Josh L.
Songster
Currently, I've been raising some Cornish X chicks for my mother, and I'll be keeping three as breeders (feed restriction and whatnot, obviously, so everyone is being feed restricted currently to gain muscle and being allowed to run around as they please. This will be my first attempt breeding meat birds but we'llsee how it goes! If it all goes to hell ill try red rangers next, but they had been out of stock so I ended up with Cornish Xs), and I think I got lucky on this bunch, it looks like I've only got one or two roos in the entire batch!
There's one very obvious little cockerel, and one who I'm suspicious of, but the others all seem to be pullets, based on the wing growth from when they were two-five day old chicks, as well as current comb growth.
^^^ Here is my for-sure roo baby, and definitely the most excitable and active of all of them, so he's going to be my breeder roo. Theyre all in a temporary chicken tractor (5ft x 5 ft roughly) until I add a nest box (and remove their makeshift box with a heat lamp, which has a cage and is above the box by about three inches, so little to no fire risk there) and another section with another cattle panel for the three I'll be keeping (along with my little fiesty child, the chick that hatched in late November who's been raised with these guys. She seems to be a pullet so no reason not to keep her!)
Theyre still young yet, but I wanted to be sure I was right about the sex of this little man. Ill put a comparison here (with two presumed pullets) from about a week ago:
Thoughts? Thanks in advance!
PS: I have done a lot of research on breeding these guys, but any advice would be helpful! From what I've gathered, it is possible as long as they aren't overfed. They look EXTRA fluffy right now on their breasts because its been very chilly lately (which is why they still have a heat lamp, if it were summer they wouldn't have needed one in the first place)!
There's one very obvious little cockerel, and one who I'm suspicious of, but the others all seem to be pullets, based on the wing growth from when they were two-five day old chicks, as well as current comb growth.
^^^ Here is my for-sure roo baby, and definitely the most excitable and active of all of them, so he's going to be my breeder roo. Theyre all in a temporary chicken tractor (5ft x 5 ft roughly) until I add a nest box (and remove their makeshift box with a heat lamp, which has a cage and is above the box by about three inches, so little to no fire risk there) and another section with another cattle panel for the three I'll be keeping (along with my little fiesty child, the chick that hatched in late November who's been raised with these guys. She seems to be a pullet so no reason not to keep her!)
Theyre still young yet, but I wanted to be sure I was right about the sex of this little man. Ill put a comparison here (with two presumed pullets) from about a week ago:
Thoughts? Thanks in advance!
PS: I have done a lot of research on breeding these guys, but any advice would be helpful! From what I've gathered, it is possible as long as they aren't overfed. They look EXTRA fluffy right now on their breasts because its been very chilly lately (which is why they still have a heat lamp, if it were summer they wouldn't have needed one in the first place)!
