Well, we did it again! Fifty one meat birds arrived at the post office Wednesday morning!
Last year was our first year raising meat birds and we struggled with our first round. We got them late March and had 9 out of the 25 birds died. They were small too so we were pretty discourage. We decided we would try again in the fall and did another round of 25, this time only loosing a handful. But still the birds average weight was just below 5lbs.
So this year we are raising Fifty at once and we may do a second round in the fall. Our goal is to raise enough chicken to be able to eat two a week for the year. If we can raise them to a heavier weight than one a week may suffice.
Last year we think one of the factors that contributed to our loss was space in the brooder. So this year we actually didn’t put them into a horse trough like we have previously (especially cause there are so many more of them). We made a set up in what we call the “brooder room”, its a much bigger space and hopefully less squashing happens! You may of caught it on our Instagram Wednesday morning! If not here is a little video;
When the Birds Arrive
Something we do with all our chicks (not just meat birds) is give them magic water when they arrive.
We dip each of their beaks into the water upon arrival as well!
Magic Water Recipe
✨ 1 gallon of warm water (filtered is best if not on well water, but don’t worry if you aren’t)
✨ 1/4 cup honey
✨ A couple cloves crushed garlic
✨ 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Now I’ll be completely honest, I do not always measure, eyeballing this has worked just fine for me as well!
I mix this up and give it to them the first couple days, it’s a great immune boost and we have found chicks do really well with it!
We will keep you posted on this batch of meat birds! We are hoping to raise them bigger and not loose any, we shall see!
Thanks for stopping by!
- Jenesse with Vaughan Family Farm