2021 Meat Birds - Week Seven

Thursday afternoon and it is time to weigh the meat birds.  It has been a rough week for them, I think.  It has been on the colder side and I think, despite the heat lamps, they've burned a lot of calories staying warm versus directing that energy to growth.  We'll see what the weight shows at the end of the post.

As you'll notice in the photo below, we've started the chicken tractor on its journey back south.  Once it gets past the live oak, we'll turn it due east.  Next Saturday, it will be right where we need it to be for butchering.  Nine more days to go!  One other thing to notice, the 5 gallon buckets are filled with rain water that we catch off of the roof in catchment barrels.  The bucket stacked atop the orange one gravity feeds into the bell waterer in the tractor.  Some days those chickens will drink 15 gallons of water.  It is amazing, really.

Today, we thought we'd do something a little different.  Normally, we just pick up the first bird we can grab.  Today, I thought I'd pick the first rooster and the first hen to get a wider representative sample of weights, as we know roosters grow bigger, faster.  You can tell it is a rooster because of the bigger comb on top of his head and the wattle beneath his neck.  Here is the rooster:

Up on top of the scale, and he weighs...  4 pounds 15 ounces.

And here is the hen.  You can see a much less pronounced comb and wattle.

And she weighs... 4 pounds 14 ounces.  Surprisingly, they are approximately the same weight!

Sadly, though, they are the exact same weight as last week!  No weight gain.  How can that be?  I have a couple of theories.  One is the item I mentioned in the first paragraph.  In the cold weather, their calories were expended keeping warm versus growing.  However, I think the bigger issue is that I'm noticing once I went back to the chicken tractor and surveyed the flock, while most look about the same, there is not exact uniformity in size.  Naturally, the more aggressive, dominant, bigger birds were the ones in past weeks that would come closer to me (as they expected food) and those were the ones I selected for weighing.  When I wanted to purposefully pick out a hen and a rooster, I picked a more representative sample.  We are shooting for a 6 pound bird in 9 days, and I still think we'll get there.

Last week the bird weighed 4 pounds 15 ounces and this week they weighed roughly the same.  Here are the weights at this stage in prior years:

*Week 7 2021: 4 pounds 5 ounces

*Week 7 2019:  5 pounds 9 ounces

*Week 7 2018: 5 pounds 15 ounces

*Week 7 2017:  4 pounds 1 ounce 

*Week 7 2016:  5 pounds 14 ounces 

*Week 7 2015:  3 pounds 9 ounces

Next Thursday is the final weigh in.  We'll see you as we document their final weigh day.

2020 Meat Birds - Week Six

It is Wednesday Weigh Day.  As we check in on the chickens, we can see that they continue to grow.  They are filling up the tractor, whereas they used to only encompass just a minimal area.  The big white birds eat, poop, waddle around and start all over again.

We move the birds to fresh grass several times every day.  They poop a lot contributing to a nasty area that we don't want them standing around in.  One thing we've started doing differently this week is now we leave the light off at night.  In past weeks, they would eat all night.  Now we feed once in the morning, once around mid-day, and once in the late afternoon.  It's important to keep their water filled.  They drink a lot of water - about 10 gallons a day.  We have rain barrels in the back that we sequester rainwater off the roof and then water the chickens with it.

I picked up the bird for weighing tonight.  My method is to pick the very first bird by the door.  The trouble with weighing is that I can't ever locate the same bird to weigh.  The birds' weights vary.  Anyway, this gives us a pretty good Idea of where the birds are in terms of growth of carcass and weight gain.  I have to snap the photo quickly.  They don't like to be placed on top of the scale.

Here is where we are tonight:

Week Six 2020: 6 pounds 4 ounces.  Last week the bird weighed 3 pounds 12 ounces - a weight gain of 2 and a half pounds in a week!  Something is wrong there.  I think I picked up a monster bird.  That is the most weight they have ever gained in a week.  Tomorrow I'll look for the smallest in the tractor and weigh it.  Remember the goal we are shooting for to slaughter is all of them being 6 pounds.  A 6 pound bird yields a 4 pound carcass.

