Trials And Tribulations Of Suburban Meat Bird Production

[Parront]

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.

Thanks for that info. Organic is expensive. It sounds like you had good health results, which I feel is more important than an Organic rating that I do not have that much trust in, anyway. Good food is more important to me than ratings issued by the govm't.

 

[Birdinhand]

Thanks for that info. Organic is expensive. It sounds like you had good health results, which I feel is more important than an Organic rating that I do not have that much trust in, anyway. Good food is more important to me than ratings issued by the govm't.

Yeah, I'm always trying to strike the right balance between quality and cost. I find that more than a rating, organic tends to be associated with high quality, but not always.

 

[aart]

You can feed any left over to your layer flock (with discretion).....
.....especially if you have molters, the extra protein will help.

 

[Birdinhand]

Ok, well I finally had time to do the numbers and they look pretty good! For this last grow out I did not hold back the food, they had 24/7 access, but because I used the mother heating pad instead of a heat lamp, they slept at night. My butchering partner, without me saying anything (thought I was thinking it) said, say, these don't have any of those unusual signs like the ones before, no swollen fluid filled heart sacks, no weird organs. Other than the two that I lost in the first couple of days, I did not have a single fatality. Overall, the health of these birds was fantastic, they stayed mobile and perky right up to the end, though they did sit more and more. I am happy with the CHS Payback fryer formula, I must have had a bad batch last time because this time, droppings stayed firm, no weird overdone molasses smell or off color to the feed and, the chickens were remarkably lean as compared to using Modesto's grow out formula (now that I can't get such a good price on it anymore). at almost half the price, I'm sold! So, as they say on Wallstreet, "lets do the numbers".

In total I ended up with 217 lbs dressed weight. I went through 610 lbs of feed for $442 including tax. I paid about $75 for the chicks, including shipping. my cost per lb of meat dressed was $2.38.

I harvested two thirds of the flock at just shy of 8 weeks and the rest at 8.5 weeks. I had one "runt" at 5.25 lbs, while my prized bird was 8.25 lbs dressed. this batch went through more food and ended up much heavier on average than my last batch. my conversion rate was 2.81 lbs of grain to a lb of meat dressed.

this was definitely my best batch yet. I really like payback organic feed and I absolutely love the meat bird duty mother heating pad that I made. I will never use another heat lamp if I can avoid it, the birds were happier and healthier all the way around.

with the added size this go round, I had to get a second freezer!

below is my 8 1/4 pounder, my biggest CX yet.

 

[biophiliac]

Ok, well I finally had time to do the numbers and they look pretty good! For this last grow out I did not hold back the food, they had 24/7 access, but because I used the mother heating pad instead of a heat lamp, they slept at night. My butchering partner, without me saying anything (thought I was thinking it) said, say, these don't have any of those unusual signs like the ones before, no swollen fluid filled heart sacks, no weird organs. Other than the two that I lost in the first couple of days, I did not have a single fatality. Overall, the health of these birds was fantastic, they stayed mobile and perky right up to the end, though they did sit more and more. I am happy with the CHS Payback fryer formula, I must have had a bad batch last time because this time, droppings stayed firm, no weird overdone molasses smell or off color to the feed and, the chickens were remarkably lean as compared to using Modesto's grow out formula (now that I can't get such a good price on it anymore). at almost half the price, I'm sold! So, as they say on Wallstreet, "lets do the numbers".

In total I ended up with 217 lbs dressed weight. I went through 610 lbs of feed for $442 including tax. I paid about $75 for the chicks, including shipping. my cost per lb of meat dressed was $2.38.

I harvested two thirds of the flock at just shy of 8 weeks and the rest at 8.5 weeks. I had one "runt" at 5.25 lbs, while my prized bird was 8.25 lbs dressed. this batch went through more food and ended up much heavier on average than my last batch. my conversion rate was 2.81 lbs of grain to a lb of meat dressed.

this was definitely my best batch yet. I really like payback organic feed and I absolutely love the meat bird duty mother heating pad that I made. I will never use another heat lamp if I can avoid it, the birds were happier and healthier all the way around.

with the added size this go round, I had to get a second freezer!

below is my 8 1/4 pounder, my biggest CX yet.
View attachment 1175948 View attachment 1175949

Congrats on your results!! Will you be doing another batch this year? Not sure what climate you are in.

