2019 Meat Birds - Four Weeks Old

Four weeks.  We were about a week later than normal, but we finally moved the meat birds out of the brooder in the garage and into the chicken tractor out on grass.  The chickens will be able to eat some grass, have more space, and can fertilize the yard.  Normally, I'd like to put them in our pasture, but the nosy goats would break the fencing trying to get to the chicken feed.  As we moved them, we counted them and the total is 47 birds.  We started with 51.  We typically lose a few.

Since the above picture was taken, we've added a tarp over the tractor to keep the birds dry during rainstorms and also to give them some shade. I've also removed the two waterers and replaced with a bell watering system.  Finally, I removed the 3 small feed troughs and replaced with a PVC gutter trough that allows all of the birds to eat comfortably.

Each Thursday, we take a moment to weigh the meat birds and chart their growth against previous periods.  This time, Tricia suggested that I randomly select 3 birds and weigh them and get an average weight, just to ensure I'm not picking out the biggest birds or the males (which are bigger) each time.  That's what I did.

I wrote down the weights of each on the piece of paper that protects our kitchen scale.  You can see the birds' dirty footprints on the paper.

As you can see, the average weight was 2 pounds 8 ounces this week (Week Four 2019).  Last week they weighed 1 pound 10 ounces.  So that is a 14 ounce gain over the last week.  Here's a comparison of same period, previous years:

• In Week Four 2018, the birds weighed 2 pounds 15 ounces. 
• In Week Four 2017, the birds weighed 2 pounds 4 ounces 
• In Week Four 2016, the birds weighed 2 pounds 15 ounces

We're a little behind where I like to be at this point, but that's alright.  We like to butcher at around 8 weeks, but we've gone as long as 10 weeks before.  It is no rush, but it is more economical to butcher them earlier, if you can.  It is also easier to care for meat birds that are in your freezer.  We feed these guys 3 times a day and also water them.  Then, each evening, I push the chicken tractor to fresh grass, so that they aren't standing in their poop.  It is a lot of work, but we feel like the results are well worth the effort.  Anyone can do this.

Next week, we'll see if we've caught up to where we were in previous periods.