Here are comparisons from previous years:

• Week Six 2019: 4 pounds 5 ounces.
• Week Six 2018: 5 pounds 4 ounces.  
• Week Six 2017: 4 pounds 8 ounces.
• Week Six 2016: 5 pounds 1 ounce.

See ya for the weigh-in next week!

2020 Meat Birds - Week Five

Week 5 in the annual 8 week meat bird project was an interesting one.  We lost one bird.  It was a runt.  After its death, Tricia did an autopsy on it, wondering if it had parasites or something to keep it from growing.  She found nothing.  Doctor Tricia's lab report was inconclusive.  That brings our total fatalities so far to 3.  If we can hold that figure, we will have a 6% mortality rate.  Normally, the hatchery sends an extra 2 or 3 as lagniappe to account for things like this, but not this time.  Oh well.

The other notable event this week was the weather.  We had two consecutive days of thunderstorms bringing lots of rain and lots of straight-line winds.  The chickens are in a chicken tractor that we push to fresh grass several times a day.  You can see the tractor below:

It is made with a 2x4 frame on wheels with PVC frame, covered with lightweight welded wire and a tarp.  We have learned from prior calamities to tie down the corners with stakes driven in the ground or the chicken tractor will flip.  We always check the weather and plan accordingly.  The weather report showed wind gusts of 9-10 mph.  We got gusts much higher than that.  Tricia estimates 60 mph!  Here are my stakes.  Only one was remaining secured, but it saved us:

Tricia ran to the tractor in the pouring rain when she saw it about to flip.  She stood on the frame for 30 minutes holding it down while torrential winds blew, shifting the tractor's location.  Tricia held it all together and saved all the birds.  When I got home, she had quite a story to tell!  I call her my pioneer woman.  She was soaking wet and not too happy...  You know the old saying, "She was madder than a wet hen?"

So it is Wednesday Weigh Day.  I brought the bird in the garage in a bucket.

And then I put it on the scale...

And at week five, here are the results:

We have five years' documentation of the Cornish Cross Meat Birds' weight for comparative purposes:

Week Five 2020: 3 pounds 12 ounces, a weight gain of 10 ounces over last week.  I think if you average it out, we are right where we need to be at this stage of their development.
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

As I read more and more about possible meat shortages due to the reaction to the virus, we are happy to have our own meat right here at the house.  In 3 short weeks, we'll process them.  Our slaughterhouse will be fully staffed and transportation to 'market' involves walking the carcasses in from the backyard and into the deep freeze.

We'll meet here again next week to see results of the meat birds' growth and development.

2020 Meat Birds - Week Four

Ahh... Week 4.  The halfway point in raising the meat birds for slaughter.  Each day we push the chicken tractor to fresh grass, ensuring that their environs are clean and fresh and that they have plenty of fresh grass to eat on in addition to their 18% chick grower.

In addition to moving them to fresh grass each day, we also began thinking about where we would move them once we butcher them.  I estimate that we have about 9 birds left in the freezer from last year's meat birds.  Before butchering in four or five weeks, I'll move those 9 birds out so that we use what's left of them first.

Okay, now's the time of the week when I walk out and pick up a random bird and bring it into the garage and weigh it to compare with last week and the same week in previous years.  I brought the bird in the garage in a bucket, but the old boy filled up the bucket.  I'll have to get a bigger one next week!

The bird was flapping his wings and squawking, but I got him calmed down enough to set him on the scale for the weekly weigh-in.  Normally, when you get on a scale, you want to see a reduction in poundage, but in this case we want weight gain - each and every week.  Our goal is an 8 pound bird at the end of Week 8.

Let's see how we did.  Week Four weight was....  3 pounds and two ounces.

How did that compare to previous weigh-ins?  Let's see:

In Week Four 2020, the birds weighed 3 pounds 2 ounces.  Last week they weighed 1 pound 14 ounces.  That's a weight gain for the week of 1 pound 4 ounces and a record weight for us at this stage, beating our previous record by 3 ounces.

In Week Four 2019, the birds weighed 2 pounds 8 ounces. 
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.

Not too shabby.   Let's see if they can continue this record-setting performance next week.  Tune in next Wednesday for our next report.

