Getting Started!

[akf93]

We started egg layers this year and next year, we want to try meat birds. We recently stopped free ranging and have set up a 10x26’ run for our layers. Thinking about setting up a smaller version of the same run at the end of the current run so the birds would be separate but all right there together. But wondering if a mobile tractor is best because of the poop? We would probably do 10 birds to start. If we like the process, I could see us doing up to 20 birds once or twice per year. Is a run sufficient? How much space per bird? Do they need a coop? Roosting bars? I’m all for happy animals and I don’t personally love seeing tons of birds crammed into a small tractor.

I’d love advice on the best type of setup as well as any other advice you have to give! I’ve been doing lots of reading up on the topic! Help me get started!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have no idea what the best set-up for you is. For their own reasons people do this many different ways. And you are right, poop is a major factor. They eat a lot so they poop a lot. They generally won't move around much so the poop tends to really build up. If it builds up to where it stays wet it can become unhealthy. They are more likely to have problems with Coccidiosis than layers because of this.

One concept is what you described, a coop and small run. They are not going to go out in the run without a reason, that usually means food or water. They will probably strip that run of anything green in no time flat so they then have no reason to go out there. You'll have to spend time managing that poop buildup.

Ten or twenty is a lot for a tractor. To make this concept work you may need to move it twice a day at least. That is a time commitment and you need the room so you can relocate it that often.

Another concept is that you build a shelter that you can move and put it inside electric netting. This is mainly if you want them to forage for a fair amount of their food. You will still need to feed them but you can train them to forage. You move the shelter around inside the electric netting as you need to and eventually reposition the netting.

I see these as basic concepts, people put all kinds of twists and tweaks on them. One good thing is that it only takes two months or less to harvest them. It may be kind of intense but then the meat is in your freezer. I don't know how much room you have for the tractor or shelter/netting concepts or if your land is flat enough to move the tractor. Would you prefer to drag a tractor around or shovel poop?

 

[akf93]

I have no idea what the best set-up for you is. For their own reasons people do this many different ways. And you are right, poop is a major factor. They eat a lot so they poop a lot. They generally won't move around much so the poop tends to really build up. If it builds up to where it stays wet it can become unhealthy. They are more likely to have problems with Coccidiosis than layers because of this.

One concept is what you described, a coop and small run. They are not going to go out in the run without a reason, that usually means food or water. They will probably strip that run of anything green in no time flat so they then have no reason to go out there. You'll have to spend time managing that poop buildup.

Ten or twenty is a lot for a tractor. To make this concept work you may need to move it twice a day at least. That is a time commitment and you need the room so you can relocate it that often.

Another concept is that you build a shelter that you can move and put it inside electric netting. This is mainly if you want them to forage for a fair amount of their food. You will still need to feed them but you can train them to forage. You move the shelter around inside the electric netting as you need to and eventually reposition the netting.

I see these as basic concepts, people put all kinds of twists and tweaks on them. One good thing is that it only takes two months or less to harvest them. It may be kind of intense but then the meat is in your freezer. I don't know how much room you have for the tractor or shelter/netting concepts or if your land is flat enough to move the tractor. Would you prefer to drag a tractor around or shovel poop?

Definitely moving a tractor! We have an acre or so of flat ground we could use. Surrounded by woods so another concern is predators. Chicken tractors don’t seem very predator proof to me? We just moved our layers to a run because of the increase in predators, granted winter is coming and we obviously wouldn’t do meat birds in winter. And upon further researching, I’m leaning more toward that 10 bird number and maybe doing it twice a year. At least til we get a feel. We only have a couple acres and are new to everything homesteading and don’t need to get overwhelmed with this.

 

[akf93]

I have no idea what the best set-up for you is. For their own reasons people do this many different ways. And you are right, poop is a major factor. They eat a lot so they poop a lot. They generally won't move around much so the poop tends to really build up. If it builds up to where it stays wet it can become unhealthy. They are more likely to have problems with Coccidiosis than layers because of this.

One concept is what you described, a coop and small run. They are not going to go out in the run without a reason, that usually means food or water. They will probably strip that run of anything green in no time flat so they then have no reason to go out there. You'll have to spend time managing that poop buildup.

Ten or twenty is a lot for a tractor. To make this concept work you may need to move it twice a day at least. That is a time commitment and you need the room so you can relocate it that often.

Another concept is that you build a shelter that you can move and put it inside electric netting. This is mainly if you want them to forage for a fair amount of their food. You will still need to feed them but you can train them to forage. You move the shelter around inside the electric netting as you need to and eventually reposition the netting.

I see these as basic concepts, people put all kinds of twists and tweaks on them. One good thing is that it only takes two months or less to harvest them. It may be kind of intense but then the meat is in your freezer. I don't know how much room you have for the tractor or shelter/netting concepts or if your land is flat enough to move the tractor. Would you prefer to drag a tractor around or shovel poop?

