start of my first meat bird experience

[3acres]

First, I want to thank everybody that posts all their useful information on here! I have a lot to learn, but have learned a lot because of it!

I have 25 red rangers and 6 Cornish cross coming this sat - tues sometime. ...and 5 Cornish cross coming with my turkey poults next week. ...and more layers....

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...but I was at a feed store getting a few things and these had just come in. I was told they were Cornish cross. I wanted to buy more, but just got these extra four to help with the wait until the others get here....

. ...and so it begins!











All four are doing great in spite of how they may look...

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One of the brooders I set up...

. I have several set up for everything. I had this laying around out by the garage and it is working great...for a short while here anyway. I could add sides, but am making bigger chick stage brooders also.


It actually looks like this now with adding some layer chicks I saved from a different feed store...

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I can't wait for the others to get here!

 

[3acres]

They just came! Real neat experience!

From McMurray. All alive.




The red rangers.

 

[Elke Beck]

Hendrixcoop, I hear you. I have smallish city lot, and I cannot figure out how I now have 21 chickens on it. It is a puzzlement. I got 4 pullet chicks in July 2011, and things went down hill from there. I was trying to sooth myself by remember that 5 are Cornish X and 9 are Red Rangers, so they will be getting on the bus for Camp Kenmore in the next few weeks, but then I realized that I am picking up hatching eggs to put under my broody tomorrow. I am out of control.

I would try to find a 12 step program, but I would probably come home from the first meeting with a box full of chicks.

The only good thing is I have no problem killing and eating my chickens, so when the population gets too high the surplus go to the Cone of Silence.

 

[3acres]

I started these on a 18% medicated chick starter for just a few days, then went to a 22% meat bird crumble. I started giving them cracked corn by itself in its own container at about a week old. They were wasting a bunch of the dry crumbles....so I started making a watery mush out of the crumbles and top dressing it with dry cracked corn by day 9. That cut tons of waste down! I share the corn they get with lots of other critters, so it's hard to figure the corn in the expense. It's been around the 14 dollar range for feeding them all a week. I haven't been real consistent on what I have been doing with them. I regulate everything involved with them every couple hours and change things as needed according to how they are acting. My top goal this year is just to keep everything alive and learn about that. .....and I'm just doing this for myself and am going to do it no matter what the cost because I feel it is such an awesome thing! ...but do run on no money in life and do eventually want to nail the cost thing down to it's lowest point.....lol. I did find feed 4 dollars cheaper a 100 pounds that I will be getting into this week. I may branch into feeding chickens out for other people in the future, but not sure about that.

 

[SIMZ]

It's a lot of fun raising meat birds! Thank you for sharing your great pictures! Enjoy those chicks!

 

[3acres]

It's a lot of fun raising meat birds! Thank you for sharing your great pictures! Enjoy those chicks!

Thank you! ...and I will! I may add to this post as the rest come in....I gotta a little excited and probably posted too soon...should of waited until the rest got here....

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Gosh, I spoke too soon on the doing great part! One of the four chicks there was a loner, but was eating and drinking fine....I've spent a lot of time watching them....maybe a tad more lazy than the other 3. Well, it laid down today and I could tell some thing was wrong by the way it looked....it died shortly after??? I feel terrible! I tried to get it to drink and stand, but it wouldn't.

 

[trunkman]

I know how you feel, getting a few makes you want more. I started with 6 hen and 3 roosters and wanted a few more and now I'm up to 43 birds.. Love watching them grow and start laying or go from chick to eating size. I'll never to go store bought eggs or chicken again. Enjoy the learning experience!

 

[hendrixcoop]

The beauty of chicken math. Started in Nov 2012 with 6 dual purpose birds, ended up with with 4 Roos. So January 01, I got 5 more dual purpose chicks, something killed 2 which left me with 2 more Roos & 1 hen. Mid February I got 6 (sexed) red pulleys, ended up with 4 pulleys & 2 Roos.
Now that means I have 8 Roos & 7 pulleys, at various ages.

Last week, due to my abundance of Roos, I butchered 2 Roos and found out about reduced breast size, but the meat was good.

Now the math kicked in. Desiring a fuller eating bird, I added to the flock today. I bought 15 Cornish rocks. Man, our 1/4 acre residential lot is getting smaller by the day!

 

[SIMZ]

Hendrixcoop, I hear you. I have smallish city lot, and I cannot figure out how I now have 21 chickens on it. It is a puzzlement. I got 4 pullet chicks in July 2011, and things went down hill from there. I was trying to sooth myself by remember that 5 are Cornish X and 9 are Red Rangers, so they will be getting on the bus for Camp Kenmore in the next few weeks, but then I realized that I am picking up hatching eggs to put under my broody tomorrow. I am out of control.

I would try to find a 12 step program, but I would probably come home from the first meeting with a box full of chicks.

The only good thing is I have no problem killing and eating my chickens, so when the population gets too high the surplus go to the Cone of Silence.

This is too funny! I have been having the same types of conversations with myself recently. "Puzzlement" is a good word for it! LOL I've also discovered that having plans to to butcher chickens in the fall doesn't mean they aren't still running around now. In my mind I don't have that many chickens because I understand that half will be gone in a few months, but it looks very different in reality. And they're still coming..........but it sure is fun!

 

[ozarkchicks]

really enjoyed the pictures

thanks! it's really fun getting chicks! we were going to start with 2 then we decided 3 and then the next morning we decided 4. when we got to the store we ended up with 5 though, funny how you can plan on 2 and get to 5 so fast!

sorry about the chick that died though