2017 Meat Birds - 3 Days Old

It is that time of year again!  I placed an order online from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, MO for some day old baby chicks.  I ordered:

• 15 Female Rhode Island Reds priced at $3 each, and
• 75 Not-sexed Jumbo Cornish Cross @ $2.10 each

They shipped out on February 13th and this morning, February 15th, we received a call from the Post Office that we had a shipment of live baby chicks.  Tricia drove down to the post office and picked them up.

They come in a box with holes in it and straw at the bottom.  It always amazes me that the day old chicks can be sent through the mail from Missouri down to Jennings, Louisiana and you can open up the top and they are all alive!  They give you a few extra, so when Tricia counted, there was actually 17 Rhode Island Reds and 84 Cornish Crosses.  The extra are in case in die in shipping and I'm told to generate heat in order to keep them warm during transport.

Tricia set up the brooder in the garage. I was supposed to have this done, but I was counting on them coming in tomorrow.  Tricia did a good job.  The brooder is actually a roll of aluminum siding that is unrolled and taped together.  Heat lamps are clipped to a fiberglass pole running across the top.  A blue tarp covered by newspaper lines the bottom.  On top of that wood shavings are poured as bedding.

Tricia mixed up water for the chicks to drink, adding 2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 cloves of minced garlic to a gallon of water.  As Tricia unboxed the chirping birds, she dunked their little heads in the water to re-hydrate them after their migratory trip down south.  And you thought it was only ducks and geese that migrated south for the winter?!  Chickens do too.  She also fed them some 28% Game Bird Starter Ration.  They immediately started scratching and eating.  The heat lamps are keeping them nice and warm.  They appear to be healthy and comfortable.

So as we normally do each year, each week I bring one in and weigh it so that we can keep track of their weight.  The reason being is that in approximately 8 to 10 weeks, this cute little fluffball will be ready to butcher and put in the freezer. Sounds cruel, right?  We don't look at it like that.  Chicken is Food and as the commercial says, "Eat Mor Chikn!"  We track the weights because we plan to butcher as soon as the birds are 6 pounds as a 6 pound bird yields a 4 1/2 pound carcass - our goal. We've found that this is the perfect size for us.

I would assume these birds were hatched on the 12th, shipped on the 13th and arrived this morning, the 15th.  That makes this Cornish Cross the ripe old age of 3 days old.

The bird weighs in at 1 1/2 ounces at 3 days old.  We'll see this little guy at next week's weigh-in and at that time, we will give a report of the birds' health and activities of the previous week.