I realize there are lots of variables and personal preferences going into this but just to give me an idea for a starting point - for 10 birds at a time, what is the minimum square foot space YOU would prefer for a stationary run? I’m not about scooping daily. But maybe weekly. Stationary would be easiest for our fairly small set up plus it would keep the birds all in the same area. If we did a tractor, we’d have to put them on the other side of the property with no buildings or anything for food/water storage. We could do either but I think stationary would be the first choice as long as it isn’t terrible on the cleaning side.

 

[akf93]

I have no idea what the best set-up for you is. For their own reasons people do this many different ways. And you are right, poop is a major factor. They eat a lot so they poop a lot. They generally won't move around much so the poop tends to really build up. If it builds up to where it stays wet it can become unhealthy. They are more likely to have problems with Coccidiosis than layers because of this.

One concept is what you described, a coop and small run. They are not going to go out in the run without a reason, that usually means food or water. They will probably strip that run of anything green in no time flat so they then have no reason to go out there. You'll have to spend time managing that poop buildup.

Ten or twenty is a lot for a tractor. To make this concept work you may need to move it twice a day at least. That is a time commitment and you need the room so you can relocate it that often.

Another concept is that you build a shelter that you can move and put it inside electric netting. This is mainly if you want them to forage for a fair amount of their food. You will still need to feed them but you can train them to forage. You move the shelter around inside the electric netting as you need to and eventually reposition the netting.

I see these as basic concepts, people put all kinds of twists and tweaks on them. One good thing is that it only takes two months or less to harvest them. It may be kind of intense but then the meat is in your freezer. I don't know how much room you have for the tractor or shelter/netting concepts or if your land is flat enough to move the tractor. Would you prefer to drag a tractor around or shovel poop?

I realize there are lots of variables and personal preferences going into this but just to give me an idea for a starting point - for 10 birds at a time, what is the minimum square foot space YOU would prefer for a stationary run? I’m not about scooping daily. But maybe weekly. Stationary would be easiest for our fairly small set up plus it would keep the birds all in the same area. If we did a tractor, we’d have to put them on the other side of the property with no buildings or anything for food/water storage. We could do either but I think stationary would be the first choice as long as it isn’t terrible on the cleaning side.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know that the size matters that much. Hopefully people that have done that will chime in but I would not expect them to go out there that much unless you have the food or water out there. If you have grass out there they can forage on and you restrict feed so they are hungry they would probably go out. You can give them room, I just don't think they'll take advantage of it. I think the poop buildup will be wherever you have the food.

If I were doing 10 CX I'd want a shelter maybe 6' x 8' (they do get big) where they could sleep at night safe from predators. 4' x 8' might work as long as food and water is outside. I'd want it somewhere dry and easy to clean out, either by shovel or rake.

The run is the real question. I can't get around the concern that they are not going to move around that much so I'll be managing the poop on a regular basis, both where they sleep and where the feeder is. Philosophically I'd build something around an 8' x 12' and plan on using bedding and clean it out regularly. But knowing me I'd probably build something the size of your other run and try moving the feed around to a different spot to see if I could spread the poop out enough.

 

[Coops Dad]

A mobile tractor would be perfect; my setup is 6'x12' with a small shelter built onto the far end and I move it 2x/week. The shelter has a ramp leading up to it and a roost bar 4" off the floor.

The Cornish Xs will mostly ignore the grass, preferring to gorge on high protein pellets. I move them once or twice a week to avoid poop buildup- they're actually crap factories disguised as chickens. The red broilers/red rangers/freedom rangers I've raised really benefitted from the tractor because they love grazing, and I move it to fresh grass whenever they pick over what it's been sitting on.

I move it first thing in the morning before opening the coop door to avoid dragging a fat chicken under a wall.

 

[Hopulence]

I have a 8 x 12 aluminum pen with hardware cloth on the sides and top and corrugated metal roof covering about 70% of the top. Plenty of fresh air to go around and protection from the elements. 25 chickens have fit in there no problem, but I prefer a max of 20. Or I'll process some around 5 weeks to act as 'Cornish hen' style. When they start getting really big, like 6-7 weeks, they barely move. When they are younger and more active it's plenty of space.

We have foxes and coyotes by us. They have circled the pen but have never got in. If we had bears I'd be concerned since the pen is light.

Do not get/build a roosting bar. They get so top heavy that jumping off can easily break their legs.

By week 5 or 6 I'm moving it twice a day. If I'm home, sometimes 3x per day lol. But I love my lawn so I also think as their poo as fertilizer. I also water it into my lawn daily.

Finally look up a feeding schedule or some other restriction at week 2 or 3. Unlike layers they will literally eat themselves to death.

How that helps!