Raising Cornish Xs in the Summer Heat?

[below_gravity]

So the question is, do any of you raise meat birds in the heat of the summer. If so do you take special precautions? Do you slaughter them earlier?

We have done 2 batches of meat birds (about 30 at a time). both times it was early spring and temps were low for the most part. We noticed that towards the end, as they filled out if we had a hot day, the birds started to get quite stressed. The are corralled off in a section of our barn, have plenty of room (~16'x24' area), access to shade, several waters, clean bedding. We has set up fans. Not much more we could do for them. We are located in Central New Jersey. We take the entire flock at once to a USDA inspected poultry slaughter house as we sell some of the birds, so we don't have the option of just taking the largest bird for dinner that day In the past we have kept them to 12 weeks. Maybe that is too long for a summer flock?

 

[my sunwolf]

We haven't had trouble in the heat as long as we've kept them penned in a well-ventilated area. If they're free range and it gets too hot, they often have trouble finding the waterer or remembering to go back and drink water.

However, in our climate it rarely gets much above 80. Sometimes we might hit 90, on a very hot day. When it gets above 80, I try to remember to go outside and mist them.

We slaughter all the Cornish X by 8 weeks because I prefer the feed conversion up to that point. We've had the biggest losses from cold, not from heat.

With your setup, including the fans, it sounds like you'd be good. My only concern is that if you're doing deep litter with the pine shavings, that gets very hot, especially in the summer. Ours are out on grass from 2-4 weeks old, so they stay a little cooler that way.

How's the ventilation in your barn? I know for our 8x8 pasture pens, we leave half the roof and two sides open for a good cross breeze while still providing protection from rain and wind.

 

[below_gravity]

The pen is coral panels with hog wire (4x2" mesh -- we use this pen in teh winter for our beef cattle) so it lets the air flow well, but there isn't usually much of a breeze because it's set into a bank barn, so unless the wind is blowing from the south (which doesn't happen too often), hence the fans. We could clean out the pen instead of doing a deep litter (we did deep litter with hay/straw).

Thank you.

 

[BirchHatchery]

im getting 30 Cornish rocks this week we have temps around 85-90 humid and nights 60-70 do these chicks need heat lamp during the day being that warm I no at night they will my pen is all enclosed except top were lamp shines heat and they are on a wire floor ive raised them plenty of times but never in the heat of summer. I also don't understand that if a hen hatches a chicks they don't need lamp running around outside but when we get day olds from the hatchery they say they need heat at 95 degrees the first week

 

[my sunwolf]

im getting 30 Cornish rocks this week we have temps around 85-90 humid and nights 60-70 do these chicks need heat lamp during the day being that warm I no at night they will my pen is all enclosed except top were lamp shines heat and they are on a wire floor ive raised them plenty of times but never in the heat of summer. I also don't understand that if a hen hatches a chicks they don't need lamp running around outside but when we get day olds from the hatchery they say they need heat at 95 degrees the first week

I usually put a heat lamp on them the first day or two even in the summer just to be sure they're warm enough, but after that I do start turning it off during the day if the temps are good.

We use a "hover brooder" that mimics the warmth of a mother hen. Chickens raised by a broody forage a little, then come back under momma to get warm (a hen's body temperature is 102˚F-110˚F), then forage a little more. They stay away from momma longer when it's hot, but stay under her more when it's cold. The hover brooder works in the same way--under there, it's usually about 90˚F, but outside it's ambient temps. The chicks pick how close they want to sit underneath the hover.

Just pay attention to how the chicks behave and you should be fine.

And below_gravity, sounds like your setup is going to work out very well! I have heard some producers say that pine shavings are not as warm as hay/straw (of course, they are usually more expensive than something like waste hay). I think the fans are a great thing as well.

(Edited to change a hen's body temp--the internet doesn't seem too sure about this fact.)