filthy broilers

[Dogfish]

My tractor has 75% covered up top, and half of the sides. When temps got into the teens in November, a week before slaughter, I only lost two of my birds due to cold. I had also raised an additional 20 inside my shop in two 4'x4' brooders. The inside birds were heavier by a pound.

 

[quercus21]

In the beginning I used a tractor exclusively. Now I enclose the birds in the tractor for a few weeks, after that it is used as a coop. I use a poultry electric fence to contain them. The fence is not charged and I don't really have a predator problem here, unless you want to call the neighbors cattle a problem. They do come and visit us. The area the birds have is approximately 40' x 40' for about 50 birds (cornish x). You can see the tractor I use on my BYC page.

Kaj

 

[cassie]

I raise my broilers in a 12 foot square box stall in the barn. It has plenty of ventilation. I bed with shavings. I add shavings as necessary and I do not clean the pen until they have all gone to freezer camp. I raise them in batches of 25 but there is room in that stall for more chickens than that. I do not have trouble with odors or dirty birds. Labor is minimal. Since the summers here are very hot I do not try to raise meat birds in the summer.

 

[tracyork]

I would like to go back to the other point raised in the original post FILTHY! I have 4 cuckoo marans roosters hatched in late September. They are pretty big and ready to be take care of - or at least I am ready. We live in a such a wet climate and have had a lot of rain this year so things are a mess. I look at them and don't know where to begin. They are in a tractor but are still filthy. This will be my first attempt at processing, and I don't want to make it any harder than I need to trying to control the mess, etc. I am planning to take the easier skinning approach, but still worried about contaminating the meat.

Any thoughts? Should I bathe them and hope they dry out without getting muddy / poopy again, or should I just go for it? They are in a 4x8 tractor, but there are only 4 of them. Our whole yard is muddy with the excessive rain and the winter conditions.

I think I learned my lesson about fall chicks. Please help!

Thanks

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I would just butcher,especially if you are skinning.

 

[roco123]

Hello,

We raise our brolers in the winter due to livestock show. We are still learning having only done this for 4 years now. We live way in the south, and we have learned that heat is not a broilers friend. When it gets into the 80's, they just shut down (after a week or two old).

To answer your question about mess, we have learned that concrete sand from the material yard works best. It keeps everything nice and clean with only a periodic leaf raking of the top. Sand soaks everything right up. I do not know if you can use it for your situation, but it is a blessing. It is also a great help should your waterer overflow for any reason.

Sand also provides them with grit. We generally use a little pine shavings when we first get them to help with warmth, but they are a big mess. We do not use them anymore, and chickens are fine.

One other concern is room or space. You are right, these chickens eat, poop, and sleep. If you want less cleaning, a minimum of 2 sq. feet per chicken should be allowed after 4 weeks old.

We then take it and till it into our garden.

Hope this helps.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

that is very good advice, I now use sand as well and for meat birds it is the best.

 

[RoosterGeek]

plumbingsupply.com has pretty much any PVC fitting you would ever want, even the 3-way elbows and cross fittings. I thought about making a large day tractor for some of my meat birds. I already have a Salatin style tractor and have no problems with filthiness or smell as long as it is moved at least every other day.

 

[blueskylen]

i have a method that has worked for me for the last few years, raising between 20 and 60 at a time. i have a building that is approx 12 X10 and has a wood floor - i put down a heavy layer of newspaper over the entire floor and use hay bales to block off a small area for the brooder when the chicks arrive . then add shavings while they are small and under the heat lamps - layering newspaper and shavings. after removing the heat lamps at about 3-4 weeks I start to make the area bigger by moving the bales back to keep it clean - each day i put down a new layer of newspaper and a bit of DE then more straw and so on until they are 8 weeks. the newspaper and de keeps the moisture/smell down and the straw keeps them clean. after the broilers are gone, i just shovel it all out and put it on the compost pile, then hose the building down inside. nothing usually soaks thru the bottom layer of newspaper, so dont worry about the floor .

i have also cut a flap door into one side and put a small run for them to go out in, but usually just a few want to sun themselves and the rest stay inside. it makes a little more room for them if they want it.

i usually get them mid March and they are ready before Memorial Day or mid Sept and they are ready before Thanksgiving.

 

[terri9630]

Quote:
Why let them dry? If you are just going to butcher them wash off what you want gone and go for it.