Winter Broiler Projects-share your progress :)

[TamTurkey]

First I live in Texas so we don't have hard winters. I was is shorts today. Don't get jealous I have to try to keep the turkeys cool in 80 degree days and warm them in to 50s at night. (Turkeys will soon get a climate controlled house like the chickens) my chickens have 24 hr light and feed and a climate controlled coop. I add vitamin D and calcium to their water (and now trying ACV) we raise for exhibition. I would love to do FF but I don't have the time or desire to mix it myself. I only have 6 weeks to get them ready so we push as hard as possible. I don't lose too many to heart issues but I don't stress them at all after week 4. I do know people who have had heart failure as well as leg issues. I have alarms that go off every 6 hours to wake them up. I use show feed with the highest protein. We make sure we don't take on more than we have room for. I am so excited to get my new ones next week I will keep you posted

 

[TamTurkey]

Lord please forgive my above post for my obvious blunder. I forgot what a sense of humor you have.

Ahh yes that fine Texas Weather. It's been in the 80's with maybe a low of 50s for ever and of course I am getting my chicks on Wednesday and we are going to have freezing temps tonight and for the rest of the week! You have just got to laugh. Guess I will be brooding baby chicks in the garage. I am not sure I trust the coop to stay at the right temp. Oh and did I mention the wind has cause trees to fall and power outages? Well at lease I can thank the man upstairs that I don't have the little ones yet! This should be fun!

 

[City Chicken]

well, some of you said to add oil to my feed to help fatten.
i happen to have an extra can of baby formula that was unopened, but expired. so, i have been adding that to their feed.
it is NOT cost effective to do this! it's only because i was going to throw it out otherwise. it will add calories, fat, calcium and vits.
so why not?
the runts are still small, but they are catching up with the increased feed.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Ugh! the runts are such a challenge! I feed out a lot of extra mealworms when i see them. Pick that bird up, and make sure they eat them. I still have one left from fall (hen) and a hen i could not part with, ugh dh and dd... Trying to integrate them with my main laying flock. The runt hen is still so tiny, like a banty breed maybe a pound, 2 at most, and so mean! she stays with my pig Bacon, wont leave him. Rides on his back, sleeps in the pighouse.. they both go nutso if i take her out. Oh well.. The other hen is just a sweetie. docile, huge and acts like a puppy. I hope she will provide eggs, otherwise I guess she will be a pet. They were hatched around July 19th, should know soon if they will lay.

 

[City Chicken]

Ugh! the runts are such a challenge! I feed out a lot of extra mealworms when i see them. Pick that bird up, and make sure they eat them. I still have one left from fall (hen) and a hen i could not part with, ugh dh and dd... Trying to integrate them with my main laying flock. The runt hen is still so tiny, like a banty breed maybe a pound, 2 at most, and so mean! she stays with my pig Bacon, wont leave him. Rides on his back, sleeps in the pighouse.. they both go nutso if i take her out. Oh well.. The other hen is just a sweetie. docile, huge and acts like a puppy. I hope she will provide eggs, otherwise I guess she will be a pet. They were hatched around July 19th, should know soon if they will lay.

are these cornish X? i suppose if the little one doesn't grow much she should have a good quality of life...
the big one though... will she eventually croak of a heart attack? i feel like these birds are ticking time bombs...
here's a photo from 10 days ago.

they have grown since then. i will try to get some more pics today. you can see the size difference between the larger and the runts.

why in the world do these birds have to be SO dirty???

 

[TamTurkey]

are these cornish X? i suppose if the little one doesn't grow much she should have a good quality of life...
the big one though... will she eventually croak of a heart attack? i feel like these birds are ticking time bombs...
here's a photo from 10 days ago.

they have grown since then. i will try to get some more pics today. you can see the size difference between the larger and the runts.

why in the world do these birds have to be SO dirty???


How old are they? Most of these I see don't kill over from heart attacks until they are too fat to walk. As for the runt she probably won't catch up. And I have no clue why they love getting filthy. But I can tell you my Turkeys are worse about betting NASTY.

