Long time lurker, first time poster. My wife and I have an old laying hen house on my property. Many years ago it was a commercial operation as there are over 300 nesting boxes along the north wall of the 30x60 building. I decided I wanted to raise some livestock of my own. In said building I sectioned off an 8x10 area for a chicken pen/coop. Right now I’m raising a set of Cornish Rock broilers. They will be butchered in 5 weeks and I have a group of laying chicks coming in March. This pen will be used for laying hens but is temporarily being used for meaties. I plan to build a ramp to go in and out of one of the windows on the south side of the pen and allow the chickens access to a 15x20 covered run. I’m actually going to build two runs and restrict access to only one a year. I will place a garden in the other run and rotate back and forth each year. This will allow me to let the chickens graze on the garden leftovers, as well as scratch/till, and fertilize the next years gardens. I will place a roost on the SW side of the pen once the meaties are out. I received these Cornish crosses on Dec. 19 and just took the brooder guard out today as they were getting a tad big for my homemade octogonal plywood brooder. The nesting boxes are 32” off the ground and will have a perch installed in front after the meaties are harvested.
Please look over my setup and let me know what I need to improve upon. I tried to do a lot of research before building, but I’m sure the experienced folks here will give me tips I missed! Thank you for any help you can provide!
