Cornish X Idea

[V-NH]

So, I'm thinking about taking my first foray into meat chickens and I have a few questions. I have a 200 sq ft run with a 75 sq ft coop for my egg layers, but I would really like to keep my meat chickens separate for the duration of their life. I would also like to raise them primarily outside after they reach two weeks old in my brooders. I have a lot of materials laying around, but I am not interested in building a second permanent coop/run at this point in time. What I am considering doing is putting up a 400 sq ft, 4 foot high pen in a semi-wooded area on my property and creating a very simple coop out of a couple of sheets of plywood and a couple of hinges. My questions are...

1) Will a 4 foot fence made entirely of poultry netting, zip ties, and metal rods be sufficient to keep them in? I do not plan to cover the top of it due to its temporary nature.

2) How many cornish x's could I keep in a 400 sq ft pen?

 

[barkinghills]

Hi,

I raised a small batch of meat birds last year for the first time. I started the 10 chicks in a 50-gallon tub. At around 3 weeks of age I moved them outside (it was in August) and kept them in a dog exercise pen (wire pen that is about 3' high) with a dog crate for the night time. After about two weeks in this arrangement I started letting them range in the yard, which they seemed to enjoy (but they did not go too far). This set-up was very informal and temporary, but it worked out just fine. The last of them were processed at 14 weeks. Delicious!