[AT] Pluck chickens with a clothes dryer?

Mark Greer markagreer at embarqmail.com
Thu Jul 14 07:55:27 PDT 2011


One trick to use with them is to put their water at one end of their pen and their feed at the far opposite end. It forces them to move to eat and drink.
Mark

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Wagner" <supera1948 at gmail.com>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 8:21:06 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] Pluck chickens with a clothes dryer?

Good correction for me there, Mark, on the original breed cross.  The
Cornish Cross can put on the meat, but the downside is the heart attacks and
lameness.  I use a chain link dog kennel as a coop, with chicken wire
wrapped around it to make the holes smaller.  As a result,  I can drag the
coop in different places, giving the birds a fresh forage each day.  That
dramatically cuts down lameness, since the forage has the nutrients and the
birds are forced to exercise for a few yards each day.  If you know the
Cornish Cross, the forced exercise is about all they get beyond trips
between feed, water, and shelter.

I also found that using higher quality feeds gives the same result.  Sunrise
Feeds, milled 45 minutes down the road from me in Stuarts Draft VA, makes a
good broiler feed.  I doubt if its available outside of the Shenandoah
Valley.

Ben Wagner




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