2019 Meat Birds - Six Weeks Old

Six weeks old today.  The birds are still out in the yard in the chicken tractor. They made it through some pretty bad wind and rain storms this past week.  Each afternoon I push them to fresh grass so they can eat fresh grass and also so they aren't sitting around in their poop.  The birds eat a lot and they poop a lot.  This past week I added another feed trough so that they can all gather around it and eat.  As they've gotten bigger, with only one gutter they weren't able to fit at feeding time.  Now they have plenty of room.  When they see me coming with the feed bucket, they run to the door and I have to be real careful not to step on them.  Tricia feeds them in the morning and at noon and I feed them at 6 pm when I push the tractor.

Today is weigh day, so I pick them up, put them in a bucket, and bring them to the back patio where I have the kitchen scale.  There is a nice little patch of white dutch clover that I let them graze on while I get everything ready to weigh.  They enjoy it.  Looking at this photo, it is really amazing to see the transformation in 6 short weeks - from a yellow puff-ball to a muscular, fierce looking chicken.  Wow!

Here is the first of the three birds up on the scale.  This time I picked out two roosters and a hen.  The roosters are always bigger.  As you can see, Benjamin hasn't put up his eggs yet from his afternoon egg collection chores.  No, the meat birds don't lay eggs.  Our laying hens, do though.  They've been laying pretty good lately.

As I weighed each bird, I marked down the weight so that I can average the weights out.

The average weight of the three birds I picked out this week to weigh was 4 pounds 5 ounces.  Last week the average was 3 pounds 4 ounces, so they have gained a little better than a pound this past week.  This is how we compare with previous years at this time period:

Week Six 2018: 5 pounds 4 ounces.  
Week Six 2017: 4 pounds 8 ounces.
Week Six 2016: 5 pounds 1 ounce.

We'll plan to meet again this week at this time and see where we are.  We are a little light compared to last year at this time.  Our goal is a 6 pound bird that yields a 4 pound carcass and we'd like to do it in only 8 weeks.  Let's see if we hit that goal!

2017 Meat Birds - 9 Weeks Old

Tonight is the final Wednesday night installment of the Magnificent Meat Bird Weigh-in as this Saturday, the birds will be slaughtered.  We'll be setting up the different stations for Butcher Day 2017 on Friday night so that on Saturday morning, we can wake up and get things started.  I'll have to remember to sharpen the knives and purchase ice on Friday.  Friday afternoon they will receive their last meal as we want their digestive tract empty.  It makes butchering a lot cleaner.

Let's see what the scale says tonight.  Like last Wednesday, I picked up two random roosters and the first hen I saw.  Remember we are shooting for a 6 pound bird as that yields a 4 1/2 pound carcass.

Rooster #1

He weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces...  He is well past the weight we were shooting for.

Rooster #2:

He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces.  I don't think we've ever had birds that broke the seven pound barrier before we butchered them.

The Hen:

While not exactly light, she felt  a good bit smaller when picking her up to place her on the scale.

She weighed 5 pounds 1 ounce.

So the roosters average about 7 pounds and the three birds together average about 6 pounds

Here are the results from Week 9:
*Week 9 2017:  6 pounds
*Week 9 2016:  6 pounds 5 ounces
*Week 9 2015:  5 pounds 1 ounces

To summarize, last week they weighed on average 5 pounds 2 ounces and this week 6 pounds. That means they gained almost a pound over the last week.   They are 5 ounces shy of where they were at this age last year, and about a pound heavier than what the 2015 birds weighed at this age.

They are ready for processing as they have hit our target weight.  Once we've butchered, we'll tally up all the detailed information that we always provide and will compare with previous years.

2017 Meat Birds - 8 Weeks Old

If you've followed our blog posting about raising our meat birds, you'll know that we shoot for butchering a 6 pound bird as that yields a 4 and 1/2 pound carcass. We've found that to be the ideal size for our family.  Our goal has always been to butcher them at 8 weeks old.  More often than not, we have missed on that goal and normally butcher the birds somewhere between 9 and 10 weeks. We've missed the 8 week butchering goal for varying reasons.  Sometimes the birds were sick at some point or the effects of rainy, cold weather that kept them from gaining weight. Other times a cold snap stunted their growth as they expended calories generating heat versus growth.

