Post by Mitra on Jun 18, 2012 10:58:23 GMT -5
On April 26th I brought home 103 Cornish Cross day-old meat chicks. On Saturday June 16th (@7 weeks old), I took ALL 103 to the processor .
Their average weight was 5lbs which was higher than I was expecting. They were beautiful fat little birds. I can't believe I didn't lose a one. I'm not counting the one who had a heart attack on the way there as a loss either. He was so freshly dead that they went ahead and zapped him with their electric knife and he bled out just as well as the others. He was a big guy at 6lbs.
These birds only got clabber for the first four weeks. Nellie was/is dry and I was getting the clabber from Joann when she was milking two cows. When she went down to one cow, there wasn't enough milk to justify clabber for my meat birds.
I fed them Natural chick starter, a wheat-based, non-GMO ration (20% protein) from beginning to end. They got a scoop of cayenne pepper (one cup) and a scoop of DE in their feed every day. During the last three weeks I started cutting the chick starter with COB. At that same time I noticed that there was some blood in some of the chicken manure. I was worried that I was dealing with cocci and upped the cayenne to two cups a day. By some wierd coincidence at that same time I also read a post of Heather's here where she said she uses cloves and cinammon in her meat bird feed because it's anti-coccidial (sp?) I ran out and got some, along with a 50lb bag of rolled oats from the health-food store.
For the last three weeks I had them, I made them a huge batch of oatmeal every morning with cinammon, cloves (ground and whole), and cayenne. They LOVED thier oatmeal and the blood disappeared from the manure.
The only other supplement I gave them during the last three weeks was a 5-gallon bucket full and packed with weeds, grass and dirt clods every day. This they loved more than oatmeal. At two weeks old, when I first let them out into their 20X20 yard, the yard was a veritable jungle of tall grasses, sunflowers and weeds. Within two weeks, they had it looking like a moonscape so I started weeding for them every day. It was very satisfying knowing that not only was I weeding but I was feeding very appreciative birds.
I've already ordered my next 100. I'll get them in August. By then, the chicken yard will be a full grown jungle again.
Their average weight was 5lbs which was higher than I was expecting. They were beautiful fat little birds. I can't believe I didn't lose a one. I'm not counting the one who had a heart attack on the way there as a loss either. He was so freshly dead that they went ahead and zapped him with their electric knife and he bled out just as well as the others. He was a big guy at 6lbs.
These birds only got clabber for the first four weeks. Nellie was/is dry and I was getting the clabber from Joann when she was milking two cows. When she went down to one cow, there wasn't enough milk to justify clabber for my meat birds.
I fed them Natural chick starter, a wheat-based, non-GMO ration (20% protein) from beginning to end. They got a scoop of cayenne pepper (one cup) and a scoop of DE in their feed every day. During the last three weeks I started cutting the chick starter with COB. At that same time I noticed that there was some blood in some of the chicken manure. I was worried that I was dealing with cocci and upped the cayenne to two cups a day. By some wierd coincidence at that same time I also read a post of Heather's here where she said she uses cloves and cinammon in her meat bird feed because it's anti-coccidial (sp?) I ran out and got some, along with a 50lb bag of rolled oats from the health-food store.
For the last three weeks I had them, I made them a huge batch of oatmeal every morning with cinammon, cloves (ground and whole), and cayenne. They LOVED thier oatmeal and the blood disappeared from the manure.
The only other supplement I gave them during the last three weeks was a 5-gallon bucket full and packed with weeds, grass and dirt clods every day. This they loved more than oatmeal. At two weeks old, when I first let them out into their 20X20 yard, the yard was a veritable jungle of tall grasses, sunflowers and weeds. Within two weeks, they had it looking like a moonscape so I started weeding for them every day. It was very satisfying knowing that not only was I weeding but I was feeding very appreciative birds.
I've already ordered my next 100. I'll get them in August. By then, the chicken yard will be a full grown jungle again.