Raising Chickens for Meat: Week 6 of 8, Feeding Grain

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This week we talk about feeding chickens on pasture and what some of the variables are. It can be as easy as buying a bag of feed from the local feed store or as complicated as mixing your own feed ration.
Getting started with broiler chickens is easy. Feed, water, fresh air, and proper temperature and protection from the elements. After that you can get as scientific as you want. Me personally, I love the science behind it all and I feel like even after years of growing broilers I still learn something new every day.
At the end of it you just have to have fun and enjoy what you do in life. Farming and agriculture can bring you some of the most rewarding moments that you will ever experience.
My feed Label:
Broiler Mash 20% Protein
Min. Crude Protein 20%
Min. Crude Fat 4%
Max Crude Fibre 5%
Calcium Min 1% Max 1.25%
Min Phosphorus 0.70%
Min. Lysine 0.99%
Ingredients:
corn
soy meal
roasted soybeans
oats
alfalfa meal
aragonite
salt
dicalcium phosphate
l-lysine
vitamin a supplement
vitamin d supplement
vitamin e supplement
vitamin k supplement
pyridoxine hydrochloride
biotin
choline chloride
niacin
folic acid
calcium pantothenate
riboflavin supplement
zinc sulfate
zinc amino acid chelate
manganese sulfate
manganese amino acid chelate
copper sulfate
copper amino acid chelate
sodium selenite

[@rikbasye2689]

I like the way you acknowledged your mistake and corrected it. *respect*

[@JJustified]

perfect timing! just finished catching up on week 5 and then BAM! week 6 uploaded. i appreciate all your videos John, keep it up!

[@100Ronster]

Great series John, thanks for taking the time to put it together.

[@smp22]

Just ordered the book today, been a fan for a while. Thanks for all your hard work! Please keep it up and rock on!

[@SarahSaddoris]

Can you make a similar series about raising pigs or sheep?

[@punkyroo]

I would enjoy that as well.

[@ChickenMama3000]

Another vote for that. Really enjoying this series.

[@lesliegrayson1722]

me too, Im not too sure about pigs even though my uncle was a pig farmer. lol

[@FAITH_FARM]

Do you want to go into pig farming??

[@FAITH_FARM]

I can help reach out how you keep them from small to mature size

[@sansomspressurecleaningpoo9519]

It Doesn’t cost anything to be kind glad to see you’re treating them with respect

[@hestetyder]

Thank you very much for making these videos :) im a new started homesteader from Denmark and the cornchicken mainly only are in fabriks here. I bought 20 cornchicken for My family and raice Them in a chicken tracktor inspirer by your videos, so thx again :)

[@terrim.602]

I have a tiny bird in my batch also. I'm glad you brought this up!

[@epiry]

Thank u David Peter's

[@Veemack21]

thanks great vids cant wait to get my broilers this week.

[@chiefandprepper]

i bought the book today. Can't wait to get it.

[@Riaanus1]

Had about 8 chickens for the past year or so. About two months ago I started incubating their eggs, up to 33 now. Had 36, but three died last night, still unsure why. They have more than enough feed and water, and the weather was not out of the ordinary, oh well. Have another 6 chicks left in the brooder, which were late hatchlings. Raising Black Australorps though. :D Seriously into your videos, keep up the good work :D

[@themall1314]

your weather man skills are improving

[@littlewillowhomestead113]

Your videos hv been so helpful John.. we are very small scale and are mostly looking to raise enough to get our food for free.. making a small profit is a bonus..

[@joshuagunthner1838]

Runt is likely just a white rock. Since cornish are bad layers the cornish roosters are bred with white rock hens (plymouth rocks) which is where you get cornish cross. The 270-300 egg a year makes it much easier to produce cornish cross en masse than if you had the white rock rooster with the cornish hen. Its not always possible to keep birds apart at hatcharies especially in big ones. So you could have a white rock rooster pop over the divider into the pen for cornish cross and boom you've got a regular white rock chick. White rocks grow at the normal chicken rate as opposed to the cornish cross accelerated rate so they look like runts.

[@kirstenwhitworth8079]

Love your videos! So sorry for the loss of your chicken to SDS. Thanks for addressing the tiny chickens - I was going to ask but you beat me to it! Could you also talk more about what kept the skunk from digging under your homestead tractor? I'm asking because my land is very uneven and very sloped. I'd like to tractor some broilers next year for personal consumption, but I'm thinking that a tractor isn't going to keep out diggers if I don't electrify it, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. I've got tons of aerial and ground predators, but so far have only lost two ducks out of 54 to predators.

[@poodleoodle7689]

Thanks for your great video.

