2018 Meat Birds - Five Weeks Old

On April 7th, a north wind started howling, bringing with it chilly temperatures that dipped into the low 40's.  Certainly not expected at this time of year. We even fired up the fireplace Saturday afternoon and Sunday.  We have blooms on the tomato plants, so we hope that the low 40's are as low as things go. 

We were also a bit concerned about the meat birds.  They are out in the chicken tractor in the side yard and the tractor is facing North - Northwest.  The blue tarps and plastic that we have zip-tied to the tractor was whipping in the wind. I got up in the middle of the night the other night and re-fastened the tarps to protect the birds. They don't like the cold at all.

The fat birds generate a lot of body heat and they have figured out that they need to be under the heat lamp AND to snuggle with one another to keep warm.  You really don't want extended periods of cold weather when you are raising meat birds, because the birds are using calories to keep warm versus growing.

I almost forgot to mention that we had a tragedy of sorts in the chicken tractor this week.  I was feeding the chickens before leaving for work one morning at 5:30.  These meat birds eat voraciously.  They come running when they see me coming with a bucket of feed.  If you aren't careful, when you open the door, they'll run out of the tractor.  To avoid that, we trick them by going to the other end of the tractor.  They all follow.  Then we run to the other side and quickly open the door and spread the feed into the gutter feed troughs. 

This past week I was doing just that and the birds happened to get all around me.  They can't wait to eat!  They are so greedy.  I tried to step carefully around them and one got under my feet, causing me to lose my balance.  I quickly stepped to the side and proceeded to step directly on the head of one of the birds.  The bird quickly died.  There is a parable about greed somewhere in that story!  (If all you think about is getting fed, you'll end up dead with a flattened head.)

I didn't want to waste this bird, but I had to get to work. I called Tricia and had her put the bird on ice until I got home.  Later that afternoon I scalded, plucked, gutted and cleaned the fat little bird.  It was a little bit bigger than a Cornish Hen and it will be delicious.  We won't let him go to waste.

It was time for the weekly weigh-in, so I picked up an average sized bird, put him in a bucket, and brought him into the garage where I have Tricia's kitchen scale set up on my workbench.  I took a big chance in setting the bird on my workbench, but fortunately he didn't poop on the table top.

I zeroed out the scale with the empty bucket on top and then I placed the bird in the bucket on top of the scale to get an accurate weekly reading.  We do this each week to ensure that the birds are growing.

Let's take a look at the scale.  Ol' Boy continues to put on the weight!

Week Five 2018: 3 pounds 14 ounces.  That is one ounce shy of a pound gain since last week!
Week Five 2017: 2 pounds 15 ounces.
Week Five 2016: 4 pounds

I still say we are right on schedule to have a bird at 6 pounds at the end of week 8.  The unscientific thing about our weigh-in is that I am not weighing the same bird.  I am picking out an average-sized bird to weigh.  Perhaps next time, I'll pick an average-sized one and then pick the biggest and the smallest.  That way I'd have a good range - from the smallest to the largest.  Three more weeks to grow!