Coop/Tractor set up

[Tclow1518]

Hi all,
I am new to raising meat chickens and meat turkeys. I wanted to see peoples temporary set ups for raising them.

Thanks

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I raise dual purpose free range, so I can't answer your question directly. **IF** I were to raise meat chickens again, I'd use cattle panels to make a "hoop coop" style tractor and move it around my pasture - as many do - trading increased flavor and texture for a bit of growth.

That said, WHERE ARE YOU???? Your geography and climate will have incluence on what solutions work best for you. Hoop coop tractures, for instance, work well on gently rolling or flat ground, not rocky conditions or steep slopes. High winds, snows, rains, or excess heat/sun are also factors that need to be considered.

 

[iwltfum]

This is how I usually run my broilers. We did 650 freedom rangers this year - 5 batches of 130 over the summer. These are a joel salatin style pasture pen moved daily with the dolly that salatin describes in the book called "pasture poultry profits"

 

[Tclow1518]

I raise dual purpose free range, so I can't answer your question directly. **IF** I were to raise meat chickens again, I'd use cattle panels to make a "hoop coop" style tractor and move it around my pasture - as many do - trading increased flavor and texture for a bit of growth.

That said, WHERE ARE YOU???? Your geography and climate will have incluence on what solutions work best for you. Hoop coop tractures, for instance, work well on gently rolling or flat ground, not rocky conditions or steep slopes. High winds, snows, rains, or excess heat/sun are also factors that need to be considered.

Hello thanks for the response and I'm on a little old PEI where spring to fall is very nice but winter can be -30c(that being said they birds will be in as they say where I'm from freezer camp)

 

[Tclow1518]

That's kind of the set up I'm thinking on,does it get cool in the spring and summer nights where your from?

 

[iwltfum]

That's kind of the set up I'm thinking on,does it get cool in the spring and summer nights where your from?

It's actually pretty warm during the summer nights here. Spring nights cool down a bit. I'm in the central coast of Maine. Pretty similar climate to PEI. We run our broilers mid-April thru early-October.

 

[LittleRedHomestead]

We are in the south east so I wanted something that would shed rain, reflect heat, and give plenty of ventilation. We typically use it for chickens, but just used it for turkeys for the first time this past season. We normally keep them in the pen until they are big enough for us to feel comfortable free ranging them during the day (within the mesh fence that we move as needed). We of course close them up at night.