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Chicken husbandry ?? EGGS, FERTZ, MEAT - ANY TIPS?????

chilliman said:
I look forward to my roosters crowing, chooks clucking, pods ripening..:)
Had a lady prech about white cornish hens today ?? (original "not the cross she barked") ? Saying they are the best meat brids ? And would give a left pinky for one ???
cornish.jpg

These much the same as cross ?
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same only not nearly as fast growing nor as good a feed to meat weight conversion ratio.

Many commercial ops have their own variety of crosses. I let mine grow for 6 weeks and the meat and texture were excellent.

There are different Cornish crosses out there. The hatchery I purchased mine from (Meyers) boasted no growth problems (some have leg problems as their leg muscles don't develop fast enough to support the weight) and more complete feather covering. They were right and I was very satisfied.

You can raise the regular cornish chooks or other type birds, but since they grow slower you'll just need more of them in your pen to keep your goal of one harvested per week met. The choice is yours and neither is wrong, just have fun doing it. :)
 
Ok, chickens are locked in and ready for pickup in a few weeks. (they will be about 8weeks old when I get them :) )
3 Australorp
10 Cornish X rock
8 Rhode island red

Roosters I have not decided on yet.

BUT I also want QUAILL !!
brownquail_4714.jpg


These are great eating birds, not real meaty but really tasty!
I want some...

So question is can I keep these with my chicken ?
And anyone had these ?
 
thanx Mick !
I assume they probably suffer from different illness etc.

Light in side the coupe ?
Should I keep that on 24/7 or at night ?
Deep Litter Method, where do I get DE ? I assume its at local farm suppliers ?
 
Some people leave a small night light on for the birds at night, for the most part you want the lights off at night. They need to rest too, if you leave the lights on all the time it can cause problems. One good idea is to leave the lights (1 light is ideal) on 30 minutes after the sun goes down to give everybody a chance to get to their roost.
 
chilliman said:
Ok, chickens are locked in and ready for pickup in a few weeks. (they will be about 8weeks old when I get them :) )
3 Australorp
10 Cornish X rock
8 Rhode island red

Roosters I have not decided on yet.

BUT I also want QUAILL !!

These are great eating birds, not real meaty but really tasty!
I want some...

So question is can I keep these with my chicken ?
And anyone had these ?
Click to expand...

Somehow I lost track of this thread.

At 8 weeks old the Cornish X Rocks will be ready for slaughter when you get them so I hope you have the freezer space ready and your knife sharp. ;) You don't want them to get any older and as I said b4 I harvested mine at 6 weeks old.

Don't mix the quail and chooks. The quail wouldn't survive. I've had as many as 500 quail in days gone by and kept all of them in several 4x12 above ground pens. They are mighty tasty.


chilliman said:
thanx Mick !
I assume they probably suffer from different illness etc.

Light in side the coupe ?
Should I keep that on 24/7 or at night ?
Deep Litter Method, where do I get DE ? I assume its at local farm suppliers ?
Click to expand...

For your laying hens to produce their best when they reach laying age you want to give them 14 hours of light, so just extend their day in the coop with a timed light that stays on long enough to give them the 14 hours. It doesn't need to be a bright light and one as dim as 10 watts is sufficient. It just needs to be bright enough that you can still barely read a newspaper when squinting.

The best price I've found for DE is on fleabay, but freight is a bitch for 50LBs. Still much cheaper than I can find it locally. You're downunder so I can't tell you where to look, sorry.
 
OK so the quail will be another venture.
So I should be building the run/ coop this weekend.
Picking up chooks the week after.
SS you have been great source of info, and sure I will have plenty more questions ! But thank you.
Ian
 
I just bought 2 australorpe pullets to go with my other 4. I'll try and get some photos up soon. I'm getting 4 eggs a day at the moment, too many for me to keep up with but theres always family and stuff who want them.
 
OK here is an update !
I am well behind as I have alot of plants that are takeing priority.
Here is my throw together coop and run.
Its pretty simple to start, just used what I had around, I will upgarde the coop and expand the run when I know more about what I am doing.

The chickens are days away ! They are all fruit trees inside the coop so if I dont eat them I will let them drop for the chooks.
P1010367.jpg

P1010360.jpg


Here is my coop so far.


I have split the inside to 4 boxs.

P1010361.jpg
 
Going to finish up the coop this weekend ! Will take photo of the redesign!
Had a good friend give me a few pointers ;)

Q: can I have the feed under run shelter hanging ?
 
Total cost of the coop so far is $40 (that was for the bird net over the top)
Most materials I had around the place.
I plan to buy the feeder and water bowls. so That will be another $30 odd each.
I will picking up some birds today hopefully ! Weather is looking bad though.
So about $120 ALL IN is about what I will have to spend to get this up and running with chooks. I was assuming alot more !
 
chilliman said:
Total cost of the coop so far is $40 (that was for the bird net over the top)
Most materials I had around the place.
I plan to buy the feeder and water bowls. so That will be another $30 odd each.
I will picking up some birds today hopefully ! Weather is looking bad though.
So about $120 ALL IN is about what I will have to spend to get this up and running with chooks. I was assuming alot more !
Click to expand...

Nice looking covered run you have chilliman. Hell, I spent over $300 just on chicken wire so you're doing great.

I want to see some pics of your chicks!!!
 
I will get some photos up soon.
I will also try get photos of the FOX that prowl the coop. As you can see in my last photo posted above, I back onto big paddocks. (150 ACRES) So I think I am always going to have this problem.
 
Not to sound like a dick, but do you have to worry about dingos and stuff?
Not trying to be all crikey! dingo ate mah baby, but I know that I want to eat the hell out of those birds, I imagine that the local fauna would too.
 
foxes will be a much bigger problem
there aren't too many dingo colonies left in coastal NSW and QLD mainland for that matter. We have wild dog problems and foxes
some wild dogs are vaguely bred with dingos.

CM coop looks cool
my choocks are pumping getting 5 eggs a day from 6 birds
actually going to rebuild my coop I'll get some photos up when i get my finger out.
 
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