Bedding for young meat birds-keeping it clean

[barkinghills]

Hi all,

I am raising my first batch of meaties...5 Cornish Cross and 5 Red Rangers. They are currently 2 weeks old. I have them set up in a 50 gallon bin, which I am having a hard time keeping clean. They make so much more droppings than the layer pullets I've raised! I started out with them on pine shavings, but I had to change them about every other day. Next I tried the compressed pine pellets that disintegrate into sawdust as they get wet. I still have to top dress the bin with clean shavings almost every day, particularly in the end of the bin where they hang out. I am amazed by how sedentary they are already. I am not expecting to keep them immaculately clean, but just reasonably clean! Is there something I can use so I don't have to change the whole bin out so often?

BTW the CC's are at least 2-3x as big as the Red Rangers already.

 

[fried green eggs]

I don't know about the Rangers but CC at 2 wks should have feed limited to 12 hrs per day. They are dinosaurs and little eatting and pooping machines. I had them last year and found that if, I put feeder in with them in the evening and took it out in the morning - they would eat, sleep and eat again in the morning before I removed it for the day. This cut the poop in half and kept them from growing so fast that they would have leg problems. We moved them to a wire pen that could be moved every day once they got to be 3 weeks old. Good Luck

 

[Kildare49]

50 gallon bin? How large is that?

I have 26 cx's. My brooder is 3' x 8'. I could have kept them in there until about 2.5 weeks of age, but it would have required almost daily cleaning. They were in the coop/and outside by 2 weks of age.

I do turn over the bedding in the coop ( pine shavings ) every other day & throw in some scratch for the cx's to turn over the bedding.

My 1st time with cx's. They can certainly handle lower temps when they are chicks than the layers.

 

[3 NH reds]

I had the same problem. I have 6 red Rangers in a 8x10 coop with hay on the floor. I added fermented mash IE scratch grain to their diet and the loose smelly runs went away and now they have nice solid poop that does not smell. I noticed my layers did not smell as bad as the Ranges, i hear this is due to layer feed being lower in protein. I leave a feeder out 24/7 for the Rangers and at 12 weeks no weight problem or development problem. also acv in the water helps

 

[PotterWatch]

We put fresh shavings down every day in our brooders and then clean out the whole thing after every few batches. That really seems to be the best way with these birds.

 

[Sandrachx]

so how do you clean the pen out? shoosh the chicks to one side and remove/add bedding? then shoosh them to the other side? i can't get the picture. in the past, we have kept topping off the bedding every couple of days until they went to process. what a mess! and as the bedding rose higher and higher, so did the bricks that the waterer sat on. can you give me a "picture" of how you managed your coop?

 

[fried green eggs]

I took the birds out and put them in a dog crate while I clean the pen or let them free range for a bit. Just clean the pen when they are hungry and when you shake the food can - they come running, well maybe more waddling very fast but, good for a laugh and they are happy to go back in to eat.

 

[Beekissed]

Hi all,

I am raising my first batch of meaties...5 Cornish Cross and 5 Red Rangers. They are currently 2 weeks old. I have them set up in a 50 gallon bin, which I am having a hard time keeping clean. They make so much more droppings than the layer pullets I've raised! I started out with them on pine shavings, but I had to change them about every other day. Next I tried the compressed pine pellets that disintegrate into sawdust as they get wet. I still have to top dress the bin with clean shavings almost every day, particularly in the end of the bin where they hang out. I am amazed by how sedentary they are already. I am not expecting to keep them immaculately clean, but just reasonably clean! Is there something I can use so I don't have to change the whole bin out so often?

BTW the CC's are at least 2-3x as big as the Red Rangers already.

I'd say you need to move them to a bigger area. You might also feed some fermented feed to firm and dry up their feces. They are sedentary because they have no room and nothing to do but eat...you might think about getting them out on some grass and feeding them twice a day only. A hungry bird is an active, foraging bird.