Meat Chickens Not Gaining Weight?

[michaels4gardens]

I can and will eat just about anything but it is going to take an end of the World as we know it thing to get me eating bugs. The texture is just sooooo offputting!

So I "did" three of the biggest meat chickens today and got three small fryers for all my work.

They better taste GREAT for all the effort it has taken to get them this big. :evil:

What is so very odd is, once again, there is NO conformity in the breed, these chickens are all over the place for size and shape. The more proper chicken shaped they are the lighter they are as well but 7 chickens all look different to each other, unlike EVERY other breed I have ever raised where they are all cookie cutter for looks.

Necks and giblets are simmering away with onion (and a roast pork pie is baking) so we will get a sneak peek for taste when they are done.

I assume/ suspect, that the breeding where the chicks came from was "faulty", or "not as advertised" ...- sometimes male chicks are sold as "meat cross" chickens, when they were actually "left over", from a breeding for breed stock. -and were not the "terminal meat cross " advertised.
I have had some of these in the past- instead of the Cornish /White rock cross ordered, - I got White Rock males, they grew much more slowly, and were too skinny, - eventually they will get huge- but- they were not a "cost effective" meat bird at all...

 

[GBov]

I think you are right that they were sold as one thing and are not proper Cornish cross but one would expect a feed store to be selling what it says on the sign.

And these started off with the proper body shape, that wide barge look with very forward, high wing placement. But now most of them just look like chickens, granted with VERY big legs and feet.

If they ever grow into them they will be Ostriches. :lol:

Never, NEVER again will I try these, they eat ten times what any normal chicken eats and at least three of the seven may as well be just my normal dual purpose roosters for weight. :evil:

One very small plus is that 30 inches of chicken wire will keep them in place now but even then they are running and jumping about the pen. And fighting each other.

 

[Deer Heart]

Any chance you can share any photos of the birds pre-cull? That'll give the rest of us a chance to say for sure instead of guessing.

 

[GBov]

I will try but my picture posting skills? Pathetic.

 

[Homer]

Gave Gbov a hand with the pictures but she will have to explain them...







Of course all chickens need one of these! :lol:



Have a cookie for me?

 

[GBov]

Thank you thank you thank you Homer!!!

Pictures one and two are just the meat birds, they are 20 weeks old now.

Picture three is ONE of the meat birds in a cage with one of the chickens we hatched out. It is 23 weeks old. So you can see why I am disappointed with the meat birds. At 20 weeks of age the meat birds should be huge and they are not.

I butchered three of them last week and I got a dressed out carcass weight of just two pounds each.

Pictures four and five are the meat birds and Dude, our good dog. He has restored my faith that good dogs still exist, after having after having bloody awful dogs for the last 20 or so years. :roll:

 

[Deer Heart]

WELP. That solves it. While those LOOK like cornish crosses at first glance, those legs look completely wrong. Even their faces seem shaped wrong. Their legs should almost look like thick tree trunks under them, no matter how you fed them. Even purebred cornish get legs like that. Did you contact the place you purchased them from and ask what their source was? Either these aren't completely cornish crosses or they were straight up starved and they don't look starved to me. I've seen some people able to achieve fatter birds than that at 4 weeks even with pasturing them (see below photo). I'd butcher normally and order directly from a hatchery yourself for your next attempt. Ideal has reasonable shipping, includes "extras" (male chicks) on small orders which can add more meat in the end to your bottom line and the birds I got from them would have eaten the birds you ended up with so fast. :| Pictures are worth a thousand words for sure, I was imagining they just weren't quite to your expectations of a market bird, but that's just... no way are those cornish crosses, imo.

THIS bird is a confirmed cornish cross at 4 weeks old that was raised on pasture, food-scraps, and limited feedings.

 

[GBov]

I got them at Rural King and they were listed as Cornish Cross. :evil: That is twice now that I have tried them, once at Tractor Supply and now Rural King. :evil:

All I wanted to do was see how they did for me and if it would make sense to do meat chickens like this instead of hatching normal chickens. It has put me right off ever trying them again.

Well, if we lose our bid for freedom (the trial date is set for a two-week window in August) to move more than 50 miles from my ex, I will try them ONE LAST TIME, from the hatchery you recommend Deer Heart.

We love chicken and if I can raise 6 months worth of chicken in 8 weeks, that would be lovely but these little things, not worth killing and not worth letting live.

 

[Homer]

No problem G! It takes me longer to boot the computer than adjust and post the pictures. :?

I keep a few ducks around for eggs. I get email offers from Ideal Poultry for a couple bucks a chick if you need/want different stock. Just go to their home page to sign up for emails and you'll get one per week with discount offers. ...just saying.

 

[Deer Heart]

I got them at Rural King and they were listed as Cornish Cross. :evil: That is twice now that I have tried them, once at Tractor Supply and now Rural King. :evil:

All I wanted to do was see how they did for me and if it would make sense to do meat chickens like this instead of hatching normal chickens. It has put me right off ever trying them again.

Well, if we lose our bid for freedom (the trial date is set for a two-week window in August) to move more than 50 miles from my ex, I will try them ONE LAST TIME, from the hatchery you recommend Deer Heart.

We love chicken and if I can raise 6 months worth of chicken in 8 weeks, that would be lovely but these little things, not worth killing and not worth letting live.

