MEAT BIRDS THREAD ~Plans, pics, pens, pluckers, processing! GRAPHIC!

[rebecca100]

I love it! I know from experience though that those panels are heavy and with wood added I could see it add up fast, but I wouldn't have thought it would be that heavy. You mentioned c-diff and brought back bad memories of working at a nursing home for years. We had to suit up for that junk.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep...that's a smell one never soon forgets.

 

[Wannabefree]

I just bought 10 meaties tonight from TSC.

 

[Beekissed]

Yay!! So you will be doin' the meaty thingy with us this spring! Have you done the CX before, Wanna?

 

[odd_duck99]

We are trying White Rocks for the first time this year. We are only doing 6, as we had a straight run of 25 Barred Rocks in Dec. We are in the midst of revamping our layer flock after finally deciding on a DP breed that we liked, and getting tired of feeding the rest of 'em all winter for no reason. Most of the ones we didn't want were EE's or otherwise not meaty, so we sold them on Craigslist.

We just offed 5 cockrels at only 3 months just to get the numbers down out there. We are only on .42 of an acre in the suburbs and the chickens have almost half of that to free range on, but as soon as the feeder is empty the damn things hop the fence and start running around my gardens and working their way in to the neighbors yards!

My spouse usually does the deed, as I am too squeemish. I am rather proud of the fact that I can now not only be in the house with the blinds up, but can walk out to ask a question and not bat an eye. I am getting there! LOL! We usually skin them - even if frozen whole. This isn't too big a deal for us, as we usually kill only a few at a time.

Anyone have any tips on getting meaty chickens in the midst of a layer flock?! We don't have the space for 2 coops, especially when we don't keep meaties all the time. We built a portacoop out of pvc last year for introducing teenagers to the flock, but it's only 4x8. How many chickens (say, Rocks) could we keep in there in order to keep the feed seperate? It seems like we'd have to move it 2-3 times a day in order to keep them in non-crap covered grass once they get full sized! Maybe we should turn it into a tractor...

 

[Beekissed]

You really don't have to keep the feed separate, just in separate feeders and feed the meaties first, then feed your layers. While you have your meaties you can suspend continuous feeding if that is what you currently do.

I raised 20 meaties in the midst of my flock of 30 free range layers and it didn't present any problems whatsoever....just placed another feeder so the meaties wouldn't crowd out my gals. Keep some good dry bedding on the floor of the coop or place a low roost for your meaty crew and you are set. They will grow slower when you feed once a day and free range, but they will be much healthier for it. They finish out the same weights, IME, than if you fed continuously.

 

[Wannabefree]

Yay!! So you will be doin' the meaty thingy with us this spring! Have you done the CX before, Wanna?

Nope. First timer not doing much of anything special for them either. I did notice these chicks were hot when i pulled them out of the box when we got home. Their body temp seems to be much higher with the genetically engineered propensity toward growth, must be the higher metabolic rate. Do they stay in a brooder as long as regular chicks? I'm thinking their requirements are a good bit different with their growth rate.

 

[Beekissed]

I've read you cannot heat them like you would normal chicks, so I'd play with your light distance so you don't cook 'em....seems like folks over on BYC do that frequently because they are using the same rule of thumb for regular chicks...you know, 95 degrees and then lessen it by 5, blah, blah, blah.

I used a broody last time for mine, so I didn't have to brood. I will be using a lamp this time but will not use as much heat as most folks...I want mine to harden off early and feather out early so they can free range sooner. I did notice that these meaties didn't spend as much time under the broody hen as regular chicks and seem to enjoy the cold more.

I'm setting up my brooder with some good space so they can escape the heat lamp to a cool side of the brooder if they need to but also placing roosts down low~chick height~ and training them to the roost so they don't have pile ups if the temp fluctuates on me(my brooder is outside).

 

[Wannabefree]

thanks bee, that's good to know. They were almost sweaty when I took them out of the box. I thought that was weird. They avoid the light like the plague They are in with my hatched chicks right now, but I think a different brooder is in order for them.

 

[FarmerJamie]

thanks bee, that's good to know. They were almost sweaty when I took them out of the box. I thought that was weird. They avoid the light like the plague They are in with my hatched chicks right now, but I think a different brooder is in order for them.

that