Raising our 1st set of CX meaties

[BCMaraniac]

Don't name 'em!

Of course, they are so uniform in appearance, I don't know how anybody could......except for the largest and the smallest, maybe. I love chicks, and it is difficult for me not to incubate frequently.....but then I have to feed them. Where I live there is a poultry auction every week, so I could take them and sell them. If I keep them, they turn into teenagers....so I try to keep everything in moderation, though you wouldn't know that by the number of birds I have at the moment. Of course 15-20 are ready to butcher, but my husbands work schedule has been crazy, and I have to have his help. I gotta get it done so they get off the feed bill and help with the grocery bill!

 

[Angelicisi]

lol chicken math...chicks and meaties don't count as a variables I tell my hubby hehehe but TEENAGERS do!
All their records say "nuggets" as they grow it will change to Tenders
All the other nuggets seem great, but so did the dead one until 2 hrs before :/
Gonna write that guy off as a loss expected and keep a close close eye on the others, I have a whole day off for once (very rare lol) and can hover around them

Don't name 'em!   Of course, they are so uniform in appearance, I don't know how anybody could......except for the largest and the smallest, maybe.  I love chicks, and it is difficult for me not to incubate frequently.....but then I have to feed them.  Where I live there is a poultry auction every week, so I could take them and sell them.  If I keep them, they turn into teenagers....so I try to keep everything in moderation, though you wouldn't know that by the number of birds I have at the moment.  Of course 15-20 are ready to butcher, but my husbands work schedule has been crazy, and I have to have his help.  I gotta get it done so they get off the feed bill and help with the grocery bill!

 

[pipemum]

Sorry about the chick.

I think it's crazy how cute the broilers are when they are tiny. The quintessential little chick, fuzzy, yellow. Around 3 weeks they start getting awkward chick looking, and the huge crops are a little off putting--when stretched they are bare. I really like raising these birds.

I'm thinking of doing 4 of mine as Cornish game hens, which means processing around 2.5lbs live weight. I must have slow growing broilers, because these chicks, at 4 weeks old, don't seem big enough. I guess I should weigh them.

The feed store has some more broilers for sale, and I think I'll pick up 8 more tomorrow.

ETA: These are the slow growing broilers (called the feed store to check) but I also don't leave food 24/7 for them. I could probably feed them more. I feed them enough to last till noonish? (I'm guessing here) in the mornings, and I also throw in scratch and sunflower seeds in their run to keep them scratching around. Some nights I don't get home till after it's dark to feed them another small bowl. I just noticed today that they don't seem to know sunflowers are food--a bunch are still on the ground. Anyway, I don't think they are starving, but there are a few hours of the day when I think they should have access to food and don't....although those sunflower seeds are just sitting there. Ha.

 

[pipemum]

I picked up more broilers yesterday. Apparently, they are from the same batch as my 1st ones, but mine are much bigger. I guess fermented feed is doing them well.

 

[Angelicisi]

Yay! Chicken math lol.

Great to hear your 1st set is thriving!
I've heard so many horror stories.
Especially afer searching for answers on 2 chicks that just started to go down hill fast
We added probiotics to the vitamin booster.
I checked EACH chicks poop for red/worms/runs and vents and all looked great-what a pain to seperate and wait for poop lol at least they are always pooping . The two that are not doing great aren't growing. Their hatchmates are 2-3x's their size. They won't eat, will drink when I dip their beaks.
They seem like they have a nerve issue not being able to function correctly.
They were seperated. Been a couple days and I water them every 20 min and try to get them to eat a mash but neither has. Ug. Should I cull the 2 chicks that aren't growing, not eating and have no proper control over their movement? I have them in a small brooder separate, wrapped up so they don't flail around sideways (sad to see) and they peep still but its a sad peep

On a lighter note, the others are growing like MAD! Eating every single drop, fluttering around the brooder like fat lil raptors trying to eat my hand with the food refill scoop in it lol

I want to put them outdoors in their coop by end of this week.
Will they be ok in the cold evenings? I'm in the South-no freeze but late at night temps dip into the upper 40s sometimes.

The 2 chicks that are failing to thrive/sick? Have refused FF feed from day one but dry is available for them. Switching to 12/12 feed schedule this week and see how that goes. All other chicks gobble up the FF like its a treat.

