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

Found one dead chick this morning by the coop door...looked like maybe he was a victim of a roo-related accident. No marks but he was smashed pretty flat. Was healthy, had a full crop, big chick, etc. Where he was found, no piling of chicks or such would occur...they all pretty much sleep by the lamp at night and when I checked late last night they were all snuggled down there.

These things happen. If I notice any other possible roo-related problems, Rudy will be living outside the coop until the babies are bigger. I've watched him for long periods of time and found no aggression towards the chicks, whatsoever. I'd say he jumped down from a hay bale and happened to land on an unfortunate little guy.

I had this happen once with a WR foster mom who adopted all my last DP chicks. Found one in the morning that looked to have been smashed flat but otherwise healthy and had no marks on it. I assumed there was an accident with big, heavy bird meets little, delicate bird.

53 and counting down to processing day.
 
I lost a turkey chick yesterday. When I went to check on momma and pull the last two unhatched eggs. She had all the babies snuggled up under her. Including the dead one. Not sure what happened. We had a rather cold windy, rainy night. Maybe if was cold??? Other than that all 5 were up and cruising this morning. They are drinking from the water-er and pecking around. I am going to pick up some game bird grow this morning. Something I can put in a smaller feeder down low.

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Used the last of the chick starter today in my ferment bucket and will feed it over the next two days...it's hard to believe that these chicks can go through a 50 lb. bag of feed in 2 weeks. I guess if you think about it, they have eaten a little less than a pound of feed each over these two weeks. I wonder if this fermentation and such has made the typical intake any less....can anyone tell me approx. how much feed their meaty chicks eat~per bird~ in a 2 wk. time frame?

Some of them were out on the grass today for a brief period so I could test out my fence...happy to report it works well, much to the chick's dismay. :D Only thing is that this Electrostop fence was built for sheep and not for poultry, so the openings at the bottom are too large for chicks this small. Won't be long, though, before they are too big to fit through the bottom holes.

A buzzard flew a bit too low today and my dog reminded him that he suddenly had business elsewhere..... :lol: I was impressed, as this dog rarely makes a sound except weird groaning speech that sounds for all the world like he is trying to speak human but just can't get it right. He took off across the yard with a growl and a bark and jumped into the air after that buzzard in a blink of time. Great dog!

A pic of the CX, 2 wks old today, out on pasture with their big brother, Rudy:

5_3_wk_old_cx_on_the_grass.jpg
 
They look terrific Bee!!!! :celebrate How are the poops now that they're on grass? Glad your dog is doin his job, YAYAY!!!!

My CX can "fly" onto a 5ft tall roundbale :ep

I need to get em penned and finished and butchered, but its been hell, here, so I'll hafta do it all next week.
 
Snowhunter said:
They look terrific Bee!!!! :celebrate How are the poops now that they're on grass? Glad your dog is doin his job, YAYAY!!!!

My CX can "fly" onto a 5ft tall roundbale :ep

I need to get em penned and finished and butchered, but its been hell, here, so I'll hafta do it all next week.
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I cannot believe they are still flying!!! :th :ep How old are they now??? That is remarkable and you really should post a thread on the meat bird forum on BYC to report this...they will never believe it until they see your birds going hog wild in your garden. When you process, could you post their finish weights and maybe a pic of the carcasses?



The poops are the same....no smell at all. I've only used one bale of shavings and a partial bale of hay in the coop/brooder and fluffed them once today...still no smell or dampness at all.

The fermented feeds are incredible...compared to the feed costs everyone else has had on BYC, the fermented feed is a mere fraction. I can't wait to see just how much I've saved in the end.

Caught that big baby of a roo, Rudy, trying to brood these chicks last night. Went out to check on them and found him crouched down in the brooder with all the chicks under his wings and around him. Weird roo!!! :P I took a pic and will post it later.
 
Love the pics and Rudy is handsome as well as a good Roo :D. Is he a Leghorn?
 
He's a White Rock but very young...hasn't even got spurs yet. When he fills out he will be bigger, thicker than he is now.
 
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