Cycle of Life: Cornish Cross Week 3

Cornish X at week 3.  They are really growing fast now.  Eating 3 1/2 times as much food as when they first arrived.

And speaking of food, here is the cost of their first two weeks of life.

End of week 1= $2.50 total for 12 chicks.

By the end of week 2 they have eaten 15.25 pounds of chick starter at $.50 a pound.

On these 12 chicks so far I have spent $2/chick plus $7.63 on food making a total of $31.63 by the end of week 2.

One of these days I will have to start keeping track of how much water they drink, since I do pay for that.  It will work out to pennies, I’m sure, since I haven’t really noticed an increase in my water bill in the last few months that I’ve been raising these birds.

And I will also need to work out how much bedding I use for each batch during their lifetime, as well as electricity for the heat lamp over their first two weeks.  (Daytime only.  At night I put a small cardboard box over them with small air holes, which helps to hold in their body heat, somewhat like being under a hen.  Well, anyway, it keeps their heat in and the night time chill out).

Since they are indoors, I start weaning them off the lamp after about 12 days.  With this batch it was easily done due to some unexpected high temperatures (A high of 79º F. for two day in a row during that time period).

The reason I take them off the heat lamp early, is to get them acclimated to outdoor temps faster.  It also stimulates quick feather growth.  Right now, their wings have filled in, and they have feathers on their backs.

In two weeks, if the weather is dry, and mild, I will begin transitioning them to their outdoor life gradually.  It’s important to get them outdoors quickly for their health and ours.  While they are feathering out, there is a fine dust coating their living space, which makes its way into our living space, even through the fine mesh screen, I have placed over their tank.

And by the end of week 4 no amount of bedding will disguise that faint fermented bready smell that goes with the microbiome of deep bedding and chicks.  Healthier for all concerned if they get into their outdoor quarters within four weeks.

That’s it for now.  Just biding time while they grow another week.