 

[Parront]

Ok, well I finally had time to do the numbers and they look pretty good! For this last grow out I did not hold back the food, they had 24/7 access, but because I used the mother heating pad instead of a heat lamp, they slept at night. My butchering partner, without me saying anything (thought I was thinking it) said, say, these don't have any of those unusual signs like the ones before, no swollen fluid filled heart sacks, no weird organs. Other than the two that I lost in the first couple of days, I did not have a single fatality. Overall, the health of these birds was fantastic, they stayed mobile and perky right up to the end, though they did sit more and more. I am happy with the CHS Payback fryer formula, I must have had a bad batch last time because this time, droppings stayed firm, no weird overdone molasses smell or off color to the feed and, the chickens were remarkably lean as compared to using Modesto's grow out formula (now that I can't get such a good price on it anymore). at almost half the price, I'm sold! So, as they say on Wallstreet, "lets do the numbers".

In total I ended up with 217 lbs dressed weight. I went through 610 lbs of feed for $442 including tax. I paid about $75 for the chicks, including shipping. my cost per lb of meat dressed was $2.38.

I harvested two thirds of the flock at just shy of 8 weeks and the rest at 8.5 weeks. I had one "runt" at 5.25 lbs, while my prized bird was 8.25 lbs dressed. this batch went through more food and ended up much heavier on average than my last batch. my conversion rate was 2.81 lbs of grain to a lb of meat dressed.

this was definitely my best batch yet. I really like payback organic feed and I absolutely love the meat bird duty mother heating pad that I made. I will never use another heat lamp if I can avoid it, the birds were happier and healthier all the way around.

with the added size this go round, I had to get a second freezer!

below is my 8 1/4 pounder, my biggest CX yet.
View attachment 1175948 View attachment 1175949

So do you think that having dark nights from the beginning made them healthier?

 

[Birdinhand]

So do you think that having dark nights from the beginning made them healthier?

I do, they seemed to benefit from a normal circadian rhythm. perhaps it gave their organs and bones a chance to catch up with their muscle growth. all the way around they faired better than my previous batches. they maintained normal looking, albeit large, droppings throughout and that is a first. I also believe that the nipple waterer helped their intestinal health as they were not fighting a high level of microbes in their water.

 

[Birdinhand]

Congrats on your results!! Will you be doing another batch this year? Not sure what climate you are in.

I'm in the pacific northwest, north of Seattle. I will probably start the next batch in February or March. the end of summer into fall seems to be the perfect time for growing them out. when they arrive as chicks the days are long and warm, they had lots of play time and sunning, as they grew, the days shortened and the temperature gradually got colder as they feathered out. these birds run hot, they are not heat tolerant but wow can they handle cooler temps better as chicks than any other breeds I have raised. perhaps the long nights toward the last few weeks was a good thing in terms of limiting their food intake. another interesting thing to note, is that they were never frantic about eating, like the last batches have been, which has caused them to claw each other in the stampede to eat when I had added food in the morning. every other batch has ended up with at least a few of them getting some lacerations on the base of their neck, some looked deep. but this batch was wound free throughout, presumably because they did not end up so hungry. it seems that being able to sleep at night naturally quells their appetite compared to being awake on and off with a heat lamp on all night. it's all very interesting to me. I'll be curious in the spring to see how they do with the days starting out cold and ending up warm.

 

[aart]

it seems that being able to sleep at night naturally quells their appetite compared to being awake on and off with a heat lamp on all night.

...good sleep along with not eating 24/7 is the key, I think.

Great write ups here @Birdinhand , lots of good info, thanks for documenting.

 

[Lookin4GoodLife]

Ok, well I finally had time to do the numbers and they look pretty good!

That's awesome Bird, glad things went smoothly! And thank you for your diligence in reporting all the details to us, that'll definitely help other folks in the future.