What Do You Feed Your Meat Birds????

I found these link to Miller's Hatchery.
http://www.millerhatcheries.com/InformationFactSheets/Broiler_Info/Farm_Feeding_Meat_Type_Chicks.htm
http://www.millerhatcheries.com/InformationFactSheets/Broiler_Info/Farm_Feeding_Meat_Type_Chicks.htm#Broiler%20Growth%20&%20Feed%20Consumption%20Chart
So what do you feed your meat chickens? What do you do different?
Thanks for your help.
Kimball

There was a good post going about this already, I will have a look for it.

Here it is.....
https://wcps.canadian-forum.com/t8323-fattening-up-young-heritage-cockerels

bcboy wrote:I found these link to Miller's Hatchery.
http://www.millerhatcheries.com/InformationFactSheets/Broiler_Info/Farm_Feeding_Meat_Type_Chicks.htm
http://www.millerhatcheries.com/InformationFactSheets/Broiler_Info/Farm_Feeding_Meat_Type_Chicks.htm#Broiler%20Growth%20&%20Feed%20Consumption%20Chart
So what do you feed your meat chickens? What do you do different?
Thanks for your help.
Kimball

So according to the chart in the link, at 9 weeks the broiler eats a cumulative 18.75 lbs of feed. So if you are solely feeding commercial feed a broiler eats about half a bag with room for spillage. Around here feed is $15-$20 a bag. If you take the high end, that puts cost of production at a minimum of $10. We are of course not counting electricity, bedding, housing or hours of work that goes into producing these birds. This makes a strong case for raising your broilers on a free range or tractored environment sheerly to keep your cost of feed down.

coopslave wrote:Here it is.....
https://wcps.canadian-forum.com/t8323-fattening-up-young-heritage-cockerels

Thanks for the link.

Schipperkesue wrote:

bcboy wrote:I found these link to Miller's Hatchery.
http://www.millerhatcheries.com/InformationFactSheets/Broiler_Info/Farm_Feeding_Meat_Type_Chicks.htm
 

http://www.millerhatcheries.com/InformationFactSheets/Broiler_Info/Farm_Feeding_Meat_Type_Chicks.htm#Broiler%20Growth%20&%20Feed%20Consumption%20Chart
So what do you feed your meat chickens? What do you do different?
Thanks for your help.
Kimball

So according to the chart in the link, at 9 weeks the broiler eats a cumulative 18.75 lbs of feed.  So if you are solely feeding commercial feed a broiler eats about half a bag with room for spillage.  Around here feed is $15-$20 a bag.  If you take the high end, that puts cost of production at a minimum of $10.  We are of course not counting electricity, bedding, housing or hours of work that goes into producing these birds.  This makes a strong case for raising your broilers on a free range or tractored environment sheerly to keep your cost of feed down.

I have seen you use chicken tractors from Jonny. What feed do you buy? Is it commercial feed, Co-op feed, or do you use grains and then supplement vitamins with water?
Thanks for your time.
Kimball

I use commercial feed for the young 'uns but when they get older I go to the Warburg Seed Cleaning Coop. There you can buy a bag of mixed screenings for $5 a 40 lb sack. The screenings contain wheat, oats, barley, peas, flax, canola, sunflower seeds and others. To get the protein level up, cat food and meat dust. Meat dust? It is usually free from the butcher. A mixture of meat, fat and bone that collects in the band saw. If meat dust is hard to find I always have a bag of 35% protein supplement just in case, but I am not fond of that because the protein source is usually soya.

I feed my meat birds 18% non-med starter/grower for their whole lives (which is no more than 8weeks)
But they are also on pasture that is planted in a mix of alfalfa and grasses.
They usually dress out averaging about 4.5-5lbs.