Smell of Meat birds

[Northern.Ontario]

People who feed their Cornish crosses >18% protein will get stinky manure and a lot more liquid. Mine are on 18% and soon 17%. Their poop is solid and dries out quick. Their cecal poop doesn't stink that much. Very clean birds.

 

[RUNuts]

Agree. Kids fed A LOT of meal worms to first batch of chicks. Stinky and no one wanted to help clean. We limited the meal worms and all was fine.

Protein = stink. I fed the CX on 18% without slimy, stinky stuff. Your actions have consequences.

 

[Ahavati]

We raise CX and have tried Rangers as as well. We thought about heritage breeds but honestly they take a long time and more food. Therefore cost was more.

We put our CX in a tractor surrounded by electric fence. These birds are all over the place getting bugs and scratching. they do lay around at times, it's hot here so usually mid-day in the shade. But they are active and not overly massive. We ferment their feed which has helped tremendously for not being stinky. Even their tractor which we move once a week (they sleep there so poop piles up overnight) doesn't smell that bad. We have some that are 14 weeks right now that we're processing this weekend. Most are about 7lbs live weight currently and they run and even fly to the top of the tractor with no issues. This is our second year raising them. 25 last year and 100 this year. No leg issues, no heart issues, no over growing. Ours don't have 24/7 feed after 4 weeks. They get fed about 4 times a day and none overnight. Sure we went longer this time than 8 weeks (we have 3 different ages in the pen) but our feed cost hasn't been bad at all. The ferment helps stretch the feed. Plus we feed them scraps.

The Rangers, they definitely have taken a lot longer and aren't quite as beefier. We will probably stick to CX just because they are the most cost efficient. There was no difference in foraging and activity in our RR and CX. They all were just as active and foraged a ton. We have little CX getting out of our electric fence and free ranging our property. We are fine with it but yea...not lazy birds when given space.

We are happy with the CX for what they are intended to do. We are able to average about 4-5lbs a bird dressed weight and fill our freezer for the year in a short time.

 

[Chickenheadmate]

How many do you process in order to have enough for the year?

We raise CX and have tried Rangers as as well. We thought about heritage breeds but honestly they take a long time and more food. Therefore cost was more.

We put our CX in a tractor surrounded by electric fence. These birds are all over the place getting bugs and scratching. they do lay around at times, it's hot here so usually mid-day in the shade. But they are active and not overly massive. We ferment their feed which has helped tremendously for not being stinky. Even their tractor which we move once a week (they sleep there so poop piles up overnight) doesn't smell that bad. We have some that are 14 weeks right now that we're processing this weekend. Most are about 7lbs live weight currently and they run and even fly to the top of the tractor with no issues. This is our second year raising them. 25 last year and 100 this year. No leg issues, no heart issues, no over growing. Ours don't have 24/7 feed after 4 weeks. They get fed about 4 times a day and none overnight. Sure we went longer this time than 8 weeks (we have 3 different ages in the pen) but our feed cost hasn't been bad at all. The ferment helps stretch the feed. Plus we feed them scraps.

The Rangers, they definitely have taken a lot longer and aren't quite as beefier. We will probably stick to CX just because they are the most cost efficient. There was no difference in foraging and activity in our RR and CX. They all were just as active and foraged a ton. We have little CX getting out of our electric fence and free ranging our property. We are fine with it but yea...not lazy birds when given space.

We are happy with the CX for what they are intended to do. We are able to average about 4-5lbs a bird dressed weight and fill our freezer for the year in a short time.

 

[Ahavati]

How many do you process in order to have enough for the year?

We have 6 kids, so we aim for 2 chickens per week. Last year was our first year and we ordered 25 just to get our feet wet. This year we got 80 and we're still processing in batches and lost some early on so we'll have a total of what we did later in a few weeks.

Next year we are ordering 115 (at once, no more staggering ages) with hopes of having 100 birds in the end. We also this year have kept a handful as whole birds but the majority we split into breasts, wings, thighs, legs. Since we usually bought chicken in various pieces, it made it easier than cooking whole birds all the time.

 

[DMichaelW]

It's all in your animal husbandry practices that will determine if you end up with "Franken-chicken" or a normal chicken that is capable of being as active as a dual purpose or layer. People who end up raising Franken-chickens do so by OVERFEEDING! Too high of protein feed and too long of access to food. If you want an active Cornish-cross then use a chick starter that is 18-20% protein for the first 2 weeks, then switch to a 17% protein grower/finisher and only give them as much as the can consume in a few hours during the A.M. and P.M. The lower protein will also eliminate much of the smell because the poop will be firmer like a cats and not watery.

I'm ordering my first bach of Cornish X and am getting everything ready to roll. I wanted to ask you along with others who suggest limiting feed, as to what your end result was for both weights and butcher dates. Did you butcher at 8 weeks, and what were the average weights? There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to feeding: 12 hours on and 12 hours off, or feed in the AM and feed in the PM. It seems as though the latter, is the money saver, but I'm curious if the end result is the same as those who feed 12 on 12 off. Thanks so much!

 

[DMichaelW]

Restricting feed to two 20-minute meals a day after 4 weeks, feeding a wet food like fermented feed, using a large mobile tractor or raising them in a large space with food and water on opposite sides of the pen, even raising them with a few heritage breeds mixed in makes a world of difference. I have had CX live for years with this treatment.


I'm ordering my first bach of Cornish X and am getting everything ready to roll. I wanted to ask you along with others who suggest limiting feed, as to what your end result was for both weights and butcher dates. Did you butcher at 8 weeks, and what were the average weights? There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to feeding: 12 hours on and 12 hours off, or feed in the AM and feed in the PM. It seems as though the latter, is the money saver, but I'm curious if the end result is the same as those who feed 12 on 12 off. Thanks so much!

 

[Morrigan]

I use fermented feed from the very start.

First two weeks -- unlimited food
Week 3 -- let the feeder run out for a few hours before refilling.
Week 4 to butcher -- 2x day, 20 minutes a shot, plus forage in a large, enclosed yard, supplemented by some old veggies and sprouted grains/fodder I would toss in once a day.

I do a staggered butchering starting at 8+ weeks and ending around 12/13 weeks, taking the biggest and slowest birds first. Dressed weight (excluding necks and giblets) average about 6 pounds. Smallest are typically around 4.5 lbs and largest are 9+ lbs ( I had one 10+ lb monster one year)

It may be slower, but I find the birds are active, well-feathered and look very healthy at butchering time. There just isn't all the stink and dirty birds I read so much about. Also, I have never had one drop dead on me prior to butchering, so my chick to butcher ratio is close to 100%.

 

[Mrs. K]

I did the in the morning and before dark, I did 3-4 quarts of feed for both times wet, good sand castle dampness. Before I started wetting the feed, I could not keep enough water, they just seemed a little two desperate to me. I ordered 12, got 15, raised and butchered them at 8.5 weeks. Aboutn6-8 lbs live weight, with the hens being lighter.

I will never go back. I had them deeply bedded, and did not have any trouble, though I did them in April May, which is still pretty cool. there was four of us, and we got them done in 4 hours, 15 was a nice amount to do.

 

[redblack10]

Does anyone raise CX with a roost - even just inches off the ground? I am going to raise about 50, starting in a couple of weeks, and I want to give them the best "chicken life" I can. This thread is amazing and I am ready to combine the ideas that sound good to me. My 26 layers and 2 roosters free range. What are thoughts on letting CX free range for their last 2 - 4 weeks? Do the CX show signs of sexual maturity along with their rapid physical maturity?