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Reduce or eliminate health problems with versatility and efficiency when setting up a Cornish Cross broiler for raising Cornish Cross chickens for meat.
Door Anna GordonEvery spring and autumn I breed a group of 25 Cornish Cross hens. My feed conversions are generally at or below breeder benchmarks with pullets weighing 8.5 pounds live weight at 8 weeks, each weighing 5.5-6 pounds. My success comes largely from closely following commercial broiler breeding techniques and years of developing a smart breeding strategy.
I prefer to raise only chickens, even though the target roosters outweigh the chickens by a few pounds. I find that chickens produce more tender meat than roosters, especially if they are done for the full eight weeks. Roosters can sometimes be aggressive at 6-8 weeks of age and bully at feeders and water, which can lead to shy hens being pushed away and suffering from poor weight gain. In my experience, same-sex herds tend to be more uniform in weight, which makes handling much easier.
Basics of broiler chickens
OfCornish crossbroiler chickens is different from traditional laying hens or dual purpose chickens. Decades of hybridization have produced a meat bird that is incredibly efficient at converting feed into body mass.Cornish Cross chickenscan grow up to eight pounds in just eight weeks. Think of it this way: Bresse, Buff Orpingtons, Buckeyes and Chantecler chickens all reach adulthood weighing about 3 to 4 pounds, but it takes them 16 to 21 weeks to get there, twice the coop time and two times as much food.
Because breeding efforts have emphasized the development of breast meat, the Cornish Cross broiler's center of gravity is further forward than the more upright layer or dual-purpose chicken. This makes it difficult for them to quickly escape predators and run over rough terrain. These broilers were not bred to be athletic or particularly active. Driven by their increased metabolism, they focus most of their attention on eating, which means their feeding plans, care and general management must be different from those of laying hens and slow-growing, dual-purpose birds. They also need a specific physical environment to protect them from predators. Below I show how I use pet wire panels for a versatile setup that I can then pack up after each batch of 25 has been processed. If you prefer a permanent setup, consider building onemobile chicken tractorand still use my suggestions for setting up a run.
Cornish Cross broilers do not require the physical space of laying hens or dual purpose chickens. Like laying hens and dual-purpose chickens, broiler chickens require little more than one square meter of brooding space up to three weeks of age. This is where the similarities end. Growing broilers and roosters only need 1 to 3 square feet of space, but require larger feeders and walkers (and room for them) because of their rapid growth rate. Their voracious appetite can sometimes lead to bullying at the feeder, and an empty water tank can cause digestive problems and even crop damage. In my experience, I don't think Cornish Cross broilers are very hardy creatures. They require constant, consistent care.
Efficient and versatile space
My poultry setup includes a walk-in coop attached to a 3 x 9 meter covered run with a metal roof, divided into two sections: a 3 x 6 meter run with access to free range pasture for the laying hens and a further coop of 3 x 3 meters used for breeding, quarantine/hospital or growing out broiler chickens.
There is a 3-foot apron of 1/2-inch hardware cloth that surrounds the entire structure for protection from predators. As designed, this setup is easy to clean (eliminates odor), easy to access chickens, looks nice and offers flexible functionality.
With the help of a few training cages, I can temporarily install a covered breeding shed with a small run in my carport, so that I can keep a close eye on the chicks. As they get bigger, I can add a second, shorter pen for a day walk. The main wire pin is wrapped with 1/2-inch hardware cloth to keep rodents and snakes out. I can get the incubator up and running in 20 minutes or less.
Detailed arrangement
- This cabin setup provides approximately 28 square feet or 1/2 square foot of space per person. chicken.
- The sloping area is supplemented during the day with a small attached run, bringing the total square footage to approximately one square meter per square meter. chicken.
- A 5-gallon water bowl, along with a 7-pound food bowl, is kept full and available in the brooder.
- A vitamin, mineral and electrolyte/probiotic supplement is added to the water from the hatch until the end of the 3rd. week.
- At the end of the run I place a hanging water trough and a four foot trough with a rotating wheel that discourages sitting (and the inevitable manure in the food) is placed in the connected coop by week 3.
