Hi,
Our latest batch of broiler chickens is now 16 days old. I wish fish grew as quickly.
This lot have been a breeze (knock on wood) and, with the warmer weather, we're already taking the heat off of them during the day.
In another week, we'll remove the brooder altogether.
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
www.microponics.net.au - for candid dialogue on integrated backyard food production.
www.urbanaquaponics.com.au - the home of the Online Urban Aquaponics Manual.
Hi,
The broilers are now 22 days old. This is when the feed consumption starts to climb fairly sharply.
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
www.microponics.net.au - for candid dialogue on integrated backyard food production.
www.urbanaquaponics.com.au - the home of the Online Urban Aquaponics Manual.
Hi,
Last weekend, we moved our laying chickens and got their pen ready to grow out our broiler chickens. They'll remain in this pen now until we process them......at 8 - 10 weeks. From this stage onwards, we supplement their ration with cracked corn which imparts a yellowish tinge to their skin and a great taste to their meat.
We've moved our little chicken-house and created a small run for our layers.
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
www.microponics.net.au - for candid dialogue on integrated backyard food production.
www.urbanaquaponics.com.au - the home of the Online Urban Aquaponics Manual.
Hi,
Our broiler chicks are 29 days old today.......and they got their first taste of BSF larvae.
They were a bit tentative at first. Then one chick grabbed one and the all of the others chased it around the pen trying to take it away. After a close examination, they started to eat the larvae........and then it turned into a melee.
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
www.microponics.net.au - for candid dialogue on integrated backyard food production.
www.urbanaquaponics.com.au - the home of the Online Urban Aquaponics Manual.
Hi,
The broiler chickens are 36 days old today.
In a commercial shed, they'd have gone on the truck to the processing plant yesterday but, while most of ours are big enough to eat, we now begin to shovel the alternative food into them (BSF larvae, cracked corn, grass)......to build the large, tasty boning bird that we prefer.
This batch of broilers has been as good as any we've had.......no premature deaths or disease......just nice steady growth.
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
www.microponics.net.au - for candid dialogue on integrated backyard food production.
www.urbanaquaponics.com.au - the home of the Online Urban Aquaponics Manual.
Gary,
Where do you get your chicks from? They seem hard to get hold of down here in Vic.
Cheers!
Mark Ellis
"Be excellent to each other"
Hi Mark,
We buy our meat bird chicks from a local poultry breeder and dealer. He gets them from a commercial hatchery (he hasn't volunteered the name of the place).
Have you tried one of the large poultry web sites.......or the Yellow Pages under Chick Hatcheries?
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
www.microponics.net.au - for candid dialogue on integrated backyard food production.
www.urbanaquaponics.com.au - the home of the Online Urban Aquaponics Manual.
Hi,
Our broilers are now 58 days old.
If you check the past couple of posts, you'll see that they've aged about 21 days in a week. The explanation is that I've been working out their age based on the last post.
Tonight, I worked back to when we got them on 28th January.......58 days ago.
Anyway, suffice to say they are continuing to grow.
The picture of the single cockerel demonstrates the precocious development of these birds. A utility bird of a similar age would be no where near as developed.
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
www.microponics.net.au - for candid dialogue on integrated backyard food production.
www.urbanaquaponics.com.au - the home of the Online Urban Aquaponics Manual.
Hi,
Letting your broilers free range is not recommended practice if you want them to grow to processing weight in the shortest possible time......but they will taste a lot better.
The chickens always have access to commercial food and clean water, but they spend hours pecking at insects, seeds and grasses.
While the broilers are much bigger and heavier than our laying chickens already, the layers have a psychological head start on them. While working in the shed, I frequently hear a loud squawk from a broiler who has been reminded of who's who in the pecking order.
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
www.microponics.net.au - for candid dialogue on integrated backyard food production.
www.urbanaquaponics.com.au - the home of the Online Urban Aquaponics Manual.
Interesting read...Just ordered 200 Cornish chicks today...Plans are a few weeks of chick starter...then straight oats and whatever else they find in their pen...Like their layer counterparts in the pen next to them...
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