Red Laced Cornish X and project talk (pics p. 8)

[KatyTheChickenLady]

okay then here's a pic off my "on deck roo", he's my favorite but not as big as the really big boys. He is so gorgous and has such a strong upright stature, he may get moved to a breeding pen this week . . . still debating. he's as heavy as he looks and only about 20 weeks old!

 

[SteveH]

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I'm with you on that , but don't believe I can breed my own for the price the hatcheries sell them at .

If that because of feed prices?

I can get feed cheaply here in the midwest , but can get straight run CX at 88 cents , pullets 80 cents , $15 shipping , from Schlechts .

 

[SteveH]

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He's a nice looking bird !

 

[Wolfwoman]

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If that because of feed prices?

I can get feed cheaply here in the midwest , but can get straight run CX at 88 cents , pullets 80 cents , $15 shipping , from Schlechts .

Ok, so I guess my question is (remember, I'm new to this...lol) how is it cheaper to buy chicks, rather than having a broody hen hatch them? Or to even incubate them? Isn't that kinda 'free' if you already have enough birds and eggs for hatching? Maybe you have some number for me... and for perspective, I pay $15-17 for 50lbs of almost any feed.

 

[SteveH]

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I can get feed cheaply here in the midwest , but can get straight run CX at 88 cents , pullets 80 cents , $15 shipping , from Schlechts .

Ok, so I guess my question is (remember, I'm new to this...lol) how is it cheaper to buy chicks, rather than having a broody hen hatch them? Or to even incubate them? Isn't that kinda 'free' if you already have enough birds and eggs for hatching? Maybe you have some number for me... and for perspective, I pay $15-17 for 50lbs of almost any feed.

If you have some good broodies , all you're out is the eggs not laid during the incubation and after ; but figure what it costs to keep a hen and roo per year and the cost per chick will add up quick . I've already got far more invested than the original cost of day olds in my flock and not to breeding age yet , then there will be the expence of equipment and power for incubation . Of course I will have some meat from the parent stock after I'm done useing them .

 

[SteveH]

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After some heavy use of a Scotchbrite pad and dish detergent , nothings on me needs photographed [ I was in my boxers when this happened , the area I'm not man enough to Scotchbrite is not going to be pictured ] .
I had to come back in to clean the fog off my lens [ heat index 105 today ] , so two trips through the first pen with Tug's 7 week old son , Shugger Bull , doing this all the way :

got me to the pen me to take this pic of Tug :

 

[Wolfwoman]

Hmm. Definitely something to think about then.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

haha! awesome steve!

 

[SteveH]

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Please don't let me discourage you . I believe its possible to breed a CX body type chicken , though a bit slower to mature , and become more self-sufficient . There's just something that feels good with breeding your own strain and being independent of the retailers and conglomerates like Tyson [ who owns nearly , if not all , of the parent strains of the modern CX ] . I've got a big enough pen that its still growing grass but I could cut costs significently if I fenced an acre or two for ranging chickens behind an electricly charged fence [ though hawks might still be a problem ] ; and growing my own grain also would be a tremendous savings . However planting and harvesting by hand would be difficult with my physical problems . I pay $8.99 per 40 lb. bag of 17 % grower , and can boost that to whatever protein % I want with commercial cat or catfish food at a reasonable cost . I could probably beat that price if I had enough chickens to buy a custom ground mix . I'm thinking on checking about minimum order amounts and pricing because I can probably feed enough now to use it before it gets old .

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

my friend just bought his own grinder!