too late to raise broilers this fall?

[bobeena]

Like many others, I saw the recent Meyer hatchery broiler sale advertised. I want to know if it's too late to raise a batch for the year, if I do not have any heat source in the outdoor enclosure/coop after they feather out and leave the brooder. I talked to a local person with some experience who believes that without a heat lamp, the broilers won't mature in the standard 7-8 weeks, because they'll expend too many calories just trying to stay warm, taking a lot longer and making the proposition uneconomical.
I have laying hens but have never tried to raise Cornish X.

I thought I'd check to see if anyone else has experience with this. My climate: middle of North Carolina.

thanks for any advice!

 

[Oregon Blues]

No experience with your climate, but we had really cold spring weather here that lasted much later than usual. So my spring Cornish Cross got raised in freezing weather. I kept heat lamps on at night until they were 6 weeks old. It did not slow their growth, but they ate more. Some of that food went to keeping warm instead of growth,


By "cold" I mean down to zero degrees F after they were moved outside and I had to keep them in the brooder longer than normal. I don't know what "cold" means in your area or how long your fall weather lasts, I could have ordered broilers up until about the middle of September and expected good weather to raise them.

What kind of weather can you reasonably expect during the next 8 weeks?

 

[Oregon Blues]

Plus side for fall raising: butchering is much more pleasant in the fall than it is in early summer.