broiler birds

[Lisa Weaver]

Hi there

So I will be having some broiler birds soon. Mt general set up is that they go from the incubator, to a brooder box (for 10 days) then go into a little ark pen on Aubio in a stable under heat until about 6-8 weeks.

Where would people generally then put their birds to grow, would you transfer them to an outside coop with a bit of shelter either on the grsss (or still on shavings (not sure if I am explaining myself all that clearly.

Many thanks

Lisa

 

[Hen-Gen]

Hi Lisa
I wouldn’t want you to think that no one is answering your question. People here are invariably helpful.
Having said that I have absolutely no experience of broilers as I only keep/breed birds for eggs. My birds are taken off heat at 6 weeks of age. I would think that at this age at this time of year no harm would befall them by being outside. Mine are kept in a shed until 16 weeks old but this is in the hard days of Spring when the weather here can be blustery and snowy.
Hope this helps.

 

[LadyA]

Hi Lisa
I wouldn’t want you to think that no one is answering your question. People here are invariably helpful.
Having said that I have absolutely no experience of broilers as I only keep/breed birds for eggs. My birds are taken off heat at 6 weeks of age. I would think that at this age at this time of year no harm would befall them by being outside. Mine are kept in a shed until 16 weeks old but this is in the hard days of Spring when the weather here can be blustery and snowy.
Hope this helps.

And broilers don't generally live to 16 weeks! I've never raised them either, but I know some who have. I think they had them in a moveable ark on grass. At about 8 to 10 weeks, they start keeling over with heart attacks and/or snapped legs. Having said that, a previous neighbour had some once, and didn't kill one. It was free ranging, and he limited her access to pellets, so she had to move and work for her food. She lived to over a year. She was enormous! Like a small turkey, lumbering around the garden!

 

[dianefairhall]

Are broilers a special sort of bird? I know the Sussex is supposed to be good to eat (no, Skye, we won't) but ours was pretty scrawny at 18 weeks when we got her.

 

[LadyA]

Are broilers a special sort of bird? I know the Sussex is supposed to be good to eat (no, Skye, we won't) but ours was pretty scrawny at 18 weeks when we got her.

My daughter calls them Frankenchickens. The way hybrid layers are bred from certain strains for prolific egg laying, but they tend to be small and never really gain a lot of weight, broilers are bred to grow and gain weight in a very short time. Usually, they reach "table weight" in six to eight weeks. They literally spend all their time eating. I've never raised chickens for meat. Sometimes I think I would like to, but I don't really eat enough meat to make it worth it. If I were to, I think I would go for either something like OEG or, as you say, the Sussex. Or a cross. Maybe La Bresse/Ixworth or something like that. But of course, if you are a commercial meat producer, you can't afford to feed chickens for maybe six to eight months while they grow to table weight, when the supermarkets sell them for a fiver!

 

[Marigold]

They have awful problems with their weight, making them prone to heart attacks and keeling over with broken legs. No wonder their meat is so tasteless when you consider how fast they’re made to grow. Traditional dual-purpose birds like Sussex cockerels would be raised for meat, but they would be given longer to mature and put on weight. A bit like the difference between cheap pappy white sliced bread, and a proper wholemeal loaf I suppose, for both taste and nutrition.

 

[violetgarlic]

I don't have much experience with chickens but my parents always keep birds at home for a few days and then transfer them outside. Since broilers are growing very fast, the main problem is a regular feeding. In this case to save time we decided to buy an automatic chicken feeder but not sure about it yet.

By the way, I asked my dad and he suggested to get some budget-friendly chicken feeder but not very expensive in order to save some money because in some case it could be useless. The problem is you can't predict the result. Anyway it's better than nothing