[uktitan]

Greetings all,

My wife (peeppeeps) and I have been keeping various Hens for around 6 months now, and Fingers crossed we have not had many Major issues (apart from one black rock breaking her hip, and a few colds) We are Now thinking of venturing into Meat birds Ross Cobb to be precise. We asked a friend of ours in the US that keeps Cobbs and they said to give them a 22% protein  Crumb, then switch them to a 19% protein grower/finisher at 5-6weeks, MY issue is the Only Feed that i can find that comes Anywhere Close to that protein content is Turkey feed.

Is this safe to give Ross Cobb Chicks? he also told us to get some multi vitamin liquid to put in their water (which i forgot the name of  ) And as a treat he suggested Coconut Pulp ( or shredded/dessicated coconut)  Any help / advise is much appreciated.

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi UKtitan and welcome!

Whereabouts are you in the world?  if you can add it to your profile, it would help us with your questions!

We feed our meat chicks on poultry chick crumb until they are 5 weeks old, then poultry rearer for a couple of weeks then onto poultry grower then a week before culling they are put onto plain finisher which has no medication in it or plain wheat or corn. 

We rear Hubbard JA 757's, prefer them to Ross Cobbs.  they can be slaughtered at 8 weeks, but we now grow them on to between 12 and 15 weeks. to get a better size.

If you can give me an idea of your location, I'll see if I can find out where you can get proper poultry feed rather than turkey food.  we never feed our turkeys on chicken feed and vice versa.

I don't know the % of ingredients, but can have a look tomorrow for you!

[Casey76]

You'll have them going down on their legs and flipping like crazy if you feed that high a protein diet!

20% chick crumb and  18% growers and finishers is quite adequate.  Or switch from growers to wheat for a week or two before slaughter

Ross Cobbs are a fast growth bird, and if you feed too high a protein diet their internal organs, and bones, wont be able to keep up with the weight they put on.

RCs should be table ready in 8-10 weeks for the backyard keeper.

Coconut - a definiate no no.  It is so high in fat again you risk heart failure.  Treats aren't really needed for table birds, but a handful of grain on an evening wouldn't hurt.

[cluckingnuts]

I feed my meat birds turkey crumbs for the first 3 weeks then turkey grower. 2-4 weeks before slaughter I change to wheat/grains.

[Heathcliff2]

Yes, chick crumb to 4-5 weeks then grower and I usually switch to layers crumb/pellets at 10 weeks as I find it slows the growth nicely so you can go for an older finishing bird (12-14) weeks without leg probs (also has no medication in it). My broilers enjoy a pick at a broccolli head now and then but not too much as you need them to keep their weight up. We have a great breed the Wessex Supreme here in Northern ireland but the roosters get VERY aggressive at around 12 weeks so I usually kill them at 10-11 weeks. I got some reject commercials (Ross Rowan I think) last time and they were very docile birds, no fighting at all, and killed out lighter but very tasty.

[uktitan]

Our friend from the US, recommended Turkey feed, plus Multi vitamin drink because Nearly Every chicken crumb I can find is Barely even 18% protein, Not found one yet that is 20%, and Most growers feed ive found is 15%-17%

The Organic Feed Company - Organic Baby Chick Crumbs: Is only 18% protein
The Organic Feed Company - Organic Poultry Grower Finishing: 15% protein
Allen & Page - Baby Chick Crumbs: 17.5% protein
Allen & Page - Poultry Grower Pellets: 16% protein
Marriages - Chick Crumbs With A.C.S: 18.5% protein
Marriages - Poultry Growers Pellets: 15% protein
Farmgate Chick Crumb ACS: 18% protein
Farmgate Growers / Rearers Pellets: 15% protein

you can get the Marrages feed from here
http://www.sprcentre.com/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=290&strPageHistory=cat

Anyone know of any Chicken crumb and growers that is higher than those I've found? I would rather use chicken feed over turkey, But can't find the 20% protein crumb that someone above mentioned, and can't find 18% protein Growers either  

[Casey76]

The thing is, the faster they put on weight, the more likely you are to have health problems.

RCs will do little but eat, eat, eat anyway, so being table ready  in 8-10 weeks is better for them than "industry" 6-8 weeks.

The more time they have to wander around (if they do at all), the more flavoursome the meat.

I've only had medium growth meat hybrids (Sasso types), and even slaughter at 16-19 weeks has produced a nice roaster with tasty meat.  It needs more chewing than a supermarket chicken, but they are also twice the size and much, much more flavoursome.

[uktitan]

Casey76 Do you Hang your chickens for 24 hours before cooking / freezing? its supposed to Help make them more tender (less chewy) im interested if it makes much of a difference or not 

[Casey76]

I do hang them in my spare refrigerator (switched on) for a day or two after plucking, before gutting.

Somehow I find it not as disgusting to dress a cold carcass than a cooling one.   Before putting them in the fridge I  put a plastic bag over the head and fasten it with freezer ties as close to the body as possible to catch any drips.

One quick tip, leave as much neck skin as possible - all the more room for lovely stuffing

I know some people leave them for 7 days in a cool environment (not refrigerated), but I daren't do that lol!

[uktitan]

I know this may be a silly question but Why do you Hang them Before you've gutted them? i thought you were supposed to pluck and gut them and Then hang them LOL...shows how much I know 

[massa]

not sure about poultry because i havent got tot that stage yet but hope to one day, but i do go shooting game birds (pheasants/partridge etc) an i hang them as shot so not plucked or gutted anything from 1 week to one month before eating in a cool un refridgerated place i have eaten birds shot the same day and i think it does make a difference to taste and texture they are less tough and the taste is stronger.

[uktitan]

Im curious as to why the birds don't go rancid since the guts are still in, they start decomposing pretty fast.. Wouldn't leaving the guts in invite more bacteria Etc?

[uktitan]

Nobody knows of a chick crumb with 20% protein or growers with 18% protein as was suggested Above? I cant seem to find any anywhere, I've listed all the ones I've found above.

[GrannieAnnie]

Things are different over here to what they do in the States UKTitan.  We've always used Farmgate for our meat birds until we switched to Bearts a few months back.  Perhaps you can't get that high a protein content anywhere over here!

I gave one of our frozen chickens to a man from the village last week, when he came round today, he said it was lovely, but the only thing he would say against it was that it was too big for him and his wife!    Do you do smaller ones he asked?  No, I said that was 2kg and the smallest one we had! 

The reason the birds are hung before gutting is to relax the muscles which do get tense during culling and relaxed muscle is more tender.  Hanging for a few days gives the meat more flavour.

We dry kill, dry pluck and dry gut our birds.  As once water touches them they do start to go off quicker, but even done dry they will go off quicker still if you take the guts OUT before you hang them.  Believe me, my Brian has been doing it since he was a kid 60 years ago!

We only hang our chickens overnight though as we don't have a cold room or big enough fridge, but in the winter our turkeys are hung for a week before gutting.  The trick is to keep them as cool as possible.

[Casey76]

Sorry, UKTitan, I shoud have mentioned, I'm in France and the normal chick crumb I get at the feed mill is 20% protein.

If  18% is all you can get in the UK, then that is fine... after all it's not a race to get to table weight quickest... slower is much better for the birds, and even though they are table birds welfare should be just as important as layers who will be around much longer