Meat birds

[p54jes]

We have 10 Ross cobbs for eating (7weeks),they are doing well and putting on weight. They are getting through a 20kg bag of Haywards growers every week , is this the norm because if it is they will turn out costing us on average about £8 a bird can anyone tell me if this is right or not as this is the first time we have done it.
many thanks
Big D

[Snadger]

You only get out what you put in p54jes!

Sounds about right to me...............my laying hybrids nearly eat that ammount!

[Bramble-Poultry]

an average laying hen should be eating somewhere around 100-125g of feed per day per bird. Growers for food do tend to eat a bit more. This is why we cut out feed with straights.

The regime i have the turkeys on is equal parts turkey grower pellets, corn, wheat, barley, oats.

Turkey feed is around £8 per sack, the wheat and the oats an barley are around £3.50 per sack and the corn is £6 per sack. so all told, i can batch up 100kg of feed for around £25, which works out at around £5 per sack, compared to £8.

Not a huge saving, but they grow a bit slower (which is no bad thing for a heritage turkey) they put on a good layer of fat and it seems a bit more natural for them.

Dont forget p54jes, you dont have to feed them pellets only. bulk them up with old spuds boiled a lightly squashed, carrots, cabbage and pasta - they love pasta but it does chuck on the weight!

where do you get you growers pellets from? Farmgate feeds do a an Anticodiostat feed, 20kg sack for £8.90 RRP, but if you get direct from the mill you can pick it up for around £6.50 or sometimes less.

[matthew2riches]

Yup, bulk out with anything they like!

When I did mine they were spoilt rotten :-)

[Seamus]

hi p54jes,i am feeding 5 table birds at the moment as well, its also my first time, mine are 3 weeks old now. what weight roughly are yours now? and at what age are you going to dispatch them at ?
thanks seamus

[p54jes]

Meat Birds

Hello Seamus,
We have 5 cockerals & 5 hens, on average the cocks weigh 7.5lb & the hens a little less at 7 weeks , we aim to despatch them around 12 weeks. They are at the moment on Heygates growers which we get for £6.80 , but they will go onto a finisher on week 11. We will have used 5 bags of growers , 1bag of finisher & 1/2 a bag of chick crumb. All in all they will cost us approx £7 each so lets hope they are worth it.
P54jes

[moola]

My Ross/Cobbs costed me £6.60 each but I pay roughly £7/£7.50 per 20kg and had them free ranging alot. I despatched a few at 12 wks but most up to 13-15wks. Weights 7-9lb. They were reared in the Spring and slaughtered early summer.

[Bramble-Poultry]

what do you pay for your Ross/Cobbs day old chicks? I see from an advert that a local supplier is charging around £45 for 50 chicks (including shipping). Obviously they will need heat for the first 4 weeks minimum, more so in this weather so that need factoring in, as well as the feed bill.

We reckon that if you can get around 35 to table weight from day old, then you are looking at about £4.50 each on that scale. The shipping rate is the same, irrespective of whether you take one bird or two hundred. so it makes sense to have plenty and fill the freezer as it makes it cheaper to produce per individual unit.

[Seamus]

thanks for that p54, much appreciated !