- As recommended by the major breeder guides, I also provide white light and a heat lamp in the bakery. The small 5-1/2-inch clamp lamp with a 4-watt LED night light provides just enough white light for the broiler to see both feed and water throughout the night to encourage feeding.
Raising chicks after shipment
The day before the Cornish Cross chicks arrive, I turn on the incubator. Years ago I learned a farming tip for chickens suffering from shipping stress. I make sure to have a few hard-boiled eggs on hand so I can crumble the yolks with starter food. They swallow it, which stimulates drinking, where the electrolytes can make a difference. Chickens that come out of a shipping crate are hungry. If I see a chick that is not eagerly going to the feeder, I mix the yolk/starter crumb and feed the chick. In no time the chicken will be at the feeder with the others.
Feeding chickens
Cornish Cross chicks look like regular day old chicks, but that's where the similarities end. You can even see their growth double and triple within the first two weeks. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of larger capacity feeders and waterers to accommodate this rapid growth. I start with a 5 gallon drinker and a 7 pound feeder for the first few weeks. Within their first week, the 25 chicks drink a liter a day and soon they are eating 2 liters a day! In the third week I add an extra 5 liter drinking bowl instead of filling a drinking bowl several times a day.
In the third week, the cubs' appetite is voracious. The 7-pound feeder has been replaced with a 36-inch feeder with roller. The trough legs lift the feeder, keeping waste out and the roller prevents chickens from getting on top of it and contaminating the feed. The 1.20 meter feeder provides 1.80 meters of space, so the chicks can eat next to each other at the same time - no hassle with positions. And it eliminates having to fill the feeder multiple times a day.
When the chicks are transferred to the grow box in the fourth week, I add a bell dispenser to provide constant access to clean water. As the chickens get bigger, this can easily be adjusted higher. The 1.20 meter automatic feeder has been replaced by a 1.20 meter feeder which provides 8 linear feeding spaces and reinforces positive feeding behavior as they can all feed side by side. The feed is stored in galvanized steel cans in the growth path, allowing for quick feeding.
Remember that raising the Cornish Cross is very different from raising layers. You need a strategy to meet their needs and reduce the amount of work required to maintain them.
Feeding and maintenance schedule
My Cornish Cross chicks are fed 28 percent bird crumb food for the first few weeks. I never use feed medications because I order coccidiosis vaccination spray for all chickens. From the fourth week until the end, the chicks are transferred to 22 percent broilers that are matched to their nutritional needs and given a 12/12 hour feed restriction. I never feed cracked corn or crabs of any kind, nor do I add fiber such as grass clippings or yard waste to their diet; this can promote diarrhea, which can harbor and spread coccidiosis. With this approach, I don't experience sudden death flips or broken legs in any of my Cornish Cross puppies. Any mortality experienced is related to shipping.
Here is my maintenance and feeding strategy for Cornish Cross broilers:
- Day 1 to end of week 4 - Electrolytes, vitamins and minerals are added to all drinking water.
- Day 1 to end of week 2 — Twenty-eight percent of the feed is delivered. Heat lamp and white light are on 24/7.
- Early week 3 — The feed is changed to a 22 percent broiler ration, limited to 12/12 hours, with water always available. The automatic feeder has been replaced by a 3 meter trough. White light is eliminated. Chicks have access to a 4-by-3-foot run during the day, and a heat lamp is left in the brooder to keep the chicks warm if they get cold. Chicks are kept in an incubator overnight.
- Early week 4 — Hunglinger is moved to an outdoor breeding loft. The feed restriction continues and a four-foot feeder is added. The larger feeding space eliminates any feeding challenge. Chickens have access to half of the growth path with autodrinks during the day and gather at the roost with access to drinks at night.
- Week 5 – Hungler is weighed for progress and given full access to the 10 square meter growth box.
- Week 6 to Week 8 — Hunger is weighed against progress to determine the process plan based on the selected final weight. The hens are free to choose a sleeping place or open the loft for the night.
- The larger hens are treated as planned, while any limping hens are postponed until week 8 and put on full feed 24/7.
- End of week 8 — All hens have been treated.
I find that 25 Cornish Cross hens will consume approximately 325 pounds of feed from day 1 through week 8 while on a 12/12 feed restriction schedule. Roosters alone or a mixed flock of chickens and roosters will consume more.