That's why chronicling the weights by week over the years is helpful.  It is a good barometer of where we are in comparison to the previous week and/or previous years.

Well, let's get right to it.  I wanted to do something a little different this week.  The cockerels always grow faster and are bigger than the pullets.  Each week I've weighed a rooster.  Not the same rooster, unfortunately, but one that I though was 'average' in size.  Next year, I'll find a way to mark a bird so I can weigh the same one.  So, this week I wanted to weigh a rooster and a hen.  It was getting dark and I reached into the chicken tractor and pulled out the first two birds I could touch.

Rooster #1
So this old boy was heavy.  He was lazy, too.  He sat atop the scale, fat and happy at 8 weeks old.

Let's see what the scale says...  Whoa!  Six pounds!!  Old boy is ready to be processed.

So let's check on the weight of a hen.  Except the second bird I picked up was another rooster!

Rooster #2

Same song, second verse.  This bird lounged on the scale as well, but I could tell that he wasn't as heavy as the first one.

He weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces.  So he was 13 ounces lighter than the first rooster. That is quite a difference for birds that are the same sex and the same exact age. What accounts for the difference?  Genetics?  One is a bully and gets more feed? One was sick at one point in his 8 week life?  I just don't know.

So I walked back out to the chicken tractor and intentionally looked around for a hen and brought her back to the scale in the garage.

Hen 1:

She was even lighter than the second bird, but that is to be expected.  Hens are lighter than roosters.

She weighed 4 pounds 3 ounces.  So we can gather that the hens are at least a pound lighter than the roosters.  Interesting information.

So what can we glean from this data?

Well, I think the thing to do is to average the weights of the three birds.  I come up with a little over 5 pounds.  I think that gives a better indication of where we are.

Here are the results from Week 8:
*Week 8 2017:  5 pounds 2 ounce
*Week 8 2016:  6 pounds 3 ounces
*Week 8 2015:  4 pounds 2 ounces

To summarize, last week they weighed on average 4 pounds 1 ounce and this week 5 pounds 2 ounces. That means they gained over a pound over the last week.   They are still 1 pound 1 ounce shy of where they were at this age last year, and a pound heavier than what the 2015 birds weighed at this age.

Since this weekend is Good Friday and then Resurrection Sunday, I think we'll be butchering NEXT Saturday.  That will give the birds another week to grow.  That will give the hens a good chance of weighing more than 5 pounds.  The big roosters may break the 7 pound barrier.  We'll see what happens!  Bottomline is, these birds have a week and a half left to go.

2017 Meat Birds - 6 Weeks Old

Well, we had quite an adventure last night that bridged over into a good part of the day today.  This kept us from doing our normal "Wednesday Weigh-in" as I was unable to post last night.  Normally I don't post on the weekends, so I'll likely explain everything that happened in Sunday night's post.

So here we are a day late...  Without further ado, let's get this ol' boy up on the scale. He's a clean bird, with snow white feathers, huge feet and red comb.  He has a red wattle, too.  Do you know what the wattle is?  The wattle is the loose flaps of skin that hang beneath his chin.  It is said that the bigger the wattle is, the more hens are attracted to him.  I read that the rooster's wattle tells hens (somehow) that they have food they are willing to share.  First, I don't know how humans figured this out and secondly, I've watched these birds eat.  I am convinced that this guy is NOT interested in sharing food with any other bird!

Up on the scale he goes...

This rooster weighs in at exactly 4 and 1/2 pounds today.

Here are the results from Week 6:
*Week 6 2017:  4 pounds 8 ounces
*Week 6 2016:  5 pounds 1 ounce
*Week 6 2015:  2 pounds 9 ounces

To summarize, last week they weighed on average 2 pounds 15 ounces and this week 4 pounds 8 ounces. That means they gained 1 pound 9 ounces over the last week.  That is a substantial weight gain. They are still 9 ounces shy of where they were at this age last year, and almost 2 pounds heavier than what the 2015 birds weighed at this age.

