Anyone raise meatbirds (red ranger or cornish x) in a stationary set up?

[Hedgeland Farms]

I am thinking of raising meat birds in a stationary set up. 11x11 coop with a 25x25 run connected. I want to use this space for 10-15 birds at a time. Preferably red rangers but I am super curious as to others set up regardless, especially if they are stationary.

I plan to have an on season (say spring) then an off season (till the following spring)

 

[CNJ]

I am thinking of raising meat birds in a stationary set up. 11x11 coop with a 25x25 run connected. I want to use this space for 10-15 birds at a time. Preferably red rangers but I am super curious as to others set up regardless, especially if they are stationary.

I plan to have an on season (say spring) then an off season (till the following spring)

I have raise 12 Cornish X in a lifted pen 2 1/2 feet off the ground. The pen has a 1/2 inch x 1 inch wire floor and it is 3ft wide x 8ft long x 3 feet high. I kept two big round feeders full all day and removed them at night. I processed all of them at 8 week old. The advantage of a wide screen floor is they are not sitting in their poop and the disadvantage is they need to be processed at 8 weeks. Because of their heavy weight, some of them will start to show abrasion on the back of their shank.

If you raise them in a stationary ground floor pen, they will end up sitting in their poop and the poop will be caked on their bottom feathers which grosses me out when I dunk them in hot water. You will be surprised to see how much poop 15 Cornish X can make.

This is something you may not be aware of, it has helped me a lot. My water heater has two control valves, both are hidden behind a screw on plate. I adjust both temperature control to 150 F and wait 2 hours before processing my chickens. I don't need a propane stove to heat my water, this saves me time and expense. I can change the 150F poop water as much as I want too.

I turn my water temperature back down after I am done, so visitors don't get burn.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I have raise 12 Cornish X in a lifted pen 2 1/2 feet off the ground. The pen has a 1/2 inch x 1 inch wire floor and it is 3ft wide x 8ft long x 3 feet high. I kept two big round feeders full all day and removed them at night. I processed all of them at 8 week old. The advantage of a wide screen floor is they are not sitting in their poop and the disadvantage is they need to be processed at 8 weeks. Because of their heavy weight, some of them will start to show abrasion on the back of their shank.

The wide screen floor is not something I've thought of. May I see pics of your set up?? I am better visually

I took a super small dive into raising Cornish Broilers. I bought 4 with my other chicks from the feed store. Only one made it to processing, I think she was 9wks?!! But she was kinda poopy when we harvested her. The wide screen floor seems to be a way to avoid that (Also part of the reason I am looking into Red rangers. As I understand it they are more active, and roost)

This is something you may not be aware of, it has helped me a lot. My water heater has two control valves, both are hidden behind a screw on plate. I adjust both temperature control to 150 F and wait 2 hours before processing my chickens. I don't need a propane stove to heat my water, this saves me time and expense. I can change the 150F poop water as much as I want too.

This is a very helpful tip!!! We boiled it the last time but like I said we only had one so wasn't concerned with keeping the water hot.

 

[Mwhit]

I am thinking of raising meat birds in a stationary set up. 11x11 coop with a 25x25 run connected. I want to use this space for 10-15 birds at a time. Preferably red rangers but I am super curious as to others set up regardless, especially if they are stationary.

I plan to have an on season (say spring) then an off season (till the following spring)

I’ve been doing something similar to this, except they sleep in a 4x8 tractor that I move around. I tried using a temporary 20x20 fence setup around them, but it became too messy and too much of a pain to move the tractor inside the fence.

Now I just put them to bed in the tractor and they have full access to about a 1/4 acre. The poop accumulates fast.

 

[CNJ]

150F water also kills mold and mildew in the bath tub and bacteria under the dish rack. It also, clears the grease build up in my drains. I shoot things down with the scorching hot water before I turn the temperature control back down.

 

[CNJ]

This is a picture of the coop I raised my Cornish X in. I took out the perch, because unlike regular chickens, they never use it. I had to screen up the removable wooden doors to prevent birds from eating their feed. The roof is framed with PVC with a 10 ft heavy duty tarp that needs to be replaced yearly. Its a temporary set up, I didn't want to make it too heavy, since I am planning on moving it to a different place in the yard.
This coop was designed to have 2 removable walls, so I could have 3 separate holding pens.