Growing out
In the 4th week the cubs are moved to the rearing stable and their sleeping house. You can create a round or rectangular pen by attaching two to three end panels with snap clips. I placed this pen on a raised plywood floor (which can be cleaned and reused) and added a plywood sheet to turn the wire pen into a safe sleeping house. Due to rapid weight gain and changes in their center of gravity due to the development of breast meat, Cornish Cross chicks do not beat. Instead, they sleep huddled on the floor. The broilers independently return to the sleeping place at dusk.
Limitation of rapid growth
The 4th week also marks the start of a full 12 hour feeding rotation and a 12 hour feed restriction rotation. The purpose of this is to limit growth that is too rapid. At the same time, the less white light is removed. Cornish Cross birds were bred to eat and will continue to eat if food is available. If they grow too fast, they can suffer heart attacks and develop ascites and bone problems that lead to lameness or broken bones. That's why I use a physical feed restriction program where I provide sufficient food for 12 hours and then remove the food for 12 hours.
After 12 hours of feed restriction, you may be mowed down by the little chicks coming out of the incubator looking for the feeder. To prevent crowds from crowding around the feeder, the four-foot-high trough gives the chicks just enough room for everyone. If all the chicks are packed fairly tightly around the trough, they tend to drop less food outside the trough (less food waste) and the less they strive for an apparent "prime" position. They all just concentrate on food. I replace the 4-foot trough with a 4-foot trough when the growing chicks are full enough to push each other away. The rotating roller at the top of the feeder prevents the young broilers from standing on the feeder and urinating in the trough. Less contaminated feed means less feed waste.
Easy to clean
Before moving the chicks to the growing pad, I prepare the soil by spreading a 50/50 mixture of baking soda and flour in the coop. Over that mixture I placed a layer of pine flakes 3 to 4 inches deep, both in the roost and in the pen. The pine flake litter absorbs moisture and provides odor control. Keeping the litter fresh is as simple as shaking it up and adding a little more. The broilers have been locked up for the past five weeks. Similar to the deep litter method, this approach also encourages microbes to grow in the litter and destroy the coccidial parasites in the manure.
Cleaning the sleeper is as simple as cutting the ends of the wire panel where they meet and spreading them open. A few turns with a wide snow shovel quickly clears the debris and the dorm is clean.
Keeps pens dry
You will need to increase the frequency of your cleanings during the 6th to 8th week because their metabolism is in full swing and they will be eating a lot and producing a lot of wet manure. Continue mixing some flour and baking powder with your pine flakes to limit odors. If the pen becomes too wet due to watery feces or rain, you can also use pine pellets (such as those used in horse stables) to absorb extra moisture.
A broiler that sleeps or lies on moist soil or grass with fresh manure containing a lot of ammonia will develop breast blisters. This condition starts with loss of feathers and red, irritated skin, similar to diaper rash, eventually leading to painful blisters that lead to bacterial infections.
Anticipate feed needs
We've talked a lot about how quickly broiler chickens grow, which means they have to consume a lot of food every day. After 21 days, each bird eats about 1/4 pound of food per day. At 49 days old, they are eating 1/2 pound per day. Applying this calculation to the birds I have, it means that 25 Cornish Cross Kettles will eat approximately 325 pounds of feed over 8 weeks. I like to buy all the 22 percent broiler feed I need before moving them to the grower house and store it in galvanized, steel-covered cans in the house. This makes it easy to remove the lid and measure the food in the container.
Deep litter, automatic watering, pre-calculated feed needs, coring, planning ahead – it's all a few quick jobs a day to raise enough broilers in 16 weeks to feed your family all year round.
Anne Gordon owns backyard chickens and has a modest chicken business that includes laying hens and Cornish Cross broilers. And like many of you, she doesn't sell eggs or meat; all production is for her personal consumption. A long-time poultry farmer, Anne writes from personal experience as a city girl who moved to the suburbs to keep a few chickens and now lives in the countryside. She has had a lot of experience with chickens over the years and has learned a lot along the way, some of it the hard way. Anne had to think outside the box in some situations, but stuck to tried and tested traditions in others. Anne lives on Cumberland Mountain in TN with her two English Springers Jack and Lucy.
