Broiler Chicks at Six Weeks

Skipped a week last week so we are at week SIX now.  The chicks are doing well and they have really picked up in the eating department.  I'm hoping this signals they are going to have a growth spurt as they are still, in my opinion, SMALL.  Or at least smaller than I expected.  I think the next time I do this I'm going to put one of my layer breeds in with them so I can see the difference in size as time goes on.  These chicks just don't seem to be having the rapid growth I heard about and expected.  We shall see.  In any event they are all very healthy and seem to be doing well.  I did lose one the other evening, I believe due to piling.  We had a wham bang thunder storm and they were back in the brooder box as I deemed that to be the safest place to wait out all the storms and rain.  I still think it was but believe they got spooked and piled and one suffocated. :0(   All others are fine, but we are now down to 29 birds. 

Expenses so far (not counting electric and supplies such as bedding/heat lamps, waterers, etc.):

• $38.50 for the chicks
• $89.07 for three fifty pound bags of "Organic Soy-Free Broiler Feed"

That brings the total to $127.57 or $4.40 per bird.

I've noticed a couple of the birds have been really slow to grow and also to feather out.  I've seen this happen with my layers, too, on occasion.  I always make sure not to breed these birds as slow to feather/slow to grow is not something I want to pass down in my lines.

Here's a couple of videos I took yesterday:

  

We are still feeding organic non-GMO broiler feed, but they are also grazing now and being moved around daily in a chicken tractor.  

We are (supposedly) 14 days from butchering.  I don't think so.  Butchering at eight weeks seems totally out of the question at this point.  Possibly ten?  We shall see.