I have to be honest and say that I'm surprised at the weight of this bird.  We aren't weighing the same bird, but I try to pick an average sized bird each week and always a rooster.  The hens are all smaller.  I don't know if I've told you this year or not, but we always try to shoot for a 6 pound bird as they yield a 4 and 1/2 pound carcass.  We find that this is the perfect size for our family.  It fits nicely into a gallon-sized Zip Loc bag and the meat is tender and tasty.

I zoomed in on a profile shot of this good looking bird.

It looks like with the weight gain we picked up this last week, we are well on target and back on track for a butcher date perhaps on Week 8, but I'd say more likely on Week 9 or 10.

2017 Meat Birds - 2 Weeks Old

We are at Week 2 in the meat bird chicken raising adventure of 2017.  The birds appear to be all healed of their brief encounter with 'Pasty Butt.'  In my mind they don't look quite as big as they were last year at this time, but we'll find out for sure in a minute or two.  We have increased the number of watering containers to two and we have four feed troughs in the brooder that we keep filled with Chick Grower.

It has been warm lately and the growing chicks put off a lot of body heat, so we have been keeping only one heat lamp on at night.  The birds make a lot of poop and we have been emptying out the poop-saturated bedding and putting it in a corner of the garden to compost.  Later on, after it has "cooled down" we'll incorporate it in the garden soil.

The Brooder

Now we'll put a chick up on the scale.  For the time being, I don't have a good way of marking the same chick to weigh each week, but I'll think of something.  For right now, I will pick out an average sized bird to weigh.  By next week I'll think of something like painting a red dot on one of their heads.

Here are the results from Week 2:
*Week 2 2017:  13 ounces
*Week 2 2016:  18 ounces
*Week 2 2015:    6 ounces

Last week he weighed 7 1/2 ounces.  He's almost doubled his weight over last year in a week, but in comparing to last year, he's 5 ounces lighter.  That is a significant amount of weight and I don't know how to explain it.  Edit to add this: Tricia "theory woman," remembered that last year we only had around 51 birds.  This year we have 98 birds.  Tricia's theory (and it is a good one) is that last year there were fewer birds and the one bag of 28% game bird starter ration was consumed by fewer birds and lasted longer.  This year we have about half the amount of birds and the 28% game bird starter ration was quickly consumed and with the second bag being regular 18% chick grower ration, the 98 birds ate a ration with a lower percentage of protein.  Thus the smaller weight this year over last year.

So we are 5 ounces behind last year, but more than double where we were at this time in 2015.  I'd say we are pretty much okay.  I'd like to see them a little heavier, but we have 6 more weeks for growth.  I'll be patient.

Just for grins, I'll show you the Rhode Island Red laying hen chicks I bought.  They are the same age.

At two weeks old they weigh 5 ounces.  These birds are very active, running around the brooder. In contrast, the meat birds just eat, sit and poop.  The birds are just different - one is bred for egg production and the other for meat.  One is a Mercedes coupe.  The other is a Ford Super duty F-250 pickup truck.

Next Wednesday, we'll take a peek at the growth changes that we see in the birds and we'll discuss other aspects of chick raising.

2017 Meat Birds - 1 Week Old

The Cornish Cross Meat birds in our garage are a week old.  Actually they are probably a week and three days old, but I'm not splitting hairs.  They are in a brooder and are being warmed under two heat lamps.  The have two - 1 gallon water containers along with 5 feed troughs.  They eat an enormous amount of feed and already the garage smells real bad.  The birds have atrocious table manners as they sit in the feed trough and poop in it while they are eating.

The birds haven't been stressed, but we have had some fatalities.  3 Cornish Cross chicks have died. I'm not really sure about the cause of death.  None of the Rhode Island Reds (RIRs) have died, although they have had an ailment that I am currently treating.  Perhaps I'll talk about that in tomorrow's post.

In this weekly installment we'll track the weight gain of the chicks over the 8 to 10 week period and discuss their lives, challenges and other interesting tidbits about them.  If you look closely, you can notice that there is beginning to be some feather development on the wings.  A week ago they were little fuzz balls.  Now they are putting on feathers.

