2021 Meat Birds - Week Five

It is once again 'weigh day.'  We normally do this on Thursday as we chart our journey in our annual meat bird raising project.  It is good to have this information to look at and compare year over year.  The birds seem active, alert, and very healthy.  We have not lost a single one since the first or second week, I forget, when we lost one bird that was weak upon arrival.  So that means we still have 50 birds.

We are using 18% Chick Starter and fill the feed troughs several times a day.  This week we added a second trough to give them more room.  As they grow they were unable to all fit around the one gutter we were using to feed them in.  This resulted in aggressive behavior with them all trying to get a "seat at the table."  Now with two, they have more elbow room and things are more serene.

So I went and got a bird for weigh-in.  I'm just grabbing the first one - not the biggest or the smallest.  This bird appears to be a hen.  As they get a little older, you can tell by their combs.  Hens usually grow a little slower that cockrels.

When I put her on the scale, she promptly sat down.  That is a better option than pooping on our scale and that's why I have the diaper on the scale.

So, drum roll, please...  She weighs 3 pounds 7 ounces!

This week they weigh 3 pounds 7 ounces.  Last week they were 2 pounds 4 ounces.  That is a weight gain of 1 pound and 3 ounces over the course of the week.  The weather has been mild and the birds are comfortable, enabling them to use calories to grow versus staying warm, I imagine.

Here's a comparison with where they are now (3 lbs 7 oz.) compared to previous years at this same time frame:

Week Five 2019: 3 pounds 4 ounces.
Week Five 2018: 3 pounds 14 ounces.
Week Five 2017: 2 pounds 15 ounces.
Week Five 2016: 4 pounds

Things are progressing nicely, I think, in our march to a 6 pound bird in Week 8.  Tune back in next week for the next update.

2021 Meat Birds - Week Three

Thursday afternoon means that the weekend is almost here.  It also means that it is weigh-in day for the Cornish Cross Meat birds.  We like to see how they are growing.  No fatalities this week.  All fifty of them look healthy as can be.  We moved the temporary brooder out of the way in order to give them more room to stretch out and run around and eat grass.  They appear to have enjoyed that!

We also moved in a gutter that we use as a feed trough.  This ensures that as they grow, they all have room "at the table" to eat.  When they get a little bigger, we'll add two gutters.  We also removed the gallon sized waterer and replaced it with the old trusty bell waterer.  It is kind of hidden by one of the heat lamps, but it is gravity fed by a five gallon bucket of water we have outside the chicken tractor.

We only turn the heat lamps on at night since it is 82 degrees (in December).  It is so warm, today I cut the zip ties off the side of the tractor and rolled up the tarp to allow some air flow through the tractor.  It was just too warm and uncomfortable in there.  50 birds put off a lot of heat.  It made them happy to have some fresh air blowing through there.  Once it cools off - it is supposed to be blow freezing next week, we'll tie down the tarp again to protect the birds from the cold.

Alrighty, time to weigh in.  I picked the first bird I could grab from the tractor and brought it in the garage and put it on the scale.  As you can see, The bird is stretching out.  It feels plump and healthy it my hands.

And as you can see, it weighed 1 pound and eight ounces today.  It weighed right at a pound last week.

So in week 3 of 2021, the bird weighed 1 pound 8 ounces.  That's up half a pound from last week.  How does that compare with previous years?

In week 3 of 2019 - the Cornish Cross weighed 1 pound 10 ounces.
In week 3 of 2018, the bird weighed in at 1 pound 10 ounces.
In week 3 of 2017, they weighed 1 pound 9 ounces.
In week 3 of 2016, they weighed 1 pound 15 ounces.

In comparison with previous years, we're off by a few ounces on average, but still on track.  

Ya'll have a very Happy New Year's Celebration!  See ya next year.