The Importance of Proper Feeding and Maintenance For Your Meaties

[Bossroo]

Think of the amount of light that you get on cloudy/ rainy days which could be about 50% of a sunny day. On top of that, they also have a tarp over their heads... another decrease of light which is not good for appetite. If the birds are also piling up at night in a corner and pooing all over each other says that they are cold too. So a heat lamp is in order as they are expending a good portion of their feed intake just to keep warm. Then they spend a good portion of their eating time on feather preaning to get rid of the dinginess and general feather upkeep in their desire to keep warm, and you have another oportunilty for weight loss. Not good for growth. Remember the old Scottish proverb... " the eye of the master fatens the cattle!". Good luck.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

That's where the lights will come in handy because when the lights go off.... it's dark and not a gradual reduction of light. The birds are more prone to lay down instead of just piling, that's why I make my last move as late as possible because the morning mess is horrible and if you wait to long in the morning it gets even worse. The lights will help your situation and the birds will do better all around.... less piling... ect.

As far as keeping them stationary... ya I hear ya.... I have about 400 in a greenhouse right now and I have to put down a bale a straw a day. We have a lot of rain this time of year so it's not a good outcome to keep them in tractors. But I understand the mess, it's not fun.

 

[averytds]

The only times I've had piling deaths was the 2 days when I added heat, so I took it out. None before adding it and none since. I covered one whole side of the tractor when I built it in that reflective foil insulation. That's the end where they go and spend the night. There's a square shaped layer of orange poo 1/2 the size of the tractor about every 30 ft or so in lines in my yard.

From a distance DH thought I was only moving it once a day, but moving it about 30 ft each time.

DH never got around to cutting the metal roofing I bought, so I had to use something else. Basically the whole thing is just a hardware cloth covered box. One side is then completely covered by foil insulation all around the inside and a tarp around the outside. I zip tied mesh panels together for the top of the open side. There are 2 house siding panels on top. The tarp covered side one stays all the time. The other one I slide over during the day (if it's not raining) and face the tractors open side to the south. That's where I put the food and water. They spend all day in the open side "the run" and the whole night in the closed side "the coop". But Jeff's right, with the days being fairly even light and dark here right now, "the coop" is basically stationary for 12 hrs while "the run" is getting moved 2-3 times at least in that same amount of time.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I usually had to rake the manure on the side that they slept to keep the grass from burning out... however the lights have fixed that problem to an extent because they seem to just drop when the lights go out because they can't see. Unless the moon is out and then they sleep together in a big bunch like normal.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
It's not bad for crowding, althought that is my max for a pen that size. As long as you move the pen several times a day, it works fine.

 

[averytds]

I hadn't thought anything about the grass burning. Oh well.


I put the light out for a few extra hours last night. Half stayed up and about eating. Half said forget it and went to bed.

 

[litterbitt]

I'm doing the extra couple hours of light now, too.... we'll weigh next week and see how it's working.

Liz

 

[averytds]

Woopie! Freezing rain!

Geez, I might as well build them a permanent coop.