Master Breeders: Please tell me about your facilities

This year, my daughter and I have made a real effort to hatch out more chicks (as well as bringing in some outside chicks) to really step up in our breeding efforts, so that we can grow out enough to be able to be extremely particular about what we keep.

What I have learned from this is that we need much better infrastructure to brood the chicks and grow them out, and then to have individual pens for the pairs and trios we'd like to support, as well as some good places to stash backup cocks where they won't harass each other or the hens. The problem there is twofold: getting quality pens built, but also having a setup where it is fairly easy to keep them fed and watered and safe, something that a non-poultry housesitter can handle too.

BYC has a wonderful resource in its Coops section, but most of these are one-off housing rather than something you could expect to duplicate into say 10 or 20 separate enclosures for a breeding operation.

Brooding seems to be the most challenging part for us right now - having space for ~25 LF chickens at a time with a steady environment, especially at that in between stage where they don't have all their feathers but they're getting big and create a lot of dust and feather particles. I assume many of you have brooding barns - I would love to know more about what they look like. I am concerned in my area that I can have summer days where the low is 50 and the high is over 100 - so I might have to worry about them getting both too hot and too chilly within a 24 hour period. (I'm willing to invest something into facilities but I probably can't swing a fully insulated building with its own HVAC system.)

We in particular are working with large fowl Buckeyes and Wyandottes, and we have plenty of land to work with, as well as the possibility of irrigated pasture. I am in a mild climate with hot summers and rainy winters, frequently with large temperature swings from day to night, but I imagine people in all climates have similar questions.

Hi ,
This is my biggest challenge right how. That growing out to culling stage.
I have been surfing craigslist and there are a number of shelter opportunities rom run in sheds to 12x24 sheds to a collection of the smaller sheds at good prices. I think it's better to buy and move it on your property then build it yourself. In your case, what about a run in shed with a hardware cloth
front built onto it with access doors? Would an open front shed work in your climate if it was varmint proofed?
Best,
Karen and the Light Sussex
in western PA, USA

I think you've hit the crux of the problem for so many of us. Space and pens. Never enough of each!

For a temporary grow out pen this year, I used heavy wire horse or cattle panels. They're five feet tall, I think 16 feet long and have 4x4 holes. I overlaid them with chicken wire to keep the littles in. Cut a section on one end and pounded in an extra T post for gate to swing on. So, three panels against the side of the barn gave me a 16x16 space. I put a partial panel down the inside, making a breeding pen roughly 7x16 and a grow out pen about 9x16. The middle panel has a tarp on it, for both shade for the breeding pen and a visual barrier from the breeders to the littles. The grow-out area had large rose bushes, clumps of daylillies and large grass in it when I started using it for birds. This provides lots of shade and shelter for the chicks and allows me to have a wide age range. Right now I have a broody hen with her 5 chicks (approaching 2 months old), a single from an incubator hatch that's 4 weeks old, several in the 7ish week range, and a 3 month old cockerel in that pen.

I'm always interested to see how other folks have their breeding set-ups, would love to see pictures!

How many do you want to raise out of each breed, each year?

Hi,
I raise 30 to 40 each year of my large fowl Light Sussex. This year it will be 30.
How much room does one need to raise them to 15 weeks? Per bird?
How many can I get in a 4x7 yard? It's actually 4x8, I was subtracting the room
for the feeder and waterer. I have 3 of these 4x8 areas available.
Thanks,
Karen

Laura Haggarty was kind enough to share this hoophouse concept with me that I think will be helpful:

http://www.pathfindersfarm.com/hoophouse.html
http://www.plamondon.com/hoop-coop.html

It uses a simple wood frame, then some cattle panels to support an arched roof/sides. Since I happen to have some cattle panels left over from another project, I think this is going to be a nice addition to my pens, a safe way to allow the adolescents out on to the grass, and a useful experiment.

However, this is still just kind of a one-off. I need an organized system and something that is easy to hand off to a responsible housesitter. I'd love to be able to do 4 batches of 25 or so every year. I have the land to support more, but not the labor unless I figure out how to do this smarter.

These work well. We move them with two wheels and a dolly. They are easy to move. They are 8' x 10', and I like 8 hens in them. That is 10 sf per bird.There are three nest boxes and 10' of roost. With 8 hens, if I move them every two days, they do not do too much damage to the sod. It recovers fast. In this photo, they are in an 80' x 160' pen. This area has never had birds on it before, and the forage needs to be improved. The birds will take care of that. Next year it will be lush with growth. I keep two pens in one area, letting them out on alternate days. Once they have covered this space, they will be moved to another.

I installed 1/2" rigid insulation on the roof before installing the tarp. It makes for a cooler enclosure. I also like to move them into the shade when we get extremes. The sides can be rolled up for added air flow.

These pens are great for growing out birds. One of the key things concerning growing the bids out is space. We get better results growing them out with plenty of space and multiple feeders and water sources. The cockerels, in particular, are competitive. You want them to have equal opportunity to the feeders. In mobile pens like this, it is best to let them out every day. You will see the subordinates hit the feeders when the other ones leave the house. If you cannot let them out every day, fixed housing with large runs is best.

We do not want to crowd our growers. I like for them to get plenty of exercise, green forage (even if it is brought to them), fresh air, sunshine, clean water, and good feed.

I am growing out my pullets in fixed housing. They are raised together, but it has three sections. Each with it's own feeder, water source, and small run. It has doors in between the sections. They get let out early ever day, and have a half acre to run.
The cockerels have a fixed house and run with a fenced yard. They have access to the yard. I do te first cull early and process them as fryers. Once they get fighting, I pen them up separately or in pairs, while I finish sorting through them. I will get some pictures of these, plus the breeding pens soon.

Those are super interesting, gjensen. I especially like the way you worked in the insulation and roll-up sides. Plus, they look good - very tidy and workmanlike.

poltroon said:

Those are super interesting, gjensen. I especially like the way you worked in the insulation and roll-up sides. Plus, they look good - very tidy and workmanlike.

Click to expand...

They are easy to put together. My 13 year old son built these. I like that we can walk in them. The ridge is @ 6'.

They are nice. @gjensen - what did you use to fasten the tarp to the wood?