2016 Meat Birds at 5 Weeks Old

So here we are at five weeks old.  As I walked out to the chicken tractor with my bucket in hand tonight, I was thankful that we didn't lose any birds last night.  We had quite a storm!  The wind blew ferociously, knocking down limbs all over the yard.  I have hinges on the roof of the chicken tractor and each day I open the roof, bend down, and pour chick grower into the gutters I use as feed troughs for the birds.  Wouldn't you know that yesterday, I neglected to latch the roof.  The wind caught one half of the roof, picked it up and blew it backward with such force that it broke.  Fortunately the birds were all safe and sound.

I got into the chicken tractor and searched for our two birds that I have marked with zip ties on their feet.  I found them finally and placed them in the bucket and brought them into the garage for the weigh-in.  I had pushed them to fresh grass earlier in the afternoon, so they were still foraging around eating blades of grass.  By tomorrow the grass will be picked over pretty good and FULL of chicken poop.

Clean, green grass... For Now

Here's a side by side shot.  The Cornish Cross on the left is head and shoulders (literally) above the Red Ranger at the five week mark.  Notice I have an empty feed bag on top of my workbench so the birds don't poop on it.  I've learned this from experience.

Facing off before the weigh-in

First up on the scale this week is the Cornish Cross.  You can see that his crop is full, even though it was after 9 pm in this picture and I fed them at 5 pm.  He's a monster.  Let's see what he weighs...

Cornish X

Exactly 4 pounds this week.

4 pounds

Here is our comparison in weight, first comparing this week with last week and then this week with same week last year.  We've seen significant increases on both with gains of 1 pound and 1 ounce over last week and a whopping 1 pound and 12 ounces over the same week last year.  Whereas we butchered the Cornish Cross meat birds last year at 10 weeks, I think these may be ready at the 8 week point this year.  We'll see.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I read today that Cornish Cross hens are butchered at the 4 to 5 week time frame to be sold as "Cornish Hens."  That is pretty interesting.  I always wondered about Cornish Hens and where they came from.  Those fat little tasty birds are merely these birds butchered in four or five weeks instead of 8.

Now let's look at the Red Ranger by comparison.  The Red Ranger is a leaner bird and he roams around a lot more than the Cornish Cross who just lazily waddles around and plops down on the ground, even to eat.

Red Ranger on the scale

1 pound 9 ounces this week...

1 pound 9 ounces

Here's the table comparing weights over several time frames for the Red Ranger. While the Red Ranger is growing, it is clear to see that it is on a much smaller (and more natural) scale (pardon the pun) than the Cornish Cross monster.

A lot can change between now and butchering time, but I'm guessing the Red Ranger is going to take every bit of 12 weeks to mature, if not more.  We'll check in on their progress next week at this time.  See you then!