Meat Birds

7/26/10
I have 20 Cornish Cross chicks coming tomorrow and i will be keeping track of them on this new page.

7/27/10

7/27/10

They are home! All 20 of them. I put them in a rabbit cage for temporary, i will build them a brooder tomorrow. They will be staying in the greenhouse where it is a nice 92 degrees as we speak, i have a heat lamp for them as you can see in the picture to turn on for them through the night till the afternoon, i'll have to dig up a timer so it doesn't get forgotten. I spent $14.99 on 40lbs of feed for them today, i already had a chick feeder and one waterer,  will make them a new waterer for their brooder that is much bigger, and they will get a large homemade feeder when they are bigger.

7/30/10
My Cornish Cross seem like normal chicks to me, i have read a lot about how they just lay there and eat and do nothing but poop, mine like to scratched in the hay and in the dirt, they liked the dirt so much i moved some of the hay so they could get to it. They pick through all the seeds in the hay and chase after any bugs in there, i built them a brooder in my greenhouse right on top of my bed, they seem to like it. I also made their waterer, very easy as you can see, just a milk jug with couple holes to the depth i wanted the water in the cake pan, make sure you have the lid or it will just keep releasing the water without the pressure. They are growing fast, their feathers are coming in good too, i have one chick that is way bigger than the others.

pic taken 7/28/10

pic taken 7/29/10

My fancy waterer....alot cheaper than any one gallon bird waterer you can buy.

pic taken 7/29/10

Here is a size comparison of the big one

7/31/10

I lost one today, no idea from what, there was no trauma to be seen, it's neck was floppy though so i think it may have broke it somehow.

8/8/10
I moved the chicks to the outside tractor, it was getting too hot during the day in the greenhouse the more feathered they got, i lost one yesterday, it was a smaller one and i think it got squished by the larger ones in the night. i also lost another this morning from all their craziness when i put hay and dirt in, they ran right into the one laying down breaking it's neck and paralyzing it, so i culled it. Now i am down to 17, i was kicking myself the day after i bought them that i didn't get extras!

8/7/10

8/7/10

I am trying to upload a video of their crazy behavior when i give them dirt, but it's not cooperating with me!

8/10/10

I lost yet another one yesterday, so i am down to 16. This one was the smallest chick, didn't seem to be developing very quickly, so i am going to have to assume it was just the chick, it could not stand, it wasn't hurt, i don't think it was a leg issue, i left it in there that morning, knowing when i got home it would be dead and i was right, so i would think it was internally not right.

On another note........ I am now filling the feeder up everyday instead of every other day or two, and i am filling the waterer morning and night, so i will need to craft up another waterer...the whole 2 minutes that takes. The deep bedding seems to be working great, there is no smell at all, i put a thin layer of hay down every morning and all is good. When i filled up the feeder this morning it was completely empty to my surprise and most came running for the feed, others for the water, and the others for their morning dirt fill. The largest one is a little vacuum at the feeder, he lays down and just eats his fill like there is no tomorrow, gets his drink then digs in the dirt a bit and then goes and rests on the warm end. I have the light on full time now since today's high was a whopping 67! Go August heat wave :) They seem to be feathering nicely, much faster than a normal chick that's for sure.

9/16/10
Down to 6, my chickens developed chicken Coryza, which is nasty stuff. I gave them antibiotics in their water, it helped some, but they just kept dropping off. Some died from heat since we had a week of 100 degree days, and the other others from the Coryza or a mixture of both. I put them on medicated chick feed with a protein booster and that did the trick. I did have one fall into the water bucket and drown last week, so i took that out, it was a gallon bucket, but big enough even at this age/size. The roosters are far larger than the pullets, i mean DOUBLE the size and they have 14 days until butcher, so i will let them grow longer. Despite the major set back of the disease infested chicks, i have learned a lot and presume to do a large batch of 50-75 in the Spring and Fall.


Lessons Learned in this adventure:

• Start all my chicks on medicated feed for added disease protection. I have never had a disease problem on my land, with any animal, so i assume it was from their hatchery, i will put a 50lb bag with a protein booster through them then switch to regular feed.
• Don't put even a small bucket of water in with them at any age. They are too stupid and clumsy.
• Buy only Cockerels if possible. The hens grow way slower, but would work out good if you slaughtered in groups by size saving the pullets for last.
• Their food intake almost doubles 3 weeks before slaughter. I had to give them a larger feeder with only the six left even, though i am not practicing the 12 on 12 off since their feed is an 18% protein, but are receiving a protein booster, they all seem to be growing well with no leg issues, even run around and strut their boyhood at one another.
• They are one ugly bird. No elaboration needed.