Raising Meat birds on alternative feeds (ie CHEEP-ly)

[Melissa77]

Curious.......... if they need protein and I have a large amount of eggs (i dont sell mine) can the Cornish X be fed those (boiled, scrambled etc) instead of meat/bone meal ? I TOO am looking for a way other than just buying feed :/
Thanks!!!!

 

[Findtex]

Curious.......... if they need protein and I have a large amount of eggs (i dont sell mine) can the Cornish X be fed those (boiled, scrambled etc) instead of meat/bone meal ? I TOO am looking for a way other than just buying feed

Thanks!!!!

You can but be aware that if you keep them they will be egg eaters, for meat birds it should be OK, I must admit I do not feed the shells.

 

[AKCharle]

Melissa, here's a handy dandy little calculator to help figure grain and protein. And yes you can feed your birdies eggs. Any meat is okay as long as it is meat that is not spoiled.
https://homesteadapps.com/app/free/feedcalc/pearsonsquare.php

 

[RachelJG]

Thanks Linda for your reply.  Keep yammering, I always enjoy your post.  I use wheat, oats and barley mix. Whole grains, fermented.  I used the calculator below to make an estimated guess on the meat.  Using Barley and lean beef, I would need equal amounts of each to reach 20% protein.  It is fun to play with the numbers.  I hope this helps. I certainly don't want to over do the meat but it is almost free protein.  I choose not to use a pre mixed feed. No soy or corn.  If I did, the calculations would be done for me.

https://homesteadapps.com/app/free/feedcalc/pearsonsquare.php

Let us know how you like the Cornish from Schlecht's Hatchery.  I'm looking into getting my next batch from them.

Carol

I've been thinking about how this app works and why there is such variation is claims about protein content... About 1/2 of lean beef is water, and water doesn't count in the standard protein recommendations (20% for broilers, etc), so this isn't going to give you a useful number for fresh beef. You would have to calculate how many lbs of dried beef would yield the protein percent you want and then use twice as many pounds of fresh.

 

[RachelJG]

Checking in with an update...
At 8 weeks I slaughtered the 8 largest (as best I could tell) out of my 51, but they were only about 2lbs each, dressed.
I slaughtered three more of the largest ones at 10 weeks and got ~3lbs each. I hope to catch the rest of them at 11-11.5 weeks and average 3lbs each. They have only been eating 12lbs of feed/day (my recipe, fermented), so I don't think it will come out to be a poor conversion of feed to meat, just slow. I was afraid at 10 weeks they might be getting tough, but no! tenderest most flavorful meat yet! I was very happy with the quality.
I'm thinking that the slow gain has more to do with waiting for them to eat their peas before giving them more food than with my feed recipe... I'll learn more with the next batch in the spring! I may go back to jumbos.
~Rachel

 

[LindaB220]

Checking in with an update...
At 8 weeks I slaughtered the 8 largest (as best I could tell) out of my 51, but they were only about 2lbs each, dressed.
I slaughtered three more of the largest ones at 10 weeks and got ~3lbs each. I hope to catch the rest of them at 11-11.5 weeks and average 3lbs each. They have only been eating 12lbs of feed/day (my recipe, fermented), so I don't think it will come out to be a poor conversion of feed to meat, just slow. I was afraid at 10 weeks they might be getting tough, but no! tenderest most flavorful meat yet! I was very happy with the quality.
I'm thinking that the slow gain has more to do with waiting for them to eat their peas before giving them more food than with my feed recipe... I'll learn more with the next batch in the spring! I may go back to jumbos.
~Rachel

Great Rachel, congrats on the processing. Not a big as you wanted but yes I'd go for the Jumbos next time. Love the idea that they didn't get tough. Of course you would probably be safe up to 12 weeks or so. Maybe hold one or two and check it out. I was on the Schlecht Hatchery site a few minutes ago and I can buy 50 SR Jumbos for $76 shipped. Not bad. I can't do that kind of amount of course but it was fun checking. $1.12 each and $21 shipping to La. I'm going to have to wait until spring because I just don't have the room now. sigh

 

[FoxholeFarm]

Hi! Its my first time raising cornish rock chicks for meat. I have in the past eaten my chickens when they became mean or stopped laying, but I know that meat breeds are a different game.

I currently feed all my birds on fermented feed and kitchen scaps, but I'm always looking for ways to lower my costs.

 

[CrazyTalk]

You can but be aware that if you keep them they will be egg eaters, for meat birds it should be OK, I must admit I do not feed the shells.

Feeding egg shells doesn't turn birds into egg eaters.