Trials And Tribulations Of Suburban Meat Bird Production

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Well, it's day 39! I unplugged the mother heating pad and removed it about 8 days ago since we were headed into a warm spell and the birds were filling out so fast that they needed the added space more than the heat. within a few days of doing that, I decided it was time to separate them out into more pens for the final few weeks, as managing the poop was getting tricky. I'm still not restricting food as they are sleeping at night and don't seem to be showing signs of over eating, no leg issues and their droppings are still pretty firm for the most part. I am quite optimistic at this point, it appears that I am ahead of the growth curve compared to last time and they all seem happier and healthier. They are still running around but definitely starting to spend more time sitting, so I have been diligent to raise the water and food up off the ground even more. I am pleased that they are staying so clean, though it is starting to feel more and more like a juggling act and it always seems that at some point I can't keep up and they start looking dirty and things get smelly.


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well here we are at the end of week 7, day 50! Things continue to go well, perhaps best yet even. they are sleeping through the night, without me having to take the food away and with the exception of one, they are all in very good health. there is one that seems to have something akin to gird, having trouble swallowing, periodically stretching out it's neck and seeming to have labored breathing. I noticed this a week ago and in the last day or so seems to be getting bad enough that I'm thinking of putting it out of it's misery. At this point the food consumption is quite high, looks like I will go through about 200 more lbs than last time and I can't be sure until harvest, but it looks like the birds are larger overall.

keeping up with the moisture/droppings has been easier than in the past, not sure why. it could be that the nipple waterer keeps them from gorging themselves on water. I remember last spring that some would go from eating right over to drinking and drink till they had trouble keeping it down, occasionally actually regurgitating water and drooling on the ground. I see no signs of dehydration and since it is cloudy and rainy now, so I have no reason to worry. Also, I have not had to adjust down the protein of the food as a preventative to diarrhea, the droppings remain a decent consistency. overall, everything is staying dryer and cleaner this go round.

Because next week is packed and Monday is my only free day, I am pretty certain I will be harvesting two days before the 8 week mark or waiting till the following week. I really try to avoid having harvest day be on a weekend so as to avoid freaking out any of the passers by since more folks are out walking on the weekends here.

I'm really excited to see how the cost per lb works out, this year I was able to find substantially cheaper food and it appears that my weights will be coming in pretty high. I am also curious to see if these are less or more fatty than the last batch. lots of data to glean from the first time using new food and the mother heating pad method. I am feeling very positive about all this, I will never go back to using a heat lamp, especially after my daughters nasty burn on her arm from last go round!


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Parront said:
Sounds like good food, did you say what it is and I missed it?
Click to expand...
I went with Pay Back Organic Fryer ration from CHS. I think it was 60 cents/lb, vs the 80 I paid at the coop, which is now $1/lb :~(). I just found out that a local company, scratch and peck supplies through Mud Bay, a pet store near by, and they can get their organic grower for 76/lb and my experience has been especially good with scratch and peck, they don't let stuff sit on the shelf for long vs payback which, if I read the date right on the bag was 18 months old when I bought it.
 

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