The life of a meat chicken: part 1

Here is the much anticipated time line for the life of our meat chickens. There is lots of information here so I am going to break it down into parts. Part 1 is the introduction and the arrival of the chicks on our farm. For meat, we grow a type of chicken known as a cornish cross. This is the standard meat chicken that is used by the big commercial growers. The are not a true breed but rather a hybrid. For you genetic buffs, they are F2 hybrids. What does that mean? Well unlike the lady that came up to Mike at the market asking if he raised hybrid varieties of vegetables because she heard that hybrid plants were poisonous, hybrid chickens (or vegetables or whatever) are not poisonous. They are just the offspring of a cross between two of something else. Think Labrador Retriever X Standard Poodle = Labradoodle. In the case of meat chickens it is a cross between a breed of chicken known as a Cornish and another known as a White Rock. I think the woman at the market was confusing hybrids with genetically modified which is a whole other topic. We've experimented with several different types of chickens, but we keep coming back to these Cornish crosses. They grow fast and lay down a huge amount of breast meat which is our favorite part. They can be prone to health problems due to their fast growth rate, but I'm starting to get the knack of things and it so nice to have a 6 lb (dressed weight) chicken at the end of 9 weeks. Yes, I said 9 weeks. 63 days. Uh, huh.

Before I start the chick time line, I just have to throw out this tidbit of information that is a really good piece of trivia. Remember it only takes 21 days of egg incubation for a chick embryo to hatch into a fully developed chick.

By the 44th hour of incubation, the heart and vascular systems join, and the heart begins beating.

Is that not the most amazing thing you have ever heard? The 44th HOUR! Less than 48 hours into incubation and the heart starts beating! Really, that has to be the coolest thing you have every heard, right? For the rest of the time line, here is an article from Mississippi State University.

And so I will begin with the arrival of the chicks at our farm. I order my chicks from Meyer Hatchery in Polk, Ohio. They are great people to work with and have really built quite the hatchery from scratch. I am not shy at all about promoting them as I have been so so happy with the quality of their chicks. If you have a little free time, follow this link to a great video about Meyer's that shows the inside workings of a hatchery. It's very cool stuff!

One of the other cool things about baby chicks is that they hatch with left over yolk sac inside so they do not need to eat or drink for several days. Hatcheries and farmers take advantage of this and newly hatched chicks are boxed and shipped via the United States Postal Service. Here I am carrying a box of chicks into our barn.

60 one day old meat chickens have arrived at the farm and are ready to be turned loose in their new home.


The first thing they do is drink water. I like these Mason Jar watering systems for the first couple days. I think the chicks are drawn to the shiny glass. Remember they have no mama chicken to teach them what to drink and what to eat. Fortunately, they are pretty good at figuring it out on their own.

Next they start exploring the feed. I start all my chicks on paper towels and you can see I have sprinkle some feed near the feeder on top of the paper towels. Chicks instinctively peck at things and they figure out the food thing pretty quick. In a few days, I will remove the paper towels and they will be on wood shavings for bedding.

Baby chicks also need a source of heat. Around 95 degrees for the first few days to be exact. There is no mama chicken to keep them warm and they only have down covering their bodies. Once they get feathers, they will not need this source of heat. But for now, with their thirst and hunger satisfied, they snug in together under the heat lamp to sleep. And for those of you who are really on the ball, that little chick standing in the middle is not a chick at all, but rather a turkey poult. Everything else in the picture are baby chickens. Every once in awhile, I will raise a few turkeys and I start them together with my meat chickens for the first few weeks. It works very well.


And that is the end of their first day of life. From egg laid, to hatched 21 days later, to boxed up and shipped via the USPS, to being unpacked and introduced to their new home. In part 2, we shall sit back and watch them grow.