 

[Coops Dad]

I've raised too many Cornish X to count at this point and done most of my processing at 8-10 weeks but I've also let a few go to 12 weeks. Mine start in a Rubbermaid 120 gallon water trough brooder, then move to a 6'x12' tractor at 3 weeks old. After that, I move them to another tractor which opens to a half acre fenced pasture; I give them access to feed but I move the feeder and waterer every time I fill them so that they have to move to get fed, and so they don't cake up one single area with poop. The coop has a 2"x4" laid on its side on the floor as a "roost bar"- they just have to step up on it to roost and they don't have to risk breaking a leg or pulling a tendon jumping down off anything high. They seem to appreciate the width of the board for their giant clown feet and big bellies.

It's hard to remember that these full sized behemoths are still just chicks when it's time for them to be sent to Camp Frigidaire.

I also have tried out Atwood's Red Broilers and Black Broilers, I reckon they're similar to the Red Rangers. I raise them the same way and basically on the same timeframe with the exception that they stay much longer on the half acre to size up, they'll reach 6-7lbs in 12-14 weeks. They're also much more willing to forage, too.

My biggest complaints on the Red and Black Broilers are the longer time to processing day and, more than that, the little red and black pinfeathers that make the carcass look messy. They're delicious, though. IMO, better flavor than the Cornish Xs.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I've raised too many Cornish X to count at this point and done most of my processing at 8-10 weeks but I've also let a few go to 12 weeks. Mine start in a Rubbermaid 120 gallon water trough brooder, then move to a 6'x12' tractor at 3 weeks old. After that, I move them to another tractor which opens to a half acre fenced pasture; I give them access to feed but I move the feeder and waterer every time I fill them so that they have to move to get fed, and so they don't cake up one single area with poop. The coop has a 2"x4" laid on its side on the floor as a "roost bar"- they just have to step up on it to roost and they don't have to risk breaking a leg or pulling a tendon jumping down off anything high. They seem to appreciate the width of the board for their giant clown feet and big bellies.

It's hard to remember that these full sized behemoths are still just chicks when it's time for them to be sent to Camp Frigidaire.

I also have tried out Atwood's Red Broilers and Black Broilers, I reckon they're similar to the Red Rangers. I raise them the same way and basically on the same timeframe with the exception that they stay much longer on the half acre to size up, they'll reach 6-7lbs in 12-14 weeks. They're also much more willing to forage, too.

My biggest complaints on the Red and Black Broilers are the longer time to processing day and, more than that, the little red and black pinfeathers that make the carcass look messy. They're delicious, though. IMO, better flavor than the Cornish Xs.

Thank so much for sharing this!!!

This is a picture of the coop I raised my Cornish X in. I took out the perch, because unlike regular chickens, they never use it. I had to screen up the removable wooden doors to prevent birds from eating their feed. The roof is framed with PVC with a 10 ft heavy duty tarp that needs to be replaced yearly. Its a temporary set up, I didn't want to make it too heavy, since I am planning on moving it to a different place in the yard.
This coop was designed to have 2 removable walls, so I could have 3 separate holding pens.


View attachment 3315411View attachment 3315421

Thank you for the visual!! I appreciate it!!

The poop accumulates fast.

This is my concern. I was hoping to having a bigger space with less birds will make the poop seem less. I am up for everyday cleaning for several wks. I thought also...
I use pine shavings in my current run, thought maybe theyd help with poop build up in with the meat birds?!?!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The pen has a 1/2 inch x 1 inch wire floor I processed all of them at 8 week old.

I use 1/2" hardware cloth as flooring for my dual purpose. The DP grow a lot slower than your CX. I find that the poop falls through until they get to be about 12 weeks old, then it can accumulate. It gets too big and doesn't all fall through. I assume you are not seeing that with your 8 week old CX on that wire or you would have mentioned it. I wanted to point out that the size of the mesh can be important, that would be easy to miss.

Some welded wire can have tiny sharp nubs on it, from the manufacturing process. Some doesn't mean all. That could be from either welding or galvanizing. Those can chew up the chickens' feet, but they are going to be on one side. Check to see if your wire has those. If it does, put the smooth side up and you will be OK.

 

[Steventhechickenman]

I am thinking of raising meat birds in a stationary set up. 11x11 coop with a 25x25 run connected. I want to use this space for 10-15 birds at a time. Preferably red rangers but I am super curious as to others set up regardless, especially if they are stationary.

I plan to have an on season (say spring) then an off season (till the following spring)

I am new here and I did have meatbirds but some of them died along the way

the images are from Metroid