How much cracked corn for meaties

[Country Parson]

I have ordered 50 cornish cross, which will arrive next Wednesday. Last year we feed mostly cracked corn for the last several days (maybe a whole week??), as we like a nice layer of fat on the birds. I'm curious if I could increase this to two weeks?

Anyone have any thoughts about feed mostly cracked corn for the last two full weeks? Any potential problems I'm not seeing? Do you think this would negatively impact growth?

I can always mix in layer feed to increase protein a bit.

 

[serendipity22]

What a lovely question!

I've got 20 broilers in the barn now and think I'll finish them on corn for about a week before butchering. My fear with doing it any longer than that is that it'll fatten them up too much and make them fall over dead, because its been so darn hot lately in my area! They're only 5 weeks old right now and are being fed an organic chick starter.

I figure I've got a couple more weeks to think about it some more.

 

[mohillbilly]

i dont know about those cornish X but i feed nothing but cracked corn to the ones that are going in the freezer once they are big enough to eat it

 

[the_great_snag]

You have to give them grit when you switch to cracked corn though, right?

 

[mohillbilly]

i dont but then they get rocks when they scratch

 

[Lollipop]

You guys are aware that meaties are usually fed a high protien diet for rapid growth, aren'y you? Cracked corn is about 7-8% protien, whereas the high protien stuff is as high as 30%.........Pop

 

[mohillbilly]

You guys are aware that meaties are usually fed a high protien diet for rapid growth, aren'y you? Cracked corn is about 7-8% protien, whereas the high protien stuff is as high as 30%.........Pop

yea but then i dont raise meaties i just butcher excess roosters and hens and they seem to grow just fine on cracked corn

 

[Country Parson]

You guys are aware that meaties are usually fed a high protien diet for rapid growth, aren'y you? Cracked corn is about 7-8% protien, whereas the high protien stuff is as high as 30%.........Pop

Yeah, which is why I am only considering feeding cracked corn for the last couple of weeks. Last year I feed cracked corn for the entire last week. With unseasonably cold weather, my birds still averaged well over 5lbs each (finished weight after processing). I can't remember exactly , but I think I processed at 7 weeks.

No feed mill or TSC in my area sells a broiler feed anywhere near 30%. The highest I've found is 21%. Not sure I would want to pay the expense of anything higher than that.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Feeding cracked corn will slow growth because it lacks protein.

However, you should be able to add a little bit of corn to the ration and get more fat on the birds without slowing growth too badly.

It sure seems to me like Cornish Cross are plenty fat even without adding corn to the diet.

 

[Country Parson]

We try not to use any processed vegetable fats, and are increasing trying to cook with and eat solely animal fats. The chicken industry, just like the hog industry, are formulating their feeds to produce lean meat. We desire a fatter bird for eating (tastes better, the natural fat is excellent for the human body), as well as extra fat to use for cooking (though I've not cooked with chicken fat before, but we wish to try it. Duck/goose fat, and of course pig lard, are excellent cooking fats). On an average Pekin duck, I can get nearly a quart of good cooking fat. Curious as to what a fattened-up Cornish will do.