Hello chicky...
Three weeks ago we received our first set of broiler chicks (cornish cross). On Wednesday of this week they all went to the field. The season is here and there is no turning back!!
All-in-all we put 2,945 broilers in field shelters. I was very surprised how big they were at 3 weeks old. The difference between cornish cross and Rhode Island Red chicks is incredible. At 3 weeks of age the Reds were half the size of the cornish cross. I guess that is why we eat cornish crosses and not Reds. Joel calls them "High Octane race car birds," thats why we feed them "High Octane Fuel."
Here are some pics of the first batch of broilers in our brooder. I'll try and get out to the field and get some pics of them in the field shelters.
Here I am... chick in hand... goofy smile on face...
Daniel on Left... Matt on right... They were dunking the beaks of the new chicks. Sometimes when they come in they are a little groggy and dipping their beaks helps bring them out of it.
This is one of 6 propane hovers that warm the chicks.
Here is one of the 1 gallon waters we use for the first few days. I forgot to photograph the main watering system which is a tube with water nipples. They use the nipple most of the time.
We feed 2 ways for the first week. One way is in this tray that they climb into.
The other way is via trough. As you can see they prefer the tray for now. Soon they will be bellied up to the troughs filling their crops.
Five weeks from Wednesday we will be butchering. If you are interested in ordering fresh chickens for pick-up on farm, check out the website and give us a call.
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9 comments:
I love your blog, it will become a family favorite. I found it while Googling for my hubby on *how to butcher rabbits* and it is coincidence we are big Polyface fans. I'd love to see my sons apprentice someday! Thanks for your helpful info on how to butcher our bunnies...Now, any ideas on prepping the children who have tamed them and carry them around all day?
Now thats a challenge...
Might be painful at first but the sooner they learn that livestock is for enjoying both in life and death, the better they will fully appreciate the circle of life and become connected with the great things that God created for us.
We have 40 that are about 3 weeks old and we too were just comparing their size to our same age RR reds. We ate a store bought chicken the other day for the first time in 6 mo+ and it was nasty. HUGE difference in taste and quality.
In response to SCR (if you want my 2 cents) and kids with meat animals. To date my kids have done great with it. When an animal comes on to the farm we are very clear with it's purpose calling the broilers "meat birds" and the pigs "ham & bacon" although we did have 2 called Obama & Mcain. We warn them when their time on this earth is coming to an end and we do not require they be involved in the kill. It is their choice. This method has worked well for us. Hope this helps. ~Kim
would love to know what you feed your cornish! mine come in on the 22nd. do they eat grass when they go out? mine last year just looked at it and waited on me to bring in the store feed. thanks ann
I love your blog. I found it while researching pasturing of chickens and rabbits. We started our farm last year with chickens and are adding rabbits (as soon as I find some good does and a buck), turkeys and broilers. All of them will be pastured either in pens (Polyface style) or with temporary fencing. It is amazing how fast the cornish cross grow. We raised 60 last year, sadly not on pasture, and they were full size by 7-8 weeks. I can't wait to see your pictures of them in the field as we will be putting ours on pasture this year. Thanks for your blog and good luck on your apprenticeship.
Ann...
I would love to tell you our exact ration for the birds but I don't know the percentages off hand. If you can get your hands on Joel's book, Pasture Poultry Profits, it will be in there, not to mention TONS of other great information about raising broilers in the field. And yes ours graze when in the field shelters. Do you move yours everyday?
I have 3 dozen chickens arriving on Tuesday and am getting pretty excited. I have read through Pastured Poultry Profits and am trying to apply the principles (in the small).
The only breed available at our local CO-OP was White Rock, so I'm going to raise them and see how they grow.
I built a slightly smaller pen (8x8 or 64 sq ft) to hold the 36 birds. In terms of space/animal, this is more than the ~90 birds / 120 sq. ft Joel describes in his books.
However, everyone I show the pen to thinks I'm being cruel by putting that many birds in there - and to be honest, it does look a tad small. I know Joel writes that the Cornish Cross were bred to eat and grow, but is there really enough room for that many birds in such a small place?
Would love to hear any experiences you've had with the chickens, and advice that may not be in the book.
Hello, I am back. We just butchered our last set of meat birds and really improved from last year. Beautiful meat! One thing we used this year for the first time was a cone, what a difference, no broken wings. Why didn't we do that earlier? Yippee. Now, what is "best" , as far as getting all the blood out, chop off their heads or cut the arteries?
I've always seen/heard that Polyface cuts the arteries and lets the blood pump out of the chicken, but that may have changed.
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