 

[TamTurkey]

Update. Getting Chicks tomorrow. Found out last night adding a light for the dog tripped the breaker with my Turkeys heat on guess what else is connected to that breaker, yep that's right my chicken coop!!!!!! So tonight is the freezing cold we get to play electrician... If you don't hear from me for a few weeks you can assume I am in the hospital recovering from self enduced shock therapy! Oh the things I do for these birds!

 

[lgrant1]

This is my first attempt with cornish cross. Bought 25 from Murray in November. They will be 4 weeks old on friday. Brooded in the garage until week 2 and moved to "new" coop with heat lamp. Their coop is a modified hay ring lined with chicken wire and covered with salvaged boards from the old deck we tore off the house 3 months ago and covered with a remnant of outdoor carpet and a tarp. My cost...$20 for the new tarp. My kids say it looks like a redneck hottub!

In southern KY it's pretty mild, our coldest temp reading on the digital in their coop was 41 last night. I have lost 1 chick to unknown cause yesterday. Did notice noisy breathing after a 3 day rain and drop in temp. Added antibiotics to the water yesterday and much better today. This has really been a pretty easy project so far. Have left them food available 24/7 but I considering limiting their nighttime access. My birds weigh about 3-3 1/2 pounds now. I use fermented feed with my layers and with my other chicks, which are about 5 weeks old. Hoped to use it with the meat birds but they won't eat it...at all. I have noticed some of them are developing swelling in their feet and legs. Would limiting feed help to manage them better?

Target date is around the new year but not sure they will be ready then. Anyone here use farmer's almanac to decide butcher date?

 

[delisha]

Cornish can be a challenge. I highly suggest every one try Fermented Feed the next time you try these birds for several reasons

1. The smell of the birds and no loose stools, they stay cleaner because they are not setting in poop. They no longer stink
2. Fermented feed allows the birds to use all the calories and nutrients in the feed. What you put in stays in.
3. They drink and require less water because the feed is wet. You still have to give one fresh gallon of water a day per 25 birds during hot weather.(with AVC in the water)
4. No Cocci issues
5. You can feed less and get fast growth, they feather in quicker and tolerate changing weather better.
6. It is easy to Ferment your feed, no need for medicated feed.





I feed three times a day, I let them range all day in a small 20x40 area that i move around every few days and they go back in the coop at night.
I can dump the feed directly on a clean patch of ground and move the fence over to the feed area to allow them access. They are not eating where they poop.Or I also use a small feeder for indoors. I do not let out the meaties on wet days. They do not tolerate rain well.
My last chicks were at 4 lbs at 5 weeks. I used 2 bags of feed for 31 chicks.

 

[City Chicken]

Cornish can be a challenge. I highly suggest every one try Fermented Feed the next time you try these birds for several reasons

1. The smell of the birds and no loose stools, they stay cleaner because they are not setting in poop. They no longer stink
2. Fermented feed allows the birds to use all the calories and nutrients in the feed. What you put in stays in.
3. They drink and require less water because the feed is wet. You still have to give one fresh gallon of water a day per 25 birds during hot weather.(with AVC in the water)
4. No Cocci issues
5. You can feed less and get fast growth, they feather in quicker and tolerate changing weather better.
6. It is easy to Ferment your feed, no need for medicated feed.





I feed three times a day, I let them range all day in a small 20x40 area that i move around every few days and they go back in the coop at night.
I can dump the feed directly on a clean patch of ground and move the fence over to the feed area to allow them access. They are not eating where they poop.Or I also use a small feeder for indoors. I do not let out the meaties on wet days. They do not tolerate rain well.
My last chicks were at 4 lbs at 5 weeks. I used 2 bags of feed for 31 chicks.

i do use fermented feed. but they are still dirty... they sleep at night in pine shavings which helps a bit, but they are still dirty. otherwise they are healthy and i think doing well... but not growing as fast as i would like, of course i'm also not feeding 24 hours a day.