Meaties Newbie

[jmemom]

I've had DP birds for a couple of years now. I was thinking of just getting some DP roos and processing them for meat, but after doing research on Light Brahmas and White Rocks, etc. I am wondering if it would be just as well to try Cornish X. The reason I'd prefer to do DP is that I am already set up for that and I don't really mind waiting 20 weeks to process. The reason I am considering the Cornish is that I ate one at my Mom's house . However, I have no set up for meaties at all. I have a big open field I can use if I just had a tractor. I found this one in a search:

http://www.pvcplans.com/PoultryPen.pdf

My concerns are wondering how much this would cost to build in time and money. (Anyone know?)

Isn't this easy for something to break into? Would it work to put a couple of cinder blocks on each side to make it more sturdy yet still easily moved? Also, what about the idea of putting one of my big mean roosters in there for more protection?

I have to do this stuff myself largely since DH is busy with his own stuff.

 

[HEChicken]

I know someone who made a PVC pen similar to that. I think she said it cost around $150 to build but she may have had some of the materials already. What she did is to make it so that the PVC pipes can be filled with water, to weigh them down and stop them from blowing away in the wind. Then there is a tap on one of the lower pieces of PVC where she can drain the water back out before moving it. Your best bet is to decide on dimensions and then do a little price shopping to figure out your costs a little more closely. If they are going to be in a field largely unsupervised, I would use hardware cloth vs. chicken wire, which will increase your cost but also decrease your losses to predators.

 

[jdywntr]

I ordered my first meaties yesterday and built something similar. I am in the suburbs and I spent more than I should have on the chicken coop and the duck run. I had some pvc laying around (I was going to use it to build a run for the chickens) and ~ 25' of welded wire. I just attahced the welded wire to the pvc and put in some uprights but no crossbars. I can drag it around pretty easy. I used some plastic chicken wire fencing as a cover. It will not stand up to much of anything but I am hoping that since I haven't had problems with the other birds in 1.5 years, the only thing I will have to deal with are crows.
I probably would not have ordered cornish X if I had to spend money to build something.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

what is your set up for DP's? and why do you think it needs to be different for CX?

 

[Beekissed]

A woman can build a simple hoop house for meaty housing out of cattle panels fixed to a 2x4 base..and she can build it by herself. It isn't costly and the materials are easily broken down and reused for something else or you can just store the materials for next years bunch.

I will be building one for a meaty project this week and I'll be doing it largely by myself(woman). I find the cattle panel hoop houses to be sturdier and more versatile when fastening wire and tarps to them and nigh indestructible.

A PVC hoop house is easily crushed by a large and determined predator if it is not built properly.