effect the flavor or tenderness? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? Thank you for any responses. There is so much to learn.

One more question. How much feed per bird for a typical cornish x from hatch to processing at 8 weeks? At 10 or 12 weeks?

 

[jaku]

People who raise them past 8 weeks are usually looking for a bigger bird at butchering time. I would suggest butchering them at 8 weeks for at least your first few batches. They can be a little tricky to raise, compared to layers, and after 8 weeks they may start to die if you aren't careful. A batch of 25 Cornish X's will go through about 500 pounds of feed in 8 weeks.

 

[Chicken411]

Thanks jaku. 500 lbs! Good grief my calculations were off. I thought 300-350. What do I need to know to continue to keep them alive past 8 weeks? I mean, how can I learn it?, because a bigger bird sounds better to me.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
They will be big at 8 weeks, believe me- much bigger than the birds you get at the store. 6-7 pound dressed birds are common at 8 weeks. At that age, 1 breast will easily feed two adults. I butcher mine at 8 weeks, so I can't really advise beyond that, but as for learning, I'd say just doing it and reading as many of the threads in the Meat Birds section of BYC will help a lot! It seems like, even if you don't really DO anything different, every batch you do is a little more successful.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
They will be big at 8 weeks, believe me- much bigger than the birds you get at the store. 6-7 pound dressed birds are common at 8 weeks. At that age, 1 breast will easily feed two adults. I butcher mine at 8 weeks, so I can't really advise beyond that, but as for learning, I'd say just doing it and reading as many of the threads in the Meat Birds section of BYC will help a lot! It seems like, even if you don't really DO anything different, every batch you do is a little more successful. Also, get your feed ground for you at the mill. It will save you about 50% over the prebagged feed. You'll have to buy 500 pounds all at once, but the price difference makes it well worth it.

 

[SKILLET]

I see alot of comments of getting feed from a Mill...

Dumb question, how do you locate one? Im in Central FL and have never heard of one... Any ideas?

 

[chicken ridl]

I let mine go 10 weeks. I had all hens. Because thats all I could get. They were around 5.5-6.0 lbs. I had one at 7.0. They were eating machines the last 2 weeks.
But remember to take the feed away from them at night. They will eat the self to death. I had around 7.20 per bird when I was done and rasied 60 birds.
The meat was great. Just like home grown eggs you can't go back to the store bought stuff.

 

[paridisefarm2009]

Quote:
Hey If you get the answer to that question please let me know I am in hudson florida and been kinda getting the run around about feed for those birds , cost is looking like about 15.00 for a 50 lb bag OMG what did I get myself into right My (25) birds will be hear around may 17 and I need to be prepaired , surban feed said we could use flock raiser feed also I read that also for meat birds ,

 

[Bossroo]

Quote:
Hey If you get the answer to that question please let me know I am in hudson florida and been kinda getting the run around about feed for those birds , cost is looking like about 15.00 for a 50 lb bag OMG what did I get myself into right My (25) birds will be hear around may 17 and I need to be prepaired , surban feed said we could use flock raiser feed also I read that also for meat birds ,

At those prices... you will be paying $1.20+/- /lb for your processed chicken for feed alone, not to mention the added cost of the chicks, power, housing, or even your labor. I can buy chicken at any grocery store for $0.79 -- $0.99/ lb. any day of the week. $0.49 --$0.69/lb. on sale. Look in your handy dandy Yellow pages for feed mills / feed- wholesale & manufacturers in your area. You will have to buy in bulk 22% protien feed( say 500 lbs) at a time , but the price just may be up to half of the allready bagged feed. Your 25 chickens will eat 500+/- lbs. of feed in 8 weeks. Enjoy !

 

[Sundown_Farmer]

We start killing at 6 weeks and wrap up by 7. When they can barely keep their breast off the ground as the run (waddle) it's time to start. Our customers don't know what to do with a 6 pound chicken.

They'll eat 13-15# of 20% feed/bird depending on conditions. If it's raining they eat more worms.

25 birds ($1 each), $15/bag, 15#/bird, $2 in water ($8/1000 gallons) = $139.50 in costs (nominal power usage). 3.5# carcass weight, $2/lb for the bird, $175. You still have to depreciate your infrastructure and won't have much room for labor. Have to be pretty efficient at this scale or do it for fun after sundown like me. Finding cheaper birds and cheaper feed helps too.

$0.69 sale chickens at the grocery store won't compare to yours. Customers know it or they wouldn't demand our product.

Let me know if my math is wrong. Biology major.