Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Chicks - Week 8

It's hard to believe it's almost July. This batch of poultry has been out to pasture for four weeks now. I prepared the brooder house for our next round of turkeys, which we will raise for Thanksgiving. At this point in time, I would be planning to butcher Cornish Rocs. The Freedom Ranger Broilers have gained considerable weight, and some could be ready to butcher in a week or so. I plan to butcher all of them by the middle of July, when they are 11 weeks old. They love to forage, much more than Cornish Rocs do, and have eaten a great deal of grass. I'm also impressed with the foraging capabilities of the ducks. Along with the turkeys and the broilers, they are all keeping me busy with moving their fence. I move them to fresh pasture ever other day, now.


Liam loves feeding them every day. He's almost as tall as the 42" fence.

4 comments:

  1. How do you keep them from flying out of the fenced area? Are they just too young to fly or do you trim their wings?
    Just curious. :)
    They all look great and it's good you have such a consistent helper. :)

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  2. Linda - The fence is electric poultry, but I don't have it electrified right now. I will hook up the charger next year when Liam is older and can understand not to touch the net. So, for now, I clipped their wings before putting them out to pasture.

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  3. Thanks for the information, Ken. I appreciate it. :)

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  4. Wow, look how big they are! I like that portable netting, I am considering that myself. Thankfully we have not had much problem with the chickens free ranging. We have had stray dog problems in the past...
    They look wonderful! :)

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