[@EtzlerCustoms]

Hello John Thank you for doing this series. Can you please show a break down of the total cost per bird when done?

[@tessieheadley3924]

Love it 😍 I’m thinking to do like what you do in raising chicken but if it takes 8 weeks I can’t wait cause have to come back in six week time

[@edgarfriendly5081]

John, you might want to check to see if you have Amish in your area. About 2 hours from me there is a large Amish community. Their feed mill will sell Organic Non-GMO feed for $16 per $50 bag of high protein meat bird feed if you buy a pallet of 50 pound bags. I have found that their bird prices are also very good.

[@MeliMeloFarmSainteMariedeKent]

Hey John... maybe you covered it and I missed it.. we run your tractor design with cornish x ... curious of your feeding regiment aka how much and how often do you feed them? This is our second year and i'm looking at charts for lb/chicken etc.. but it varies just like it varies for folks to have constant feed, pull feed at night, etc... if you've covered this in another video and I just missed it let me know.. Cheers

[@tylerharriman341]

Do you get any feed waste with the trough? I have a hanging bucket feeder and I seem to get a lot of the finer grains spilled. Just wondering if a trough like you made is a better alternative to minimize waste?

[@carmenmunoz5938]

Thank you you have helped me so much

[@205004gs]

It won't be long before someone's table will be graced with fried chicken...lol. Great series:)

[@GuppyCortez]

question, in your book do you have differents types of chicken coops or just instructions for the chicken coop you use?

[@timvaughan5909]

I have your book and plan to start raising broilers this year. My question centers around removing the food from the birds. Do you give a certain amount of food ration per day and leave it at that? Or do you try to keep the trough full most of the time? I've read some guidance that talks about taking food away from the birds at night.

[@jacklinemuheirwe2073]

I love this thank u

[@jrwalker1048]

John, Thank you for all the information - For the 1,000,000 chicken challenge you should have folks sign up via email, give their zipcode, and total pastured poultry birds raised, and then map the production this time next year and email it or link it via website to all on the list. I would include turkeys too!

[@upnorth7779]

I'm raising about 76 of the Cornish x. They are at six weeks as well and I have two that appear to have injured a leg. I understand leg issues r common with these, but what do u do with them? I separated them but they aren't doing much. Is it worth nursing or better to dispatch? Butcher to eat or no? little concerned about the later.

[@sdruiett]

John I have your book (it's great) and have started to build a tractor. I also will buy Jeff's book. Thanks for the recommendation and feed information.

[@davewygonowski984]

I know I'm a little late to the party but here goes... I want to grow poultry on pasture too! I am planning on starting this spring. Where / who is your feed mill? Have you tried fermenting the feed? What do you pay for processing? How many do you have processed at a time? Would you mind telling us how much you get for each bird? Thank you.

[@mabdinur85]

Have you tried or considered trying cold hardy chicken breeds like the Chantecler chicken for your winter pastured chicken program?

[@mphumzijack2826]

I would love to know about this houses that are they using energy for the chickens or they are they are looked?

[@iwondersometime]

Heyy !! I have same size as of yours !! Can you give me tips regarding the laying and feeding timing ??

[@alexcontreras3973]

Hi, what is the right time to transfer the chics in the pen? If the lawn got flooded during rain, what should I do?

[@aminayoub242]

Hi John what should I feed my backyard chicken to get high quality meat ? It is for my family consumption so we can kinda disregard the cost I am only looking for tasty healthy meat

[@bjg770]

I may have missed it. Since they eat grass, do you just feed them once a day?

[@rorypalmer9298]

I use corn and grined the corn with a bit of grass

[@williamfernandez5170]

John, how do you feel about fodder for feed?

[@mattkearns8459]

How often do you feed the Cornish cross once they are out in the tractor?

[@jeffb6276]

What is the difference between the 3 or 4 covers of Jeff Mattock's book?

[@Mate2Frio]

That book isn't in your Amazon store that I can find.

[@lynnaddis6403]

Thank you so much for this series. I've heard some farmers recommend rationing feed for Cornish Cross (after day 5) to 12 hours per day. Why is that and why do you not do it? Thanks again!

[@Happyfingcampers]

Lynn Addis from what I've read they do it because the birds get so big so fast that they'll start having issues with their legs and walking not sure if it's true with all our just Cornish

[@Matt-cz4xe]

Who do u use to test your feed for fungus?

[@franklinmichael671]

How much as a percentage would you need to feed the chickens if they weren’t out on pasture?

[@flyifri]

If you are there to finish the dying, and make the kill, will it still be good to eat.

