Trials And Tribulations Of Suburban Meat Bird Production

[twigcrafter]

thanks!

 

[Lookin4GoodLife]

Hey Birdinhand, the forum changeover made me go MIA for a while waiting for it to come back. Thanks VERY MUCH for posting all the great info on your meat bird efforts. I know we all appreciate it. It may be next spring before I can get started with my meat bird project, but I will definitely refer back to this thread for info before, during and after! I'll have to figure where in my budget the Yardbird chicken plucker will go, but it's definitely a go on that item. The next item in line is my sawmill so I can get started on my outbuildings, so the plucker will have to wait a while. Great info here!

 

[Birdinhand]

OK, well the Wifey started one of those high protein diets a few months ago (and it's been working, BTW!) and we are nearing the bottom of the freezer so we ordered more chicks! this time I'm giving up on heat lamps and created a modified, beefed up version of the Mother Heating Pad. Below is my best shot at an adjustable height, Meat Bird duty MHP. I made two of these to accommodate 37 chicks and who knows, I may end up needing a third. I decided to use lots of support rods, 8 per, with two layers of hardware cloth for the upper layer for when the chicks graduate to staying top side, the two layers are nit together with zip ties and sandwiched between large washers to help with support. for lateral stability I decided to add a bottom third layer of hardware cloth that will be under the bedding. the structure is pretty solid though I may add cross bracing on the ends at some point if needed. I used flat bungees to hold up the heating pad and press and seal to cover the whole thing for easier cleaning. I will be placing a towel over the top and have it draped down to keep the warmth in, with cuts every few inches so the chicks can enter and leave from all sides. I will be adjusting the angle to go down in the back. I'll post a pic of it all in place with the chicks running around after I get back from the post office. I may add a light since the brooder in the coop is kind of dark, I used to rely on those blasted heat lamps for light, but I'm so glad to be rid of those things, they are just too harsh, interrupt sleep patterns and prone to burning out and fire and not to mention they are expensive to use, they eat electricity. the heating pad runs on a fraction of the electricity. since we try and generate all our own electricity with our solar panels, the added efficiency is very welcome!

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[Birdinhand]

I went to check on the chicks again this afternoon and found them having a lovely sunning. It never ceases to amaze me that something that is just 3 days old can have the ability to adjust to the throws of being shipped in a box and put into a completely foreign environment and still find the wherewithal to enjoy the creature comforts of good old mother nature's sunshine. this sunny spot is a full 5 feet from the MHP. Happening upon this warmed my heart and is part of what keeps me inspired to raise our own food as I'm pretty sure there is no store bought chicken that has this quality of life, albeit for it's relatively short time on the planet. CX live a life in fast forward and if you can adjust to their pace, they can be very rewarding to care for as they grow leaps and bounds in an astonishingly short period of time.

 

[Birdinhand]

I'm feeling good about my coop orientation, morning and evening sun, but North sloped so cooler during the heat of the day... just look at those happy little fluff balls! It's really kind of amazing to me that they figured out how to drink from the nipples right away, like it's a built in instinct... never going back to regular waterers either!

 

[Lookin4GoodLife]

I think most chickens are a lot smarter than people give them credit for. Of course, there are always exceptions to every species.

 

[Birdinhand]

well, sadly, I did lose two over the last couple of days. not sure if they were the two that had leg trouble from day one. my number one suspicion is that I had the heating pad too low to the ground and that these two got trapped in the back end and over heated. I did start running into a high number of chicks with pasty butt and did some reading up and found that many folks suspect too high a heat to be one of the main causes (and the last few days have been quite a bit hotter all of a sudden). So yesterday I adjusted the MHP up by about a half inch both front and back and made sure the towels were not trapped under bedding and I added a second nipple waterer. Today, virtually all the pasty butts had cleared up, which is kind of hard to believe that it turned around that fast as I was starting to worry about constipation issues with how things were building up quickly. so I feel things are back on track and looking good. the MHP and the nipple waterers have made a big improvement over all. As they say in sailing, I guess the trick is to "keep tacking"!

 

[Birdinhand]

well, everything is going swimingly, these chicks run so much warmer than regular chicks, they went from sleeping under to sleeping on top in about 10 days and now it's about day 14 and I have turned the heater to 5 and last night I went down to check on them and they were all spread out throughout the brooder with none on the MHP. this morning a few were under and on it, but I kind of wonder if they still need the heat on at all. It will be cooling off here in the next few days so I'm going to hold off making any drastic changes and see if the cooler weather has them back to needing the heat. oh, and yesterday I raised the MHP another inch or so and cleaned the towel over top for the first time. and surprisingly, so far, one extra large MHP seems to be enough.

 

[aart]

Did you put 2 heaters right next to each other...in a 12 x 48 foot print?
Or just one 12 x 24?
What is your location(put it in your profile)?

 

[Birdinhand]

Did you put 2 heaters right next to each other...in a 12 x 48 foot print?
Or just one 12 x 24?
What is your location(put it in your profile)?

yes, two heating pads right next to each other, making it a total of 12/48". I am north of Seattle in WA state. the cobb 500 cornish cross gets plenty of feathers/fluff early on, so that may be a factor, they are well covered at this point and we are going through a long dry and hot phase.