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I did it, I bit the bullet and ordered my meaties. I only did it because I had 2 replies to my Craigslist post asking for someone to process for me. Yay!
So, I have 38 or so on their way from Whelp. I have been forced to make up my mind on how to house them, and think I'm going with a good plan. I am taking an unused dog kennel, the wire outdoors kind, and putting it in my garden. My tomatoes are pretty much done producing, I'm going to pull them out and let the birds nosh on the grass that's been growing as weeds. I can move the kennel around quite a bit before they're down to just dirt. And, the grass is really, really tall and thick. If I like how that's going, I can expand into the yard some, my garden could use being a bit bigger. I've read a bunch of places where people have used pine shavings under their meaties, I can do that for the last couple of weeks. I've read that it may compost quick enough to give me a place to plant next year.
Since the kennel is big, holey wire, I planned to reinforce it. I need to understand night security, first, though. Do most of you guys just overnight your birds under the tarp or plywood structure I see in so many tractors? If so, then I should cover the whole thing in hardware wire - yikes, $$$.
I also wonder about food? I've read that SS sells organic food, if I call them, they can order it. Is that the cheapest place you've found? If I choose not to go organic, should I just use regular old Purina starter? I need these guys to grow on schedule, right now I'm looking at a mid-November processing time and don't want to go much later.
So, I have 38 or so on their way from Whelp. I have been forced to make up my mind on how to house them, and think I'm going with a good plan. I am taking an unused dog kennel, the wire outdoors kind, and putting it in my garden. My tomatoes are pretty much done producing, I'm going to pull them out and let the birds nosh on the grass that's been growing as weeds. I can move the kennel around quite a bit before they're down to just dirt. And, the grass is really, really tall and thick. If I like how that's going, I can expand into the yard some, my garden could use being a bit bigger. I've read a bunch of places where people have used pine shavings under their meaties, I can do that for the last couple of weeks. I've read that it may compost quick enough to give me a place to plant next year.
Since the kennel is big, holey wire, I planned to reinforce it. I need to understand night security, first, though. Do most of you guys just overnight your birds under the tarp or plywood structure I see in so many tractors? If so, then I should cover the whole thing in hardware wire - yikes, $$$.
I also wonder about food? I've read that SS sells organic food, if I call them, they can order it. Is that the cheapest place you've found? If I choose not to go organic, should I just use regular old Purina starter? I need these guys to grow on schedule, right now I'm looking at a mid-November processing time and don't want to go much later.
