Black Broilers
I’m updating this blog post on Nov 6, 2021. This has been our most popular blog post. We’ve learned so much since the writing of this, that I thought it would be good to have tried and true info for those looking for it.
We started our very first batch of chickens on 5/10/2018. It was a straight run (mixed sex) of 20 black broilers that we ordered as day old chicks. They sent 21. I had a bit of panic that the warmer was for 20 chicks, but it worked out just fine. We decided to use a warmer plate instead of a heat lamp, after reading so many accounts of fires started by heat lamps. Now, we use a much larger warmer plate, and occasionally a heat lamp during the winter, as we brood outside. When we use the heat lamp, we secure it thoroughly and completely with tie wraps. It is up high, and just to keep the whole area from getting too cold. The brooder/warmer plate is to keep the chicks warm.
With chicks, the most important thing is keeping them warm. There are detailed directions elsewhere on the internet for how to do this, but one way is using a brooder/warmer plate that is adjusted to the right height- they need to touch it to get the heat. I use one side lower than the other, so that they can take what heat they need. The other way is a heat lamp. I think heat lamps are pretty dangerous, so I’m not going to go into using them here.
When researching how to brood chickens, I saw that so many people say they started their chicks in a rubbermaid tote. We had those, so we used a really big one. After 3 days, the chickens outgrew it. We moved them to a kiddie pool. After one week, they started jumping out. We put netting above the kiddie pool. Following this adventure, we built a large 4 foot by 8 foot box, with a lid. The lid was framed with 1 x 4’s and covered with hardware cloth. We used this box to brood inside our garage. Our final solution has been the first mobile coop we made for our laying flock. It is also 4 x 8.
When they were two weeks old, I read about fermenting their feed, and began doing that. The advantages I was able to see included eating slightly less feed, but eating all of it. No more fines left in the bottom of the feed trough, or scratched out everywhere. In addition, there are some studies that show benefits for fermenting feed on the health of the chicken. To ferment, you simply add water and a smidge of apple cider vinegar to the feed. You need enough water to make it like a thin oatmeal. Wait a few days, depending on the ambient temperature. When you see bubbles, you can take some out to feed, and replace it with dry feed and water. After it gets going, you can just use it every day, replacing what you take out with dry feed and water. There are more detailed directions on the internet. We have stopped fermenting feed at this point, as it draws flies.
We planned on moving them out on pasture at 3 weeks. They were at this point big, messy half-feathered chickens in a kiddie pool, and lacking a barn, they were living in our garage/basement. It was time. But, it started to rain. It rained hard every day for almost two weeks. While this wouldn’t be a problem for an older chicken with all it’s feathers, it was of concern for our scruffy looking half grown chicks. The other concern was that they were outgrowing the kiddie pool brooder and getting stressed from it.
On the third day of solid rain, with the forecast showing rain as far as we could see, we moved their tractor into the garage. This gave them room to move and grow in a dry space. I highly don’t recommend this. We learned to be prepared for the whole brooding period of the chicks before getting them.
It finally stopped raining, and we were able to move the tractor and movable coop outside when the chicks were 5 weeks old. We had electrical fencing to keep out the fox, which had decimated our neighbor’s flock twice, and the coyotes we heard yipping at night. We set up the fencing in a long corridor that we could move the coop, gangplank, and tractor in daily. The coop was built with hardware cloth sealing every nook or crack. There is netting over the gangplank. The tractor attached is still in use in 2021, however, it’s a backup to the backup. It has held up over time, but not being able to stand up in it is not ideal. We used a Salatin style tractor after this one, which we hated, and now use exclusively a Suscovich style tractor. Being able to stand up when working with chickens is important to us. In addition, poultry netting is not helpful to keep predators out. We have not had an issue, but we no longer trust this tractor to protect our birds.
We decided to start harvesting at 9 weeks. We talked to the kids. They wanted nothing to do with the harvest, although they were happy to eat the meat. Fair enough. They were a little sad, as were we. Thank you chickens.
We learned so many things from this. We will do fermented feed again, as we feel that was beneficial. We will build a brooder box, because we want to have the option of keeping the chicks in for longer and we never ever want to have a chicken tractor in our garage again. We learned that we don’t love black pin feathers in a chicken. In addition, black broilers in midsummer in Georgia take way too much work to keep cool and alive. Mostly, we enjoyed the experience of raising chickens immensely, and plan to do it again. We want to raise Cornish Cross, the standard meat chicken in America, just to see how raising them on pasture compares to the black broilers.
We have learned that the best time to raise meat chickens is when the temperature is warm but not hot. If it gets too cold, you have smaller, slower growing chickens. They have to use their calories to stay warm, not grow. If it gets too cold before they are feathered out, you have chickens in the brooder longer than you want. If it’s too hot, Cornish Cross will keel over and die. We have switched to using Cornish Cross. The amount of feed that it takes to get the amount of meat you get can’t be beat by any other breeds. We don’t love them, but we give them the very best life they can have on pasture most of the time. There are things you can do to make them more active and healthy, and we do those things.