Smell of Meat birds

[Mrs. K]

Mine did not crow, and my hens combs were pale, so no, I do not think they sexually matured.

I did let mine out, to get a bit more exercise, but really only for a few minutes. They are bright white, and while mine were quite active, they are slow and would be very easy for predators to catch, and I was pretty determined we would be the ones to eat them. I think if you free ranged them you would lose them to predation. They won’t really travel too far.

I did bed the run and coop pretty deeply. And once or twice, I flipped it. Mine would climb over and on top of low stuff, but even though I had a roost 15 inches off the ground they ignored it.

Of course I don’t know your set up, or help situation, but I would advise doing this a couple times a year, smaller bunches. I did 15, and for my coop space, help to butcher, my freezer and fridge space, that was about right. I plan to do these again, but I would not do more than then 15 at a time. Doing to many, can lead to loss due to not enough space. Do not think free ranging can make up for that.

They really do need to be in separate quarters from the layers.

Good luck, mine taste amazing. Really were not hard to raise, fit in to my chicken chores. They were outside in a week, but with good wind protection.

Mrs K

 

[redblack10]

Thank you, Mrs. K -- These birds will not be with my layers and roosters, unless I let them range for a short while at bedtime. Their run area, including coop, covers about 3000 sq ft of chicken-wire-covered cattle panels with poultry netting elevated above the whole thing. It's not very pretty, but it is secure! I also use LOTS of metallic pinwheels and solar night predator lights. I use sand on my coop floor, scooped daily, and I will take them to a poultry processor, two hours away, so it is best for me to raise them all at once. I appreciate your advice.

 

[cassie]

Hi, I have a flock of 10 chickens that I keep in my backyard. The lot that I live on is just under 1 acre. Someone told me I should shy away from raising Cornish cross due to their smell. I was curious if this “problem” is as serious as they are saying it is. How much worse are they from a regular flock of laying hens?

The Cornish X are bred to grow fast and reach butcher weight early. To do that they eat a lot and therefore they poop a lot. To get the most out of them you need to give them a high powered feed. The odor from my Cornish X was minimal. In fact if you were standing just a few feet from the barn you wouldn't even know they were there. I will tell you how I raised mine. I have posted this before, so if you have already read it, just skip it.

I was fortunate enough to have a large 12' x 12' box stall in the barn that was well ventilated but not drafty. This was more than enough room for a batch of 25 chickens. I bedded the stall with shavings. I added shavings as often as necessary to keep the stall dry. If the bedding is kept dry and the area where the chickens are is well ventilated there will be very little odor. I did not clean the stall out until the chickens were gone. I hung the feeders and waterers on a chain from the ceiling. There was
a snap on the end so the height could be adjusted. I had the feeders and waterers low enough so the chickens could reach them easily but high enough so they had to stand. The feeders were on one side of the stall and the waterers were on the other so the chickens had to walk to get from one to the other. I fed broiler feed (starter, grower, and finisher) when I could get it and turkey feed (starter, grower, and finisher) when I couldn't. I took the feed away at seven at night and put it back at seven in the morning. I put a product called Broiler Booster, available from Murray McMurray hatchery, in the water. It has extra vitamins etc. in it and it seems to help with the leg and other issues Cornish X are heir to. I like big roasters so I butchered mine when they dressed out at eleven or twelve pounds. I processed mine about three a day because that is what I could easily handle. Even at that rate I could get through the whole batch in about a week. I did not try to raise the Cornish X in the hot time of the year. I bought chicks in the fall after the worst of the heat had passed or in the spring so they would be gone before it got hot.

The Cornish are great meat chickens, but they do have their quirks. Too many people buy Cornish X, try to make them into something they are not, and then wonder why they are not successful. If a person isn't willing to deal with these quirks, they are better off raising a different breed. Hope this helps.

 

[Mrs. K]

and I will take them to a poultry processor, two hours away, so it is best for me to raise them all at once. I appreciate your advice.

Wow, that would be sweet

 

[Northern.Ontario]

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?

I just raised a batch of 86 CX to 10 weeks old. 3 of them were females and 83 were male. A couple started crowing at 9 weeks old. Roosts are not recommended for CX because they can develop breast blisters due to their large weight and lack of feathers underneath them. Mine dressed out between 6 and 9 pounds. They were all very active and do chickeny activities like scratch around the yard, they run after bugs, fly over my 2 foot high partition wall I used to separate the pen from the outdoor range. Mine were free ranging from weeks 5-10. I have a second batch of 53 and will start free ranging them at 4 weeks. They are protected by an electric poultry fence; highly recommend that to protect them from land based predators. I don't think they reach sexual maturity until 6-8 months old.

 

[redblack10]

I just raised a batch of 86 CX to 10 weeks old. 3 of them were females and 83 were male. A couple started crowing at 9 weeks old. Roosts are not recommended for CX because they can develop breast blisters due to their large weight and lack of feathers underneath them. Mine dressed out between 6 and 9 pounds. They were all very active and do chickeny activities like scratch around the yard, they run after bugs, fly over my 2 foot high partition wall I used to separate the pen from the outdoor range. Mine were free ranging from weeks 5-10. I have a second batch of 53 and will start free ranging them at 4 weeks. They are protected by an electric poultry fence; highly recommend that to protect them from land based predators. I don't think they reach sexual maturity until 6-8 months old.

Thank you for the tips. I am looking into the electric fence asap - just lost 2 of my babies to a head-eater.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Thank you for the tips. I am looking into the electric fence asap - just lost 2 of my babies to a head-eater.

Head eaters are commonly raccoons or weasels