start of my first meat bird experience

[3acres]

the 7 new cornish cross with the 3 I had....
















5 more cornish cross are on there way with my turkeys....(were shipped today).

I'm really liking getting into all this provide for yourself living!

 

[3acres]

The last 5 cornish cross just came. All ok!






I've had to start putting bricks under the red rangers' waters already....so they can drink easier and not get so many shaving in them.

 

[Dogchickenboy]

soon they will look like this







The cornish X are the biggest ones and they are the youngest

 

[3acres]

Yikes!...that's crazy! They look good! Thanks for sharing the pics! I'm looking forward to experiencing the growth rate first hand....crazy!

 

[3acres]

Day 6 of having my red rangers. I really like them so far! Great birds!

pics from just now...




















After they adjusted just a bit, they went right to foraging. I am going to start building their pasture pen here real soon for when they can come outside.



I picked up a couple more cornish cross making 18 of them now. I'm anxious to see how well I like each of the breeds and what I will do next year.

 

[3acres]

pictures of the cornish cross from last night...

the one on the right is almost 2 weeks old now.

 

[Eggcessive]

You might check out the fermented feed thread for meat birds (and for egg layers too.) Fermenting feed is easy and it saves a ton of money on feed. You just use your regular feed, mix in some water, and an ounce of Bragg's unfiltered unpasteurized apple cider vinegar into a 5 gallon bucket and cover loosely. Stir it for at least 3 days until it starts bubbling when you stir it. The chickens love the taste, it wastes less feed, their droppings don't smell as bad, and they eat less. Every day when you take food out of the bucket, you add more feed and water (but no vinegar )and stir.

 

[3acres]

You might check out the fermented feed thread for meat birds (and for egg layers too.) Fermenting feed is easy and it saves a ton of money on feed. You just use your regular feed, mix in some water, and an ounce of Bragg's unfiltered unpasteurized apple cider vinegar into a 5 gallon bucket and cover loosely. Stir it for at least 3 days until it starts bubbling when you stir it. The chickens love the taste, it wastes less feed, their droppings don't smell as bad, and they eat less. Every day when you take food out of the bucket, you add more feed and water (but no vinegar )and stir.

Thanks! I've been following it the last few months. Great summary of a pile of posts......

. I'm almost about to start in on feeding it to them.

 

[3acres]

I've built 3 of these now and they are working great! 1 for the future layer chicks, 1 for the Cornish Cross and 1 for the Red Rangers. I need 2 more...1 for the ducklings and 1 for the turkey poults....which I am about to built.

I'm going to put wood framed hardware cloth lids on the slope part there on them and probably solid wood lids that can be used as well....they will just sit against the top when not needed.....and fold down over the wire lids when needed like right now out there. The tops are vented and that makes attaching the heat lamp real handy to the top.





the Cornish Cross in theirs...













The key to raising strong healthy Cornish Cross...start with a 5lb weight...move up as needed....

.





The Red Rangers in theirs...

 

[3acres]

As of now I'm going with both the CX and Red Rangers next year. I haven't got around to fermenting any feed, but I do water the crumbles to a mush right before feeding and top dress it with corn.....no feed waste and I feel it's working good. No ACV....quit that a few days after getting them. I seen a huge activity increase switching from pine shavings to hay for bedding...they get fresh hay everyday. They love eating all the seeds in it and scratching around. I'm feeding them grain 3 times a day now. I'm really enjoying my first meat bird experience!


the CX from a few days ago...













the Red Rangers from a few days ago....













started this yesterday evening....should get done today. for the Red Rangers




CX pics from last night.