I put a newspaper over the kitchen scale for obvious reasons, zero out the scale, and put the ol' boy up on the scale for weigh-in time.

Last week he weighed 1 1/2 ounces
This week he weighs 7 1/2 ounces
Last years' birds at one week old weighed 8 ounces.

It looks like we are right on track

2016 Meat Birds at Thirteen Weeks Old

It is time to see if Saturday is going to be butchering day for the remaining 23 Red Ranger Meat birds in the chicken tractor out on the pasture.  As you know, we aim for a 6 pound bird as that yields a 4 1/2 pound carcass.  I walked out and picked up the rooster with the zip tie around his leg we've been weighing for the last 13 weeks and then also picked up one of the hens.  Hens grow at a slower rate than the males, so I want to see how much they weigh.

Last week I put them in a bucket, but they escaped and a had to run around to catch them.  We'll have none of that this week.

They didn't like this carrying technique much

The male goes up on the scale first, squawking and mad...

Red Ranger Rooster

Let's take a closer look.  Well now, Six pounds, 1 ounce.  He hit the target!  Saturday we'll butcher.

6 pounds 1 ounce

Now, it is time for the female to be weighed.  She doesn't feel like she's going to hit 6 pounds.

Female Red Ranger

And the scale says...

Four pounds and 9 ounces

The female weighs 4 pounds and 9 ounces.  That is short of 6 pounds, but you know what?  It is time. Saturday, we'll butcher all of them.

Let's look at our comparison table.  From last week to this week, the Red Ranger Rooster gained 11 ounces.  That is a solid weight gain.

So here is the plan.  We will feed them tomorrow morning and again tomorrow at noon.  Tomorrow night, however, we won't feed them and will move them to the cattle trailer near our butcher stations.  They will have water, but no food.  That is to allow all the food to work its way through their digestive tract and then the slaughter will be cleaner and "poop-free."

This will be the last weigh-in of the year.  Once they are all slaughtered, we'll report final statistics such as total weight, average weight per bird, cost per bird, cost per pound, etc.

2016 Meat Birds at Twelve Weeks Old

Yes, it is once again time for the weekly weigh in of our Red Ranger Meat Birds. The Cornish Cross birds are all frozen solid in the freezer, but the Red Rangers take 4-6 more weeks to mature.  Our goal is a 6 pound live bird.  Let's see how we're coming along.

I walked out to the chicken tractor in the pasture with a big bucket to find our bird that has a zip tie around his leg to bring him in to weigh him in the garage where I have the kitchen scale set up on my work bench.  The Red Ranger is tall and lanky and wild.  He jumped out of my bucket on the way in and I had to chase him down in the pasture.  Finally got him and put him on the scale.

I'm tired of weighing every week too, bud.

And here we go: the scale says, 5 pounds and 6 ounces.

5 lbs. 6 oz.

So, let's take a look at our table.  Last week he weighed 4 pounds 13 ounces and this week at 5 pounds 6 ounces tells us that he gained 8 ounces (or half a pound).  Will he weigh 6 pounds next week and be ready for butchering?  It's going to be real close.

Here's something else to think about.  If you look at the bird we've been weighing, it is easy to see that he's a rooster.  Roosters grower bigger and faster than hens.  For that reason I also pulled out a hen from the tractor when I walked out to the pasture. I want to weigh her to see how far behind she is.

Red Ranger hen - first time on the scale

It was the first time she's been brought in the garage, but she wasn't as wild and crazy as the rooster was.  She sat on the scale like a champ.  Drum roll...

4 pounds 7 ounces

She's about a pound behind the rooster.  Will she reach 6 pounds by next weekend? No, absolutely not.  BUT, I want to butcher all the twenty-something birds at one time and get this done.  If we can get the roosters to six pounds by next weekend, I'll butcher the hens at five or so pounds.  It's a little less than our desired finished weight, but it is time to be done with the meat birds for the year.

We will know for sure next Thursday night when the butcher date will be.  Grow birds, grow!!  I'm ready to get the 2016 meat bird crop processed and in the freezer.