Fattening up young heritage cockerels

Hello everyone!

I'm hoping there are some folks out there who can help me with this one.....

I want to fatten up my boys as much as possible this year as I grow them out with the intention of choosing the nicest ones for breeding at 22 weeks and processing the rest.

Right now they range in age from 10-14weeks old. Other than keeping their range space small what can I feed them to start the fattening up process? And can I switch them from poultry grower (for laying birds) to poultry finisher (for meat birds). I wonder about switching over given they've got 12-8 weeks left before being processed and wasn't sure if they could be on a 'finisher' for that long.

I feed my boys I want to fatten up finisher at 10 weeks on, but these are ones that do not make the first cut. If you put too much fat on your future breeding boys you might be looking at trouble? Not sure, I know you don't want a fat hen for sure.

I recall someone telling me they grow out all their males together, including the future breeders (which they don't determine who that will be till processing time) and that the fat breeding boys lose the weight by the following Spring......perhaps this is not the case......

Hidden are you saying you put your males on the Finisher when they're 10 weeks of age till processing?

ChicoryFarm wrote:I recall someone telling me they grow out all their males together, including the future breeders (which they don't determine who that will be till processing time) and that the fat breeding boys lose the weight by the following Spring......perhaps this is not the case......

This is pretty much what I do. Mine are 16 weeks and still free range a couple of times a week. I feed them grower or finisher mixed with grains to finish. I just buy corn, wheat and sometimes oats, then add some black sunflower seeds and mix it all in together. I happen to like the taste of a grain finished bird and I also find they gain really well on it but it is a short term thing for me. I like to push them pretty hard at the end.
They will be locked up soon, just have a bit of a space issue at the moment and then when I choose who stays, have a pretty good idea now, the others go to process. The ones left go back onto grower, or finisher, whatever I happen to be feeding and then I slowly introduce layer into their diet so they are ready when they go in with the hens.
Just what seems to work for me.

Chicory, was thinking of you and Mr Chicory yesterday, will try to send you a message soon. Hope all is well.

I keep a full bowl of scratch out for them at all times - sort of similar approach.

coopslave wrote:

ChicoryFarm wrote:I recall someone telling me they grow out all their males together, including the future breeders (which they don't determine who that will be till processing time) and that the fat breeding boys lose the weight by the following Spring......perhaps this is not the case......

This is pretty much what I do.  Mine are 16 weeks and still free range a couple of times a week.  I feed them grower or finisher mixed with grains to finish.  I just buy corn, wheat and sometimes oats, then add some black sunflower seeds and mix it all in together.  I happen to like the taste of a grain finished bird and I also find they gain really well on it but it is a short term thing for me.  I like to push them pretty hard at the end.
They will be locked up soon, just have a bit of a space issue at the moment and then when I choose who stays, have a pretty good idea now, the others go to process.  The ones left go back onto grower, or finisher, whatever I happen to be feeding and then I slowly introduce layer into their diet so they are ready when they go in with the hens.
Just what seems to work for me.

Chicory, was thinking of you and Mr Chicory yesterday, will try to send you a message soon.  Hope all is well.

Thanks Coop! Will stock up on the sunflowers as well. I think of you often and looked forward to our next connection. We'll honk our horn as we drive by your road in Beaverdell on Friday on our way to Kelowna with Barney and Stella. Listen for the horn.  

heda gobbler wrote:I keep a full bowl of scratch out for them at all times   - sort of similar approach.

Sounds good Heda. I'll get some tomorrow. Thanks so much.

Yes Chicory, I feed starter till 6-8 week, then put them on grower for a couple weeks, by then I can weed out the girls from boys and then the boys that I don't want to keep go into a pen on Finisher. Now our finisher is a grain mix we use for our meat birds, so might be different than commercial finisher.

The other boys I like at 10 weeks stay on grower until I figured out who is a keeper, then the rest go on finisher.

Hidden River wrote: Now our finisher is a grain mix we use for our meat birds, so might be different than commercial finisher.
The other boys I like at 10 weeks stay on grower until I figured out who is a keeper, then the rest go on finisher.

What are the grains in your finisher?
From the Co Op I can get Corn, Peas, Barley, Canola and Soya.
Thanks for your time.
Kimball

My finisher is made up of Wheat, Barely and Soya, with Canola oil as a binder. There is also a mineral pack mix we put in there that has the enzyme in there to help digest the barely.

bcboy wrote:
From the Co Op I can get Corn, Peas, Barley, Canola and Soya.
Thanks for your time.
Kimball

Hi, are you talking the Co-Op in Armstrong? If so, is it in sacks or bulk? Thanks for any info