[@srinivasm3850]

how much u payed for small chicken for one at start and at end for big chicken and how much u get profit and how much spend money for food

[@cherylwhite654]

do you feed 24/7 ? I have read that 12 & 12 is best What is your thinking

[@constamartinez9253]

Hi.. have a question..how about if rain? They not get sick? What you do ?

[@stephaniephillips5945]

how often do you give grit?

[@pamelahagan3215]

Do you raise birds in the winter?

[@devonolsen3315]

where do you source your feed buckets?

[@deliciaspence]

hi john do you give your chicken light in the night? why I ask in our country Jamaica we slaughter chickens at 6 weeks, which we give them light at night. That can eat through the night.

[@deliciaspence]

john I fine your channel very informative.

[@oceanopescayaventuras8205]

The gyroscopic neck was hilarious lol lol

[@farmmarketing]

I love it.

[@10forseven]

Ordered the bok. Got 40 chicks coming. Its not 2017 but add er' to the million anyway lol

[@jizzyj9074]

is corn the highest source of calories for the chickens?

[@tristonblack2046]

At how much weeks should they get the vitamin is it at 3 weeks

[@idreesqawiy]

Im planing on becoming a small scale chicken farmer i want to sell to family and friends and if it grows great. I was wondering how much land to i need to sell 25 chickens a week

[@malavasu6039]

Which breed is it and what to feed to get result like yours pls giv measurment

[@kimmykshorts8166]

Hi are you still answering questions? if yes I wanted help with a feeding programme

[@theresioleefland1737]

what is the brand u use for the food

[@maknbakn13]

How long does it take for those small birds to weigh out

[@usmanyounas7138]

Can we feed and grow meat chicken on corn?

[@babysunshinesmommy]

hi, not sure if you still read these but im considering raising meat chickens on our property and im wondering….how do you keep mice/rodents out of chicken coops/tractors? any advice is much appreciated! We live near grape vineyards and there are mice around. Love your videos, thank you! o and do you give them grit or do they get pebbles etc from the grass?

[@LifeSewCrazy]

Chicken eat mice/rodents.

[@fishing-lz9jb]

what feed do you use

[@HLHaidysh]

Haha! You need MORE hand gestures! Lol! Great video as always. A question about bio-security. You said previously that your birds come vaccinated as protection against wild birds, but you also had your farm open to a tour from the public. With the influenza outbreak in Ohio ( I may be wrong in the location sorry) and even here in Ontario, a few years ago many poultry farms stepped up their bio security measures and do not allow the public near birds. Even quite a few breeders here in Canada are now hesitant to have people, especially those who have poultry, on their property due to the risk of possibly spreading disease. Do you do anything extra to keep things disease free?

[@Riaanus1]

Many farms require all visitors to take a "shoe bath" and wheel bath their vehicle's tyres when entering the property.

[@solram874]

Do you still have Jeff's book for sale?

[@MrRobbieDanger]

How much pasture is needed to raise one tractor of chickens and how long do you have to wait to start over on a patch of land the tractor has already been on?

[@polishedpebble4111]

I have a similar question: Can the chickens be fed entirely on pasture (natural bugs, seeds, plants) without any store bought feed at all?

[@joeybez5464]

im going to have a big fence run and a smaller one in side so no reaching predictors

[@brianphilbrook5262]

Have you ever thought about growing wheat/barley fodder for them instead of buying feed? From what I understand it's very high in protein and grows in 6,7 days. I saw a video where someone said they got 6lbs of fodder from 1lb of seed.

[@ouroboros7917]

These birds are on pasture, i think they don't need fodder.

[@captainquint]

What sort of cost is generally involved in processing in a USDA facility? Or a non-USDA facility for that matter. Also agree with not hitting your livestock especially hogs. It isn't going to hurt or compel the hog do anything anyway. You'd get as much response by going out and whacking a boulder. You can injure yourself however. Seen a guy kick a frustratingly ornery and obstinate hog last summer and the fellow ended up needing surgery and pins in his foot. As they say around here "that'll learn him".

[@craftertewaka289]

Hi John. I am enjoying watching your videos over here in the UK. Hope to move onto our new homestead in Wales in the NY and I sure will be buying your booking and helping you to get to 1 million birds. I left a question re your brooder, does it have a concrete or wooden floor. Have a great week.

[@punkyroo]

Congrats on the new homestead. :)

[@rorypalmer9298]

I'm in the uk as well and I'm trying to do the same thing

[@jakehempel4906]

Is Flockshield a good feed company?

[@richardloch8872]

Have you tried BSF

[@geraldburey62]

When do I put the chicken s on big grains

[@mohameddada2580]

How meny weeks is a baby chicken for the table.

