Hey all! (New to the forum, and soon to be new to raising chickens!) I am getting started on my new coop and was getting ready to order chicks for a spring ship date. However, I am curious........ I had this great plan on how my coop was to be laid out, how the pen was to be built, etc...... I want egg layers and Cornish X, but don't know if I want to fool with building separate housing.... Since the X's are only here for a few weeks, why can't I keep them together until I process them....... Then maybe next year build another coop for my meaties? If I have to separate them I will, I would just prefer to keep them together. WHY??? TELL ME WHY?!?!?!?! LOL Thanks for the input, and thanks for this forum!
Meat birds eat, sleep and poop. Their job is to grow fast. If you don't take the food away they will grow to fast and you can have leg, joint and heart problems. Meat chickens get 12hour with food 12 hours without. Layers need there food all the time and they don't poop nearly as much. Our plan is not for a seperate coop but a hoop house for them and only raise them in the warmer summer months.
Depending on where you live NOW is the time to raise meat birds. They STINK!! The warmer it is the worse they STINK!! I got my last batch the last week of November, I butchered half at 8 weeks and I'll butcher the rest first week of Feb. They are handling the cold well and are thriving. (its been in the teens and 20's at night for over a week now. Yes, even in Florida. Todays high has reached a whoppng 34 with wind chill of about 18) When the temps get into the mid 70's and up the smell will be so bad you may reconsider raising them again.
Thanks for the replies....... I will be receiving my birds the first week of March, which is still pretty cool weather here in West TN. I have 5 acres to work with and had thought about putting them about 100 feet or so behind the house. I am planning a pretty large run, but I am undecided as to whether I should split the area so as to be able to separate the flocks. From the sound of things I guess I should divide the coop and pen.
The only thing I might worry about is that since the cornish X grow so much faster than the others that they might start stomping the smaller, slower growing chicks. I've never raised any together so I don't know but you might want to keep an eye out for that.
I can't imagine raising my Cornish X's in a stationary coop. I move my tractor (10 x10) twice a day, and when I do, the ground is covered with poo. In a coop, it would be unlivable in only a couple of days without a LOT of work. You can build a tractor that is quite cheap, easy, and quick. Plust they work great.
