Raising Meat Birds

We decided this year we would try our hand at raising meat birds. I ordered the chicks from a hatchery in Pennsylvania back in the beginning of April. They gave us our due date, we marked it on the calendar and anxiuosly counted down.

Our baby chicks arrived safe and sound yesterday morning, bright and early, and on time as promised!
We were so excited we could hardly wait to get them. They hatched Wednesday at the hatchery and got here by Thursday morning. We ordered 65 jumbo white cornish crosses. This bird has been bred to grow at a faster rate and a larger size than your average chicken. It is specifically for meat.

There is nothing jumbo about these little guys right at the moment.....

We carefully took them out of their box that they arrived in and placed them in their new temporary coop..............

They were so tiny that they were popping through the chicken wire like popcorn.
As soon as we'd grab one, another one was popping out the hole.....................

I ran around the yard and searched the barn frantically trying to gather enough boards to cover the sides that were "open". I found a few old shutters the kids were using in their "fort" and threw those up against the sides till my husband came home.

Finally all the sides had protection, so no one will get out. It's much safer for them on the inside for sure!

Food, water, shelter, and heat. That's all these chicks need to thrive. And of course, oodles of lovin' from the kids.....

These little babies won't be small for long! They will be ready to go in about 8 weeks. Because of their short time here we do not feed them medicated feed. We purchased chick starter that was non medicated. Then, when they are finished with the starter they are actually fed the same feed you give a turkey (turkey grower) and that is also non medicated.

Homegrown chicken, mmmmm......I can't wait!!