[@munalook4477]

Am going to start this business Johnson so any thing I will face I will ask you to help thanks for ur advice am Mary from Kenya

[@noncedomatshini6872]

Morning how many hit lights do I need for 700 one day old chicken

[@drbobsavestheday1]

I go to school at West Point which is a 90 minute drive from Camp Roads Farm. I was raised in a white collar home but my biggest dream in life is to be a farmer and my raise my kids as such. I follow your KZbin channel religiously, and i just realized how close you are to me. Would it be possible for me to work with you on weekends for free? I just want the experience and I would love to help you out.

[@ausPPC]

What's that pip-squeak doing in the big bird tractor?

[@ausPPC]

Aha... I jumped in before the end of the video. And I just wanted to say pip-squeak.

[@tyronesing5860]

What do u feed then

[@alleraincausin9499]

In our country we harvest it in 45 days

[@amd4929]

Looking at this video in 2023 and feed is about 4 times the price now

[@gavinlangley8411]

Would the chicken tractor benefit from a few perches? the bird like to be off the ground don't they? I'm going to be trying some round wood designs for mine so I may not be able to help with the 1 million birds :(

[@ouroboros7917]

Cornish chickens are too heavy and they barely stand on their feet.

[@punkyroo]

I agree with George. I had a perch with my Cornish Cross and they all opted to lay on the ground.

[@oduolaayotunde5279]

What should I do when my chicks are not eating

[@dominicfavournzundah3333]

how can i make my birds have a big chest and grow bigger within 6 weeks ?, this Dom in Africa

[@barbarairwin8651]

How do you feel about fodder for your meat birds?

[@farmmarketing]

They’re really not going to get much nutritionally value from it. Meat birds really do best on a diet designed for them.

[@stitch_u_ation]

Do your broilers you are raising lay eggs?

[@Riaanus1]

Chickens only start laying at around 24 weeks, these chickens get slaughtered at 8 weeks

[@powermoves8002]

was that bird that died still edible

[@insaneinnixa]

I am starting with 15 birds this year.

[@insaneinnixa]

fucduck well we got 3 geese 4 ducks 4 guineas and 15 chickens. we know have 3 geese 4 ducks and 6 chickens the foxes have kicked our ass

[@kevinhoffman5859]

Hi John, Unlike egg layers do meat chickens not need a roost to sleep on at night? If no why not?

[@stephanies9689]

They're so heavy that they won't use roosts. It's more comfortable to just plop down on the ground.

[@rorypalmer9298]

To feed them

[@aidan6726]

what with that little chicken at 1:00

[@emmaengland1365]

have you ever considered fermenting the feed?

[@chads9818]

Emma England I did that for my chickens, I had some Cornish and for some reason just the Cornish got a whole bunch of feed compacted in their nostrils and it got really inflamed (lucky I noticed before it got infected) all the other breeds did fine but the the Cornish didn't do very well with it... I didn't try anymore so it might have been just a fluke...

[@renrenvlog6350]

How can i start my own chicken farm in tampa.

[@petergriffiths2903]

how long till week 7 is loaded? waiting ..... waiting ...... waiting :-)

[@farmmarketing]

Farm internet doesn't always work for prompt posting time, especially with longer videos. On overage the upload fails about 4-5 times before it goes up. Each of those attempts takes anywhere from 5-20 minutes. blerg, haha, I'm trying over here, believe me I'm trying.

[@petergriffiths2903]

+John Suscovich haha thats cool. we've been watching them as soon as they load and for us here in Australia its been late on a Tuesday night. if I dont get a notification by 11 pm i go looking. keep it up mate. really inspiring :-)

[@shinsachiamayah1664]

Why there's a small chick?

[@lesliegrayson1722]

genetic anomaly hey..

[@therecalcitrant1316]

We have a couple we got with our batch of 100 chicks a few weeks ago. The wife has hand-reared the smallest one- I'm hoping its a female... keep her for hopefully what may be a broody-gal LOL

[@LifeSewCrazy]

Have you thought about fermenting the feed? They get fuller faster and eat less.

[@farmmarketing]

it's an experiment I would like to do in the future, just don't have time or resources to manage it now

[@mikemudimba5531]

What do you ferment it with?

[@TheNakidGardeners]

@@mikemudimba5531 water

[@danaspetrini8338]

Did you meet your goal?!

[@silasnabe1902]

john i am 13 years old come from Danmark i am going to make 2 chicken tractor

[@shannonstephens4245]

why the little one?

[@mphumzijack2826]

heat energy sorry