Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Chickielady]

My favorite of the babies

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...and so photogenic ! A perfect pose !

 

[Chickielady]

Yours don't take eight weeks to get all their feathers? I've always waited eight weeks till they are outside completely if the weather is cold.

My babies have heat lamps too...so out they go.
If they want to venture outdoor in the run, they can, if not, they stay inside under the heat.

 

[mixedbreeds]

Anyone have any tips on raising meat birds? Do you feed them anything other than the high protein broiler diets? have 15 Cornish Cross, 15 Red Raingers and 12 Pekin Ducks coming on February 22. I have never raised meat birds before should be interesting. I have 3 brooders in my tack room a 8'x8', a 7'x4' and a 4'x 4' I am in the process of building a 8'x16' room in the barn for the chickens will split it in half and grow out the Cornish in one side and the Rangers in the other. I think I will finish the ducks in the 8'x8' brooder.

 

[Chickielady]

great hatch there I need to pick up a new heating pad without the darn auto shut off
cannot quite justify the spendy brinsea one have to stick my bator on the shelf awhile
after this hatch

Foster & Smith has some great ones use for rabbits, cats or lizads...and also works great for birds of all kinds.
I just got one, 25 watts, and works great.

I got the $29. one close to the top...it is about 12 x 10...big enough to heat up a large nest (build the straw kind of around & over the pad............pad is hard plastic, easy to wash off.

LOOK:::

http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.com/search?w=heating pad

I was going to get one of those seed starter mats...or a piglet warming mat (mush bigger) but this one is working fine.

 

[Chickielady]

Wow have not heard that name in a long time
closest is Montesano or Elma use to like the stores
I actually start dropping temp pretty quick as
it encourages them to feather in faster mho

The main office for Dennis Company is here in Raymond.........but consider the pet warmer pad, it is hard plastci & easier to was poo off, and I sleep better not worrying about wires shorting out....bad enough I have to have all outlets GFIs...I am just always careful about sparks & arcing & such.
I wire all heat lamps up with vineyard wire.............heat lamps REALLY make me worry !

 

[Chickielady]

Anyone have any tips on raising meat birds? Do you feed them anything other than the high protein broiler diets? have 15 Cornish Cross, 15 Red Raingers and 12 Pekin Ducks coming on February 22. I have never raised meat birds before should be interesting. I have 3 brooders in my tack room a 8'x8', a 7'x4' and a 4'x 4' I am in the process of building a 8'x16' room in the barn for the chickens will split it in half and grow out the Cornish in one side and the Rangers in the other. I think I will finish the ducks in the 8'x8' brooder.

YES. I have been doing it for decades & the best way for us is chicken tracters...there is a fan forced heater in the coop part of the chicken tracter...and a light. Light is plugged in the AM to stay on all day (it is otherwise dark in there) and the heater is wired to a wafer thermostat so it comes on & off as needed as the babies grow less needing heat.
Meat birds do not like heat as much nor can they tolerate heat as they get older, as theyhave so much muscle mass.
As they get older, heat will be the big problem: keeping them cool...where we would prop up the coop lid & try to keep them in the shade & on green cool grass.
We moved the tractor about every 2 days as they greww...and ate & poo'd all over

We used a section of rain gutter for water, attached to a 5 gallon bucket.there was a float switch in the rain gutter, and a swivle top feeder with graduated legs that raises as the birds grow, and the swivle top dumps any birds off who try to roost on the top...this feeder is long like a rain gutter so all the little piggies can get to the food.

Swivel..............auto correct is not letting me correct misspellings for some reason.

I usually get 25 "Barbe que special" from McMurray about March 1st....and another 25 delivered 6 weeks later, trying to have all butchered by summer's heat setting in.

Cockerels are butchered at 6-8 weeks depending on their size, and hens about 2 weeks later as they grow slower.

Another tip:
When you butcher, use 3 tubs of cold water, toos them in the 1st tub, swish, then the next, swish and so on, the last tub being plenty clean.
I toss gizzard, hearts & liver in the 3rd tub & grab them out to bag up when we were all done...........

Another tip:
DO NOT FEED the day of the butcher ! The night before butcher day, remove the feeder ! This way you do not have birds full of POOP, BUT they will have fatter gall bladders, so pinch the gall bladder with a needle noce plier & then cut it off, keeping the bile off the meat.

Another tip:
Rigormortis will get these birds after a short while & they will strtch out like standing on tip toes and there will be NO WAY you can stuff them in a 1 gallon zip lock...so bag them early...and freeze quickly.
Ours would just barely fit in the bag...barely.
Sure love them...they are far tastier than store bought, but so totally gross to clean up after.

Gary & I have a routine so fast that we could butcher about 25 in a short afternoon, after breakfast.
# people is even better, one slits the throat, one scalds & plucks, the other guts & removes legs...a 3rd can wash & bag & tote them to the freezer.
Goes fast that way.

OH AND we filled the feeder in the morning & they ate grass after the feed was gone.
Have fun !

 

[Chickielady]

Oh and I am no longer behaving myself.......I caved.
Since I am saving & selling hatching eggs I had all these unclaimed Exchequer leghorn eggs, so in the little incubator they went !
BUT I am NOT turning on that cabinet incubator !!!

That thing holds over 300 eggs, and gets me in big trouble really fast !!


I LOVE these Exchequers !
They lay non stop & can really take care of themselves.
I do not worry about predators with them, not like I have to with the large breeds.

OK back to work for me !

 

[mixedbreeds]

Wow that was a bunch of information thank you.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Quote: Great idea there think first of the month I will get one not far off and just a couple of days
after hatch can get use the one I have till then my cc won't scream anymore

 

[Hinotori]

13 week photos


Pullet


Cockerel