I picked up more broilers yesterday. Apparently, they are from the same batch as my 1st ones, but mine are much bigger. I guess fermented feed is doing them well.

 

[Angelicisi]

 

[chefchick]

Hub and I just processed our meaties yesterday. I wasn't crazy about the results of this batch. I bought them from a different supplier this time, and had some issues from the beginning with spraddle legs(so bad we had to cull) and some deaths early on. Mine were raised off the ground so they didn't get to forage, and they had food available at all times. On average,they ended up dressing out between 4- 4 1/2 # (there were only 2 over 5# and a few under 4) at 7 1/2 weeks and ended up costing us about $9 per bird. I didn't do anything different from my TSC birds from this past spring, and they were way bigger. One thing we did have this time for processing though was a homemade whizbang plucker that we borrowed from a friend. It made everything so much easier and faster, and the way his is set up there was no feather mess in the yard, either.

 

[Angelicisi]

My hubby made a plucker...was the BEST addition to the processing table! Sooooooo much time saved!
How many did you do? Did you process them all the same day?
How do you like them on wire?
Next batch I was going to modify our brooder with a wire bottom and a tray to dump underneath instead of rolling up newsprint and scooping shavings. Never had chicks on wire yet tho- is it easier? Cleaner I would assume definitely lol. I can't wait to let them loose outside!

Hub and I just processed our meaties yesterday.  I wasn't crazy about the results of this batch.  I bought them from a different supplier this time, and had some issues from the beginning with spraddle legs(so bad we had to cull) and some deaths early on.  Mine were raised off the ground so they didn't get to forage, and they had food available at all times.  On average,they ended up dressing out  between 4- 4 1/2 # (there were only 2 over 5# and a few under 4)  at 7 1/2 weeks and ended up costing us about $9 per bird.  I didn't do anything different from my TSC birds from this past spring, and they were way bigger.  One thing we did have this time for processing though was a homemade whizbang plucker that we borrowed from a friend.  It made everything so much easier and faster, and the way his is set up there was no feather mess in the yard, either.

 

[pipemum]

Angelicisi, I don't know about the failure to thrive chicks. Maybe culling would be the best?

I'm in southern AZ, and had my chicks out just before 2 weeks old. On the "colder" nights, I cover their A-frame pen. By colder, I mean in the 40s (I'm sure some people would laugh that I even classify that as cold). These guys generate so much body heat that I wasn't too worried about them being outside with hardly any feathers.

Also, that post I wrote 4-days ago about the chicks not being big enough to process as Cornish game hens? Yeah, they're huge now. I haven't weighed them, but certainly big enough.

Oh, and I meant to make a drill attached plucker this weekend, I just need a pvc end cap. I was even at Lowe's and forgot the end cap. I'll be processing 4, maybe 6, this weekend.

 

[Angelicisi]

Good to hear they're growing again! I have read the last two weeks they can eat what they consumed all weeks prior and have a giant growth spurt.
I culled the 2 chicks.
A lot of time and effort for very lil chance on a meatie was too much. Cost and time efficiency is important to us but I've been trying for a couple days and they were just too far gone I think. The nervous system was wrecking havoc on their bodies so I think it was for the best. Still sucks even if they are to be eaten I want them healthy and happy.

Haha @ cold 40! That might as well be Antarctica to me lol
My plan was at 2 weeks into the hoop coop! I was worried about the weather but as you said their body heat is crazy hot, so I think by the end of this week ill put them outdoors.

I LOVE our plucker and was only about $10 to make!

Angelicisi, I don't know about the failure to thrive chicks.  Maybe culling would be the best? 

I'm in southern AZ, and had my chicks out just before 2 weeks old. On the "colder" nights, I cover their A-frame pen.  By colder, I mean in the 40s (I'm sure some people would laugh that I even classify that as cold).  These guys generate so much body heat that I wasn't too worried about them being outside with hardly any feathers. 

Also, that post I wrote 4-days ago about the chicks not being big enough to process as Cornish game hens?  Yeah, they're huge now.  I haven't weighed them, but certainly big enough. 

Oh, and I meant to make a drill attached plucker this weekend, I just need a pvc end cap.  I was even at Lowe's and forgot the end cap.  I'll be processing 4, maybe 6, this weekend.