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A Farm of My Own:  meat chickens, anyone have any advice?  |
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yasmine
True Blue Farmgirl
173 Posts
yasmine
wappingers falls
ny
USA
173 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 12 2010 : 06:01:11 AM
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| We are going to order our x's in a few days...first time. I feel like I am stepping into a new land ! I am sooo excited but scared! Anyone want to give me any great tips? Or , how do you do it? |
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Shery Jespersen
True Blue Farmgirl
115 Posts
Shery
Upton
Wyoming
USA
115 Posts |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2010 : 09:17:27 AM
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Yasmine, I just posted on Barnyard about this. I want to order some this year with some other people. I'll raise them here and we will butcher them here. I wanted to know where the best place to order them was. Where are you getting yours? And how many? I had ordered 25 a few years ago. My hubby and I built a chicken tractor and I pulled it aroung the garden area for 3 months. I fed them scraps and a little scratch but they ate the grass and bugs mostly. So I thought I'd do it again but this time let them free range in the big chicken yard with plenty of grass and bugs and I won't have to drag them all over. They won't be able to fly over the fence so it will be perfect for them.
I am going to get the Cornish cross meat birds.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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amomfly
True Blue Farmgirl
658 Posts
Angie
LaGrange
IN
USA
658 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2010 : 04:19:44 AM
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We raise some for 4-H and then some for us. We raise cornish crosses. I get them form a local hatchery but I also order some from Murray Mcmurray. I do not let mine free range. They are kept in a penn to them getting tough or not growing fast enough for 4-H. We only feed meat chicken feed to them. I know anything else can cause bone and limb disorders in a meat chicken and that is not something I want to do. I do not allow them to go to long before butchering or they will "dress out", not a pretty sight. When we butcher we do half boneless, skinless and then we can that meat. The other half is plucked and gutted for whole roasting chickens. I hope some of this onformation helps.
God Bless
Angie-amomfly
#1038 |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2010 : 04:45:42 AM
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I don't have meat chickens (yet) but I have talked to people about them. You hear all sorts of different things. One guy at the feed store said to never meat chickens after you go to bed for the night or they will eat and eat and eat until the pop - said they don't have a mechanism say "I'm full." Then another farm lady at the feed store told me (and a farmgirl on here said the same thing somewhere) she tried to free range her cornish crosses and couldn't get them to get off their duffs. She said if they couldn't see the feed pan, they were too far from it, and so they just wanted to stay in the pen. But i've heard other people who have free ranged just fine. Probably just depends...on a lot of different stuff. Again, I've never had meat birds myself, but I have talked to people about them recently, so I was just sharing what I've heard.
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.wakeupstartlearning.blogspot.com
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com |
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paradiseplantation
True Blue Farmgirl
1277 Posts
julie
social springs community
Louisiana
USA
1277 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2010 : 04:46:53 AM
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Ah, y'all! I'm jealous! I So wanted to order some of the Cornish crosses this year. I noticed that Tractor Supply had some for Easter -- I wonder if they have any left. Probably not. I really want to try my hand at meat birds. Good luck with yours!
from the hearts of paradise... |
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TurkeyGirl
Farmgirl in Training
12 Posts
Carrie
Wellington
OH
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2010 : 7:06:38 PM
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Howdy, hope you don't mind if I butt in... We are raising Cornish Crosses & selling them dressed to customers, did about 100 last year. I raise them inside for the first three weeks (depending on the weather). Then we put them on pasture, about 20-25 inside each portable pen. I move the pens once or twice a day. Our grass has a lot of clover in it, and the birds do well on it, but we do also feed them a broiler grower ration. We butcher them in 7-8 weeks and they dress out around 4 to 5 pounds. I don't recommend keeping them much more than 8 or 9 weeks, or they will have more health problems and the bigger they get the less active they are... and they get tough. When the weather is warm, I plan to order all pullets because they are 1) cheaper than the cockrels (males) or straight run 2) seem to adjust better to the hot weather 3) grow slower than the males- which is why they are cheaper but seem to do better health-wise. I also make sure they have shade. I keep feed in there most of the time, can't imagine they would "pop" any more than turkeys "drown" in the rain. I will sometimes limit feeding to early a.m. or late p.m. in the summer when its cooling down so they don't overheat. They are more active when it's comfortable. If you want a bird that ranges better, then you need to look to a non-commercial style bird... just expect it to take longer and the bird to be shaped differently when dressed. Those frypan specials (mixtures of males from dual-purpose/laying breeds) some hatcheries offer are a good pick at a reasonable cost if you want to wait. Personally, I think the best hatcheries are typically the ones that are close enough to you that you can pick up the birds or they are shipped the shortest distance, and that has good customer service.
Opportunity is often missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison |
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AliciaNak
True Blue Farmgirl
405 Posts
Alicia
Elko
Nevada
USA
405 Posts |
Posted - Apr 15 2010 : 09:01:34 AM
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This year will be my first experience with meat birds too. I ordered 20 cornish cross, they'll be shipped to my local feed store. Let's keep in touch on this adventure together. I have heard that all they want to do is eat and poop. We'll see!
Alicia
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.~Ralph Waldo Emmerson
www.blondenak.blogspot.com
www.artfire.com/users/BlondeNakCreations |
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yasmine
True Blue Farmgirl
173 Posts
yasmine
wappingers falls
ny
USA
173 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2010 : 4:00:37 PM
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we are getting the Cornish x 's too! OK so I am getting them from Murray McMurray...we hope to get 30 safely here...I am going to feed them the typical grower feed . My friend told me they poop soooo much so be aware...I am going to have (hopefully... ) my husband make a chicken tractor 12x12 only 2 feet high, if that. with one side shaded...feed containers in there. and MOVE it one length 1 x a day! |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2010 : 5:00:21 PM
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You all that are raising cornish x's, you will have more chickem manure than you could possibly believe could be made by them. In a year, it will become great fertilizer for your gardens. FYI, I have always used turkey grow with my meat birds, less leg problems. They are very tender, and make GREAT roasters, hens and cockrels alike. I raise between 150 -200 meat chickens a year, in groups of 50, 5-6 weeks apart. Watch for pileing during cold drops, they will suffacate the ones in the back, and on the bottom. They wiill eat til they explode,lol, so watch your feed rations, and good luck.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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amomfly
True Blue Farmgirl
658 Posts
Angie
LaGrange
IN
USA
658 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2010 : 3:37:40 PM
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Teresa, I agree with everything you said. I feed turkey grower too! And no leg problems in what is now going to be the third year! Good luck and enjoy all the meat!
God Bless
Angie-amomfly
#1038 |
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A Farm of My Own: meat chickens, anyone have any advice? |
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meat chickens, anyone have any advice?
