what breed of meat bird to get

[sammileah]

i got cornish X this yr, but hate them they are to stupid to get out of the rain. i loose several everytime a storm rolls thru ( daily ) and my 40 is down to 6. those 6 take shealter. so anyway looking for something with a few more brains.

any ideas?

 

[Bossroo]

Change management !!!

 

[eKo_birdies]

how old are your chickens? (or were they when they started going outside?)

do you have your cornish x separated from the rest of your flock? they may be more likely to do the smart thing if they have a good influence around (a trustworthy hen who can show them where to go and what to do).

also, how long did you imprint them in a coop and/or run before you let them free range? if this period wasn't long enough they may not know where "home" is.

 

[sammileah]

not free ranged. in a pen all there own. they were 4 weeks. pen has coop then grass area. my hens hate them.

 

[eKo_birdies]

i guess i am confused as to how you are losing them?? i thought you meant they physically wandered off.

so you mean they are dying? are they piling up and squashing each other? if this is the case you need to offer them several areas in the run to get out of the rain and stay warm and dry (obviously the coop isn't cutting it). if you only have one area to escape the rain that is probably why they are piling up.

i have to agree w/ bossroo on this one... sounds like you need to change management practices. i free ranged my cornish x on 40 acres and didn't seem to have this many issues.

if you've taken all the proper precautions... i dunno.. maybe you just got an extremely stupid batch.

 

[jjparke]

Sorry bro it sounds like you are doing something wrong. I raised 30 once and only lost 1. Do they have plenty of access to fresh cool water? Do you have food available all day or only at certain times? So are they trampling each other trying to get to the food?

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
We have 56 5 week old commercial broilers in our barn right now. We have lost ZERO and all look healty right now.

If the birds are too "stupid" to get out of the rain then there is something wrong with the management or there is a sericous health issue to have such a dramatic death loss.

Jim

 

[sammileah]

dieing. some have been under the others in a corner most are just laying in the open area. they are open fed all day. i raised some last yr and didn't have any probs. these have been nothing but. have 4 waters spread out. i have no clue. they have plenty of space. i did get these from dif place then last yr. wouldn't think that would be an issue. normaly i don't loose a chick till they are full grown and fly the coop.

thinking of going with slowed standard breeds

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
http://www.jmhatchery.com/images/Lg-Colored-Range.html

Rangers grow a little slower but still get to a very good size in a relatively short amount of time with none of the attendant problems of the Cornish X.

While your losses sound excessive to me even for the X bird, it isn't uncommon for folks, many of them excellent managers with lots of experience with them, to at times have heavy losses and lots of problems.

Switch birds to something a little more suited to backyard and small scale rearing.