confused about feeding meat birds

[Winsor Woods]

The guy at the ranch store has me all confused about feeding meat birds. I have 24 Cornish crosses right now. They are three weeks old today and I've had them on starter feed. I've gone through almost 100# of starter already and I picked up another 50# bag of it today. The birds are between 1.5 lbs and 2 lbs apiece right now so that's in line with what I read about them eating 2 lbs of feed for every lb of weight they put on. (ie if you want a 10 pound bird at slaughter, expect to feed that one bird 20 pounds of food during it's life.)

So this guy at the ranch store said I might want to cut back on the starter and mix in some cracked corn. He said they'd eat less. He also said that there wouldn't be as much fat on the birds.

So here's why I'm confused: Don't I want these little beasties to eat as much as they can? I've held them and they're obese little buggers but I think it's mainly meat that I feel. Is any fat they develop going to be between the skin and muscle or is there another place they store it? I'm pretty sure I'm not feeling much fat at all.

I plan to switch to a broiler finisher feed two weeks before slaughter. Is the point of doing this to reduce the fat on the bird? I was under the impression that you feed only starter until two weeks before slaughter, then use finisher feed, then fast for 12-24 hours, then kill. Is that the "normal" formula?

If I do start mixing in cracked corn or scratch, will I have to also supply grit as well? Man, I had a plan and now I'm just doubting myself. Aye! Any comments/suggestions are very much appreciated.

Dan

 

[miss_thenorth]

Lol, so now you post here, where you wiln get 100 different answers. I feed starter for the first four weeks, then meat builder till butcher. As far as I know, corn is usually only added for about the last week, so there WILL be more fat for rendering. With-hold food for 12 hours before processing.

Next time your at the feed store, ask the guy how many meat birds he's raised.

My advice is to stick with your own plan.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep you'll get a million different answers

the best advice that i heard was to only feed during daylight hours (roughly 12 hrs) to make sure that they dont eat themselves into the grave before you process

i have colored rangers and i give them chick feed (non medicated) and cracked corn AND a bunch of raw goat milk (from my dairy gals)..and they free range and are pretty good at it, surprisingly

i finished a bunch on just corn and milk and got nice fat birds - which i promptly skinned so i lost most of the fat
:-(

some folks feed high protein game bird mix with the expectation of getting more meat than fat.

but i have to say - i'm not sure your feed guy had the best strategy... somewhere there is a really good post about how to feed. ..humm.. lemme see if i can find it for you...

good luck

 

[quercus21]

Here's a hatchery recommend:

http://www.welphatchery.com/cornish_rock_care.asp

Myself, after the first week, I pull the food from them for 12 hours. The last week to 10 days, I'll push the corn. They are also in a tractor after 2 weeks, so the also have what ever they find outside to eat.

 

[bigredfeather]

There are many on here that start 12/12 feeding at 2 weeks, myself included. I like to give my broiler a 23% protein feed from start to finish. I don't use any medicated feed.

I would have to disagree with the fellow you talked to about corn. I would think the corn would add fat to the birds. Corn turns into mostly carbs after digestion. Unused carbs turn to fat. IMHO you don't want excessive fat on a chicken. Protein is what builds the muscle mass. Since you don't eat the fat of a chicken, higher protein feed adds what you want, muscle.

I sold a few broilers from my last batch. The person that bought sent me an email a few weeks after they bought my chickens. She said those were the leanest chickens she had ever cooked. I contribute this to the higher protein feed.

 

[achickenhead]

I am new to meat birds too but we had 10 Cornish Cross Giants this summer. We slaughtered them ourselves in late July.

We fed them all day till about 5 weeks...when we read on this board that they should be limited to food for 12 hours - we moved to that approach and they were all healthy until we slaughtered them.

Neither the feeds store or hatchery recommended that but we decided to take the advice of the members here! Hasn't failed us yet.

The hatchery recommeded slaughtering from 11-14 weeks. We did it around 12 weeks (and then again at 14 weeks) and all of them were over 9lbs dressed! Some over 10 1/2 lbs.

We did it in two batches to experiment with corn.. which we only gave to the second batch mixed with their food for a couple weeks. They were a bit fattier than the first batch but we haven't tried one of the second batch yet to see if there was a major taste difference.

They have all tasted AMAZING so far.

Next time we might slaugher some earlier as they are the size of a turkey...there are only three of us to eat them! We are also going to get many more...

We also kept one bird just for fun as a pet. He is our rooster and is over 16 weeks and very healthy - so far

He is so huge it is so funny to see him walk around SLOWLY.

 

[Winsor Woods]

Thanks so much for all your replies with such good advice. It helps so much to read something that makes sense. I feel much better about my plan and I'll most likely start the 12/12 feeding schedule too. That sounds like it has benefits.

Dan

 

[jaku]

I'd say your guy is completely wrong. Starter feed is for layers. You need to get them on broiler feed NOW. Mixing cracked corn in will do nothing for their health, but it will get them fat. Basically, you are doing the equivalent of feeding a highly trained athlete McDonalds every day. Broilers need broiler feed, with at least 20% protein. Also, you want them to gain weight, but they will on their own. You should restrict feed to 12 hours per day. This is just my opinion- as the others said, you will get plenty, but your feed store guy apparently is used to layers, not meaties. Also, you never need to mix in grit as long as your birds have access to the ground, and can get their own.

 

[Winsor Woods]

Quote:
I just double-checked the label from my bag of starter mix. Here's what it says:

Palouse brand Chick Starter 21% Non-Medicated
Complete feed for starting chicks and Broiler Chicks

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein min ......21.00%
Lysine Min...................1.10%
Methionine Min...........0.45%
Crude Fat Min .............3.50%
Crude Fiber Max .........4.00%
Calcium (as Ca) min....0.70% max 1.20%
Phosphorus (as P) min 0.65%
Salt (as NaCl) min 0.25% max 0.45%

Ingredients:
Grain products, Plant Protein Products, Fish Meal, MonoCalcium/Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Di-methoionine, Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Niacin, di-calcium pantothenate, Choline Chloride-supplement, Menadione Dimethlypyrimidinol Bisulfite (Source of Vitamin K3), Folic acid supplement, Pyridonxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine mononitrate, d-Biotin, Manganese Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Ferrouse Sulfate, Manganouse Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenite.

Feeding Directions:
This is a complete and balanced ration. Feed Polouse Chick starter to Laying chicks from the first week through week six; feed Broiler Chicks from start to slaughter at 6 weeks of age. Always provide adequate clean fresh water.




So how does this differ from "broiler rations?" Is that the same thing as a finisher?

Dan

 

[jaku]

Wow, starter at 21%?!?! Keep them on that then! Especially since it says it's for broilers. Feed it to them until butcher time and you should be fine.