Had some meat birds ordered and somehow they dropped the ball so I ended up with only half the birds I wanted. They said they would get me the rest next week. The question I have is if I keep them separate for a while can I integrate them together later on. Is one week too long and will I have fighting or disease issues? LLL

should not be a problem

Should be no problem, but keep in mind the older birds will be ready to slaughter a week earlier, so it would be nice to mark them some how. An extra week with broilers can be the difference in a good fat bird, and a dead one.

Hopefully it works out for you.

I would think I will be able to tell the difference in the weight wouldn't I? One week at the beginning won't be so noticeable but at 6 weeks it should. LLL

I think it actually becomes harder to tell as they get bigger. But you may still be able to tell, I’m not sure. Not that it would hurt to butcher some early.

Shouldn't be a problem

I only mentioned it because when I raised them I had a couple start dropping dead at about 6 weeks. Broilers aren’t made for longevity. I gave them free access to all the food they wanted, so I’m sure limiting food might help them last longer.

You should be able to tell the difference when they are younger, the young birds will start growing feathers on their wings in a couple days. If birds are a little crowded in a brooder, the bigger/older birds might push around the younger/smaller birds.

They will live well past 6 weeks with no problem if you control the feed, if you feed them too much they will grow too fast and a few birds will develop problems and die. Normally from heart/artery issues. Big growers accept the losses from over feeding. Small growers follow the feeding schedule of 12 hours on and 12 hours off.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease and I would be having a conversation on the phone. Raised and butchered broilers for a few years. Having to fill orders and arrange schedules for butcher day, their mistake throws a huge monkey wrench in the entire works. They already know this. If it’s a couple few no big deal I reckon but I would be sour.

as they get taller you can raise the feed and water make them reach a bit it helps with leg issues , there are also formulas for feed amounts

I ran the university formula I found several years ago and it calculated the growth potential for the birds vs the feed needed to get it , by feeding at a controlled rate we lost very few birds over the 8 weeks

I found this and it looks very similar to what I calculated years ago based on the formula values basically doubled week 1-4 then slowed week 5-8

https://www.welphatchery.com/cornish_rock_care

If their all together, use a red heat lamp. It usually stops any pecking.

I don't know how many your dealing with but you could wait and run 2 seperat batches. I think we will run 2-3 batches this year. But less than 50 birds in each batch. It depends on how the expenses go and how many get sold vs keep for personal consumption.

I don’t think I would mix the two batches together. I think a one week old meat bird will be too strong and greedy already for a 1 day old chick to compete with. I see your second batch of chicks doing really poorly against the older ones.

I would agree cheap insurance to keep 1 day old birds away from 1 week old birds

as they are 4 and 5 weeks I think it wold make less difference

I've never raised chickens. Is it cost effective to raise them for meat, or is it just that the meat is a lot better? If it is better how so?

We are trying to hatch some of our own. We picked a couple broody hens but they turned out to be not good, so we are buying one of those lower grade incubators for about 15 bucks. The last two batches of meat chickens we raised were larger dual purpose chickens that laid eggs and grew. We also found by fencing them in on grass in spring, summer and fall that they grew a bit slower but were far better on their legs and none died early after the first day or two. We were not butchering until about 10-12 weeks with these birds. We also did the full blown meat types outside and butchered at 9 weeks with no early deaths, but we like the dual types better.

Bryce