Update: Cornish X at 6 weeks

[erinszoo]

Well the 8 birds we have left (we've butchered the rest already for game hens) are now all over 4 1/2 lbs. Two of them are at 6 lbs already though and we may butcher them this weekend. We had to move up to 24% crumble for them as our feed store was out of the 20% we were using so we've been mixing it 2/3 to 1/3 with scratch grains. Given they are still putting on weight and growing well we guess they are getting enough protein. Hopefully our store will have the right feed again soon.

They've all been getting yard time now every day for an hour or two in the mornings. At first they would just sit huddled up together, but now they move around the yard and have even discovered the food trough in the chicken house.

Watching them walk around is kind of funny. Some of them walk just fine but others do this kind of sideways jumping thing and then will hop like a rabbit. Not sure what that's about but they don't seem to be in distress or having leg problems.

Our egg birds that are 6 weeks are about 1 1/2 lbs now and they are getting exactly the same feed as the meaties. I've enjoyed watching the differences in their growth and changes.

Another two weeks and it will all be over until next spring. My husband wants to get 50 meat birds next spring.

I'm not sure I'm ready for that unless he builds a new pen to keep them in separate from our chicken house. The smell would be awful I would think.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

I love following your progress - we aren't too terribly far behind ya'll and it's fun to see how others are doing. Ours just turned 2 weeks old today, and man how they grow!

Could ya'll maybe do tractors for them next spring instead? Just a thought...I've been taking ours out to a little tractor every day for some yard time since for the most part the days have been pretty warm here and they love it! I make sure to leave just enough food for the day, and when the temps start to drop their feeder is usually empty so all I have to do is go out and shake some more feed for them - they all come running and it's easy to scoop them back up and take them inside to the brooder...maybe you could do something similar?

We talked about building them their own little "meaty house" and it was vetoed because it would require actual cleaning instead of just scooting along to a fresh spot daily...Even if ya'll don't have a lot of room to move it around, it's still a cheap and easy way to provide separate housing...I built my most recent one out of scrap we found on the property and only had to buy wire for the sides and some hardware

All by myself in less than a day really. It's kinda wompy and not perfect because that's how I roll...but it'll do for meaty birds

Maybe try talking your husband into 2 batches of 25? I wanted to do 50 at a time and "get it all over with" - my feelings were if I did 50 at once I'd be set with one chicken dinner a week or more all year (since it's just the 2 of us most times)...but now that I've seen how quick 20 out grow my current brooding set up...WHOA! I'm glad I only got 20

I could never imagine 50...not at one time...that takes a brave soul with the right set up!

Good luck with the last 8...can't wait to hear how you do!

 

[erinszoo]

Thanks for the suggestions. Luckily we have all winter to plan and plot for the next bunch of birds in the spring but I like the idea of two lots of 25 better than one lot of 50. We actually have a space that could be dedicated to the meaties with a small house and yard space without too much trouble right next to our chicken yard but just putting them in a chicken tractor every day sounds like it could work too. It would sure be a lot less hay and bedding changes than we go through now.

Good luck with yours. I've loved keeping track of their growth especially compared with our egg layers that are the same age. It's been kind of a neat experiment for our kids too.