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Post by Tonnymonk on Jun 3, 2008 6:13:58 GMT -6
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Post by Penny on Jun 3, 2008 7:19:35 GMT -6
OMG they are too cute Tonya!!!
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Post by GrannyG on Jun 3, 2008 8:05:20 GMT -6
Little bitty puff-balls of feathers and fluff...too precious.....I love baby chicks !
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Post by jeanette on Jun 4, 2008 0:44:44 GMT -6
aww i just love those little peepers!!
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Post by Christy on Jun 4, 2008 22:32:52 GMT -6
awwwwww their too cute!!!
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Post by Tonnymonk on Jun 10, 2008 6:27:55 GMT -6
New pics of the babies- we really do clean the pen out, but this was from first thing this morning..... And a closer shot of the size difference- Here is a pic of their new home as of later today-
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Post by douglas on Jun 11, 2008 4:58:17 GMT -6
Many congrats on your lil fuzz balls, they look great
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Post by Tonnymonk on Jun 28, 2008 5:35:15 GMT -6
New piccys!! :cher: See the size difference between the black one and the white ones?? Far cry from the last pics, huh??
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2008 9:04:06 GMT -6
Looks to me that ya got several roosters.......judgein by their combs.
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Post by Tonnymonk on Jun 28, 2008 9:17:40 GMT -6
They are all supposed to be males(all the white ones, anyway) because they were cheaper and since they are going in the freezer- cheaper is better! We're hoping the black and white one is a male also.
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Post by Christy on Jul 5, 2008 9:39:16 GMT -6
wow there realy growing, i love the black n white beauitful. lol i couldnt put him in the freezer! hes to cute
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Post by Tonnymonk on Jul 6, 2008 5:44:13 GMT -6
We are keeping him around He really is a cool chicken. He comes running to me and has the coolest personality.... trying to think of a name for him.
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Post by Christy on Jul 8, 2008 10:29:13 GMT -6
glad your keeping him around, lol i wouldnt make that good of a beef farmer lol oooo you cant kill wilber lol
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Post by Tonnymonk on Jul 9, 2008 7:00:55 GMT -6
We lost 8 chickens to the heat yesterday. 5 were a total loss(they were already dead ) and 3 were going to die so we went ahead and butchered them. Not sure why the heat got to them so badly- we have had hotter days The good news is that the remaining ones are doing great and moving around better than they have in a LONG time and the little(we think he is a Dominique) black one is doing great! We will NOT be doing the Cornish Crosses again- too high maintenance and the loss ratio is a bit high for me.
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Post by spuds on Jul 9, 2008 16:23:36 GMT -6
I love my chickens too. I have heard terrible things about Cornish X chickens and people saying what repulsive birds they are,filthy,etc and couldnt wait to butcher em.Also they are terrible when it comes to health issues. Maybe you should try turkeys for meat? We just got 2 poults and they are the sweetest bird babies ever.And they grow like weeds! Heres our girls,Buff Orps,a wyandotte, and 2 Easter Eggers. And the new polish babies Baby turkey,he is so funny and calm and an escape artist to boot...
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Post by Tonnymonk on Jul 10, 2008 5:10:35 GMT -6
Great looking birds!! We love our 6 RIR hens, cool birds, but aggressive. Don't go into their coop with sandals- they LOVE toes Yeah- we have agreed that for the cost of feed and aggravation- we will not be raising these guys again. WAY too much trouble. We lost 2 to health(bone related stuff) issues and then because they can't get around well- 5(technically 8, but we were able to use 3 of them, the other 5 were a total loss) died due to the heat. They have TONS of foot/leg issues and are just not worth the extra effort IMHO.
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Post by abirdseyeview on Jul 10, 2008 9:17:27 GMT -6
Botesbabe, Sorry to hear of your experience. I would have predicted such. Your plight is one shared by most who are taken in by the attraction of quick broiler meat on the grill in 6 short weeks. Due to the phenomenal rate of growth with Cornish Cross chickens they are prone to experiencing high premature mortality. That growth is constantly outstripping all its bodily systems—its internal organs and nervous system as well as its skeletal structure. The inevitable results are leg problems and tendency to heart failure, and the digestive system clearly lags behind as well. The rapid growth results in a tendency to have the body outgrow the capacity of the legs to properly attend to their intended task, so much so that it is not unheard of for them to be prone to heat exhaustion. It is not unusual for these hybrid chickens to set on their butts in the hot sun rather than to stroll across the run area to get much needed heat relieving water. Readily available, fresh water is critical for chickens to regulate their body temperature. The craziest part of all of this, is that in an effort to provide rapid turn around poultry meat the industry has resulted in producing chickens that die prematurely and even crazier they have produced chickens that lack the flavor of standard chickens. Kinda like the over size strawberrys that one finds in the grocery, or the flavorless tomatoes that one gets with their Subway® sandwhich. A poor trade-off for a difference of a few weeks difference in readiness for slaughter. A free range, organic chicken is ready for slaughter at around 14 weeks versus the 6 weeks for the hybridized Cornish Cross. And, the organic, free range chicken is much more flavorful. There is obviously something awry with this experience when a healthy well cared for chicken will normally live to be 10 – 11 years of age. Live and learn. You do have what appears to be a happy, healthy Barred Rock. Hard to tell from the angle of the picture, but from its stance I'd say it's a little cockerel.
