Broiler chicken primer
 

Breed: Cornish rock cross. Straight run
Project duration 8 weeks or less.
Average live weight at processing 6-8 pounds
Average dressed weight 5-7 pounds
Feed conversion ratio roughly 2 pounds feed to produce one pound live weight.
We get our birds shipped as day old chicks from Mt. Healthy hatchery http://www.mthealthy.com/product/CR-SR. I have had the best luck with their birds. They are shipped to our post office, and we pick them up there. When we get them home we unpack them, and dip their beaks in the waterer. You don't have to do every one just a good many. They will learn to drink from watching the ones that have been dipped. We use 250 watt infrared heat lamps as brooder heaters. We suspend the lights above the brooder, in our case two 8 foot diameter stock tanks. Set the lights to a height so that a thermometer directly below the light reads about 110. Now use good judgment here, If your brooder is small, setting it to 110 might roast your birds, but if your brooder is open and airy as in our case, 110 works good. The birds should form a circle around the light, and thermo regulate on their own. If they are staying too far from the light it is too low, and the birds are hot. If they are huddling directly below the light they are cold, and the lights need lowered.
The first few days we bed the brooder with newspaper. We do this because until your birds learn what food is, they will peck at and eat anything, including wood shavings. After a few days once they are eating well we change over to shavings. Also the first few days we feed them directly on the floor, as well as keeping a full feeder. We do this to insure that they are finding feed, after a few days we phase out the floor feeding, and strictly feed through feeders. These couple of tricks have cut our early death loss by quite a bit.
We feed a 24% chick starter. This is mandatory, anything less, and you will have leg problems galore. We keep them on 24% until the 5th week, and we then switch to 22%, and finally the last week we feed an 18-20% feed. This makes for more carbohydrate intake, and adds a bit of extra fat, which makes for a juicier bird. You can keep with a higher protein if you want a leaner bird, but we prefer a juicier bird.
At about 4 weeks, when the birds are full feathered we move them outside to an area fenced in with poultry electronetting. http://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/species.php This stuff is great, keeps the birds in and the predators out. We use a small electric fence energizer for charging the fence. It must be a low impedance model. We never have any predator death loss other than from the occasional aerial predator. Once an area is worn down, we move the netting to a fresh piece of grass.
For shelters we make small movable hoop houses covered with tarps. We make these out of cattle panels from Tractor supply. They are 16 feet long by close to 5 feet high. We cut then in half so that we have two 8 foot pieces. and bow them over and wire them in that position. Cover with a tarp.
These move easily, and in our case we have several, and move them daily so the manure does not collect in one spot. When we first put the birds outside we hang the heat lamps under the shelters. This teaches the birds to hang out under the shelters. After a few days they can be removed. If you don't do this, your birds won't gravitate towards the shelters, and will get caught out in a rainstorm. A cold rain can kill a bunch of birds.
I use a float valve and part of a barrel for watering. see photo.
That is basically the model. We withdraw feed 24 hours prior to processing, and have them custom processed. We used to process our own, but as we started selling them, and our numbers grew, we started contracting it out.

One last thing, sometimes hatcheries offer discount packages of dual purpose breeds for meat production. Don't stray from Cornish Rock cross. Dual purpose birds will take 20 weeks or more to reach a suitable weight to process. They will also eat a hell of a lot more getting there, and you will have an inferior carcass. Dual purpose birds are good for laying eggs, and are heavy enough that when you cull out old birds, that they will make decent stewing hens, but are terribly inefficient for a meat production model.

Hope this is helpful to anyone thinking of producing their own chicken. I am happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability.

Re: Broiler chicken primer
 

I haven't bought chicken feed in 35 years. What's your feed bill run you on average?

Re: Broiler chicken primer
 

We get ours custom milled at a small feedmill, and get a discount for buying in bulk. Small purchases of bagged feed from Tractor supply company for instance, will run you about 30 cents a pound. Which puts the bottom line at around 5 bucks per bird. You can purchase Tyson chicken a hell of a lot cheaper, but you can taste the difference in these birds, and you know how they were raised. Because of our large feed consumption, we get a much better deal, also we buy it unbagged, they auger it into my truck, and we shovel it out at home into a container. We get a premium on our birds though, $2.75 a pound processed so a 6 pound bird sells for around $16. By the time its all said and done we only net 5-6 dollars per bird, maybe a little more. Not a big money maker, but it is actually my 14 year old son's enterprise, and since he started it 5 years ago, he has saved up several thousand dollars, and provides us with some fantastic meat for the table. Since it only takes 8 weeks start to finish it is a great summer job for him. And yes he has invested some of his FRN's in SAE's.

Re: Broiler chicken primer
 

We used to get it unbagged and augered too. From Roth-Honegger. Man I tell you my mouth is watering just reading your post about fresh chicken. You're right....there's no comparison between your chicken and any store bought. I just might get back into raising broilers and having a few layers this spring. Thanks for the info. I've forgotten more about chickens then I know now.

Re: Broiler chicken primer
 

my chickens grow slower but are tough enough and smart enough to collect there own feed they even incubate there own eggs :biggrin:

Re: Broiler chicken primer
 

thqnks for the primer & details& posts- plenty to learn the hard way these days, no need adding to those experiences unnecessarily!

just in & won't be responding til tom; but this is right down the 'new' alley i need to go.

Re: Broiler chicken primer
 

Oh, we have those kind of chickens also, and there is no comparison. Meat birds are pitiful creatures that are only good for one thing, converting grain to meat. These birds are obviously created by selective breeding by man, because these guys couldn't last a day in nature. They fit the bill for a meat production model, but for a SHTF scenario, not so much.

Re: Broiler chicken primer
 

well i'm gonna be thinking this over. one of the things i like about the mthealthy hatchery is the late dates that chicks can be ordered. i'll want a mix so i get some layers. i'm not too concerned about feed as mine get a couple 1000 sf space & i'm probably going to range them into a larger area. hawks will be trouble in the larger space though.

i may wait for my flock to set; then order some & place them with the brood hen. Ralliea i believe it was has done this method. i think she said first put the mother hen w/ them then when she bonds she'll protect them to be with the rest.

i might would eat less meat but my wife won't, so i'll get her input & consider the broiler producing model; though i think we'll eventually be eating much lower 'on the hog', & glad to occasionally get some or a chicken.

thanks for the details & pics.