I'm not sure where that rural king orders their chicks from (I'm guessing you used the one in Ocala and not Leesburg), but they get a lot of stock from local farmers too and just label it whatever the farmers say they are. If the farmer is lying about, or mixing up, what they're selling, they need to know ASAP. Could also be they used the same supplier as the tractor supply nearby and it's a poor supplier. Not sure. (Though if it's the Tractor supply in ocala off 441, I've noticed they very routinely mislabel their chicks on accident and the employees generally have no idea the difference, they seem to have default signs up and just sort them wherever the sign seems to "fit" the most). I hope you don't give up on what you want from your farm because of a few "bad eggs". If you want a nice "market" bird with tons of breast meat, you should still be able to achieve that. Even if you choose to pasture, that should only add about 1 month to your grow out time and no more than that. Would absolutely try again, just order directly and use the ads/coupons as they do really nice specials from time to time. Murray McMurray does too, I take advantage of their brown egg layer special almost every year, raise them on pasture, and sell at a profit to farmers looking for hens already started.

 

[michaels4gardens]

buying "feed store "meat chicks is a gamble- Most feed stores try to buy "sale chicks" so they can sell cheap and still make a profit. [they actually just want to sell you chicken feed to raise them ] The problem is-- "hatchery sale chicks" are what is left over , or over-stock. The Feed store may , or may not ,be at fault- often the hatchery just lists the cheap sale chicks as "assorted white meat breed" -sometimes- it is the feed store that labels them as "Cornish cross" - to avoid answering questions they do not know the answer to, or admitting that they actually don't know "what kind of chickens they are selling"..
--- most people, will not suspect the chicken breed, or the feed store ,when the chicks don't grow as expected. So they usually get away with this program... and- they get to sell a lot more chicken feed.

 

[Homer]

Not with Ideal Poultry. You pick the breed and pullets or straight run. If you buy 25 they are less than $2.00 each. Free shipping but they will ding you $7.00 for small orders.

If it's still cold they include plenty of "heater" roosters to keep your chicks warm, (free if shipped outside of Texas). Do with them as you wish. Give them away, grow them out and eat them or use them for catfish bait. Doesn't matter, they were FREE.

I do agree however that there are some hatcheries that are rather questionable. I've dealt with them.

 

[GBov]

I did the last four today and all together, they equal ONE proper roaster. Flavor excellent though so despite them having cost quadruple what they should have and taken months longer, we will enjoy them tonight and tomorrow.

Tonight on pizza and tomorrow in the leftover marinara over pasta. Then the bones will simmer down and that stock will go into Japanese giblet noodle soup.

Mmmmmmmm love chicken.

Thank you all for your suggestions on hatcheries to try. We are waiting on a trial date for our Petition For Relocation With Minor Children which should be in August. If we win our freedom from the 50-mile rule then we will NOT be getting more chickens. :lol:

If we lose, not sure what we will do but I don't think chickens will help counter the despair.

Still, living in hope that justice prevails.

 

[Deer Heart]

Goodluck!

 

[GBov]

Goodluck!

Thank you!

The chicken? Fantastic on pizza!

 

[Homer]

The chicken? Fantastic on pizza!

Hum, wonder how duck would go with pizza? :thinking:

Best of luck there "G"!

 

[michaels4gardens]

Not with Ideal Poultry. You pick the breed and pullets or straight run. If you buy 25 they are less than $2.00 each. Free shipping but they will ding you $7.00 for small orders.

If it's still cold they include plenty of "heater" roosters to keep your chicks warm, (free if shipped outside of Texas). Do with them as you wish. Give them away, grow them out and eat them or use them for catfish bait. Doesn't matter, they were FREE.

I do agree however that there are some hatcheries that are rather questionable. I've dealt with them.

I have used "Ideal poultry" a lot in the past, ordered many thousands of chickens from them when I worked for an animal feed company-I have had very few complaints. I especially like their Ideal 236 white egg layer. [Although a little high strung, and they can fly like a sparrow]- they are small, solid bodied birds, with very good longevity in a free range/ pastured situation [6 foot fence, with one wing "clipped"]. -- I also ordered lots of Cornish/ Rock cross from them for feed conversion trials ..

 

[GBov]

The chicken? Fantastic on pizza!

Hum, wonder how duck would go with pizza? :thinking:

Best of luck there "G"!

Ummmm, fantastic?

Duck is good on anything! <br /><br /> __________ Sun Jul 29, 2018 10:36 am __________ <br /><br />

I have used "Ideal poultry" a lot in the past, ordered many thousands of chickens from them when I worked for an animal feed company-I have had very few complaints. I especially like their Ideal 236 white egg layer. [Although a little high strung, and they can fly like a sparrow]- they are small, solid bodied birds, with very good longevity in a free range/ pastured situation [6 foot fence, with one wing "clipped"]. -- I also ordered lots of Cornish/ Rock cross from them for feed conversion trials ..

Your fly like a sparrow made me laugh! :lol: How did the feed conversion trials go using the C/R cross?

Thanks for the good luck peeps, keep sending it this way if you can, we do mediation tomorrow and we have everything crossed!

 

[MaggieJ]

Best of luck with the mediation, GBov!

:good-luck: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :good-luck:

 

[GBov]

Thank you thank you thankyou! It is hard to live with crossed fingers but we all have everything crossed.