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macybaby
Peasant
Two Silos Farm
Posts: 46
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Post by macybaby on Jul 10, 2008 19:13:39 GMT -6
Sorry to hear of your loss. We've been raising cornish crosses for about 8 years. Only time we had significant losses was when the weather turned exceptionally cold the day the bird shipped. We try to get ours pretty early in the year so that we can butcher them before the real heat sets in. This year we butchered at about 7 weeks, but have gone as long as 12. Now that it is only two of us, we don't need them that big! A few years ago we raised up some heavy roosters (let the hens go broody) and after butchering them, we decided we'd stick to the cornish cross. They are so much easier to clean.
BTW- every single one of the "free mystery chicks" we have gotten over the years has been a rooster.
Cathy
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Post by Tonnymonk on Aug 10, 2008 7:02:40 GMT -6
Well, all of the cornish crosses are in the freezer....all but 8 of the 26. We lost 2 the last 2 days they were alive. I would check them before bed and they were fine, get up and check them in the morning....dead and stiff I'm thinking heart failure or something along those lines. All I know is that macy is lucky to have had such great luck with these birds. I am not a fan of theirs How do you do yours, Macybaby?? Do you keep em penned? Free range? Inquiring minds want to know what I did wrong.... On another note- Lightnin' (our freebie "rare" chick- we think he is a Dominique) is doing great!! (We still think he is a "he" ... I hope for his sake he is, I'm not changing his name is "he" is a "she") Well, except for getting his behunkus kicked by the hens now that he is in with them BAD RIR's! Poor lesbian chickens(they try to "mate" with each other because they have never had a boyfriend.... ) don't know what they're missing. Here is a pic of him now- what do y'all think? Dominique?? Here is a "stock" pic of a Dominique rooster-
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macybaby
Peasant
Two Silos Farm
Posts: 46
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Post by macybaby on Aug 10, 2008 13:58:42 GMT -6
This year was the first year we lost some of the cornish to heart failure. We normally get the cornish cross from McMurry, but got them from Campbells this year. McMurry has two types, and we found the slower growning of the two worked better. I don't know what hatchery they get them from. They were all full of fluid inside. I was told they were still ok to eat, but used them for dog food anyway.
We also liimit thier feed. Put plenty out in the morning and take it away at night. The birds we had this year seemed to have less leg problems.
We try to get ours early, so we can butcher them before it gets real hot. Start out with them in an old plastic water trough. We put it inside the brooder pen, and when the chickens are big enough, we take the trough out. As the weather warms and they grow, we can let them out into the small run. Last year the birds spent a lot of time outside, this year I don't think they ever did. I also have a screen door on the coop, so I can open that up to let the air flow through once it gets warm. We butchered at the end of Maya this year, so heat never was a problem.
BTW - your rooster looks nice! I've gotten some neat "mystery" roosters over the years. My favorite was the spangled hamburg. I've never gotten a free chick that didn't turn out to be a rooster, but I guess that is to be expected.
I only wish I had reason to have even more chickens, but I've only got so much time in a day, and need to spread it around between the livestock and the garden. With the surrounding Hutterite colonies, there is very little unfilled market for farm fresh eggs or chickens.
Cathy
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Post by Penny on Sept 2, 2008 10:15:55 GMT -6
Awww, cute pics!!
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Post by mommajeane on Sept 2, 2008 14:32:14 GMT -6
That looks like a hen to me. It doesn't have much of a comb or tail feathers.
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Post by Tonnymonk on Sept 2, 2008 15:35:12 GMT -6
He was only about 8 weeks old in those pics, mamajeane. He has gotten his tail feathers since and is starting to get his comb going. I'll try to get some more pics soon. We have another rooster now. Still trying to get a name for him. I'll start a new thread on the two of them
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