I got a new batch of broiler peeps a little over two weeks ago. These are Cornish Cross meat type chickens.I have a small battery brooder that is about the right size for a batch of 25 chicks. That’s where these birds have been since I got them.
This is the first time I’ve started a batch in mid winter. At other times of the year I leave them in the brooder no more than two weeks. They grow so fast they get too big for it.
I left them in the brooder almost three weeks this time because we had a cold snap and I thought it might be too much for them to be in the pasture pen. It was just an overnight frost, only the second this year.
I put them on the pasture yesterday. Overnight lows were in the forties. They seem fine today.
I think the bigger they get the better they will handle cold. I know that in the summer the heat is a real problem for older birds.
I have customers that want chicken. I’m out myself.
4 comments:
I envy you. We're down to our last chicken with 6+ inches of snow on the ground and a low temp of 0 forecasted for this weekend.
Just the term 'January Broilers' sounds strange to someone like me in Massachusetts. It's 7F now and expected to be zero later tonight. I'm such a softy though that I'll make extra hot oatmeal in the morning so I'll have some to share with the layers. I don't heat their coop which probably sounds crazy to someone in Florida. I still have some White Rocks that we butchered in November in the freezer, but fresh chicken sounds good. Enjoy yours.
I have customers that want chicken.
I'm one of them. Please put me down for five.
.....Alan.
Wait a danged minute. You guys are neighbors?
That settles it, I'm moving!
James, I'm enjoying this weblog immensely. I'll be linking here real soon.
tf23
Post a Comment