Meat Birds
(Cornish Cross Breed of Chicken)
From Beginning to End
We purchased 25 Cornish Cross. We picked up the chicks from Paris Farmers Union when they arrived on April 29, 2021. This is our first year putting chicks into the barn instead of our entry room. It was a cold Spring, so we doubled up the heat lamps and used blankets for some insulation and to keep out the draft.
Justin and Alexia built the brooder box so that the top has wire mesh to keep out predators aka Carla our barn cat, but allows the heat in. The top lifts open on hinges to access their water and grain bowls.
Water break! Getting water to the birds the first few days is crucial. We don’t even put grain in the brooder box until they have become good established water drinkers. We also add a tsp of sugar to their drinking water only the first day or two to get them going. As we first introduce the chicks to their new environment, we dip each of their beaks in to the water bucket so that they have a taste of it and know where it is.
It was so cold a few nights that I found them crowding under the lamp. I adjusted the lamps closer together and lower down to increase the heat in the box. We continued to check on them until they became more spread out and comfortable.
Boomer, our adopted pup, has a soft spot for little baby chicks. This has been his favorite barn chore. He would just watch them and not get too excited. He did great while they were itty bitty in the brooding box. Not as perfectly when we moved them into their barn coop. Check this space out.
This fully enclosed barn space is spacious for these quick growing meat birds. Alexia and Justin put this whole space together over one weekend and a couple extra evening shifts. With an easy access full sized door, it makes fresh water and grain fills a breeze.
A close up of their digs.
These guys eat and drink a lot. We ended up with two water dishes when the weather got hot. The meat birds endeavor is quick and worth it. They went for processing this past Saturday, June19th. In just seven weeks, we grew ourselves very good sized chickens from 5-7 pounds.
Here they are packed in their travel boxes in the truck and headed to processing.
We processed 12 out of 25 chickens for the freezer in bags. Justin did all the chopping. We used our sealer to make bags of family portions of wings, breast, and legs.
We boiled all the chicken bones left over from our processing and canned six jars of chicken broth. We have frozen chicken broth in the past and found that when it was needed it took too long to thaw. It also took up more room in the freezer.
Because this new room in the barn is rodent proof, we will utilize this space for grain storage this winter.
The chickens are moved out and the floor shoveled, swept, and sanitized. We are prepared for the arrival of our Turkey poults. Come back soon for a post all about turkeys.
