Help me, meatie gurus! :D first time doing meat birds

[Trisseh]

Hey all! This summer will be the first time we do meat birds; I have some layers and some ducks but haven’t done anything beyond culling for sickness. I do have quail and processed a few of them, and I found I am able to do it, so chickens were the next logical step.

So here’s where I’m looking for tips/tricks/etc. I’ve scoured through the boards, I’ve read a lot on here. My particular proposed setup is what I would like some feedback on.

Currently the ducks have their own house and run, with a gate into the chicken run. I was planning on keeping the slower growing grazers in the main chicken run, and putting my frankenchickens (Cornish x) in a separate pen. The plan so far is to obtain 20 CX and 10 of the grazers. My existing chickens are relatively fine with newcomers, especially if they are in their own area, so I’m not concerned with the grazers. Plenty of space for more birds in with them for the short period of time they’ll be around. All my birds also get regular free range time so the “main” chickens won’t always be in there anyways.

I have a site that I was thinking of creating a temp pen for the CX. It would be within an electric netting perimeter, and they would have a lean to type “house” to sleep in. The fencing I have is old school wooden snow fencing, and I use step in steel posts and it seems to be a pretty decent barrier. Birds don’t try to get on top of it because it’s not solid, so I haven’t had escapees from it in the past. The main predators we have are ground based ones; dogs, foxes, skunks. The electric has been doing a pretty good job (after some hiccups). There is the occasional hawk that flies over but I haven’t had any interest from them in my birds.

The space I’m looking at will be approx 16 x 16 feet, with the house on the outside to maintain as much internal space as possible. There is an apple tree and an old garden bed in this area, so they’ll have shade and somewhere to scratch if they so feel like it. Is this sufficient for 20 (or less, depending on losses if any) CX? Would it be a good or bad idea to give them a “protector” in the form of my extra cockerel? He seems to accept any new birds with little issue (especially as chicks) and is an awesome alarm system, so I was thinking he may be of use to protect them by alerting me. I have no clue if this is a good idea or not, because as I’ve said, first time with meaties!

TIA for any and all feedback!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

That sounds like a good space for 20. I wouldn't put your rooster in with them or any other "normal" chickens with them. They don't have your average pecking order. The top of the pecking order is the fattest one sitting in the feeder. They don't move too much, but can be extremely messy. I'm typically cleaning coops every other day and adding shavings almost every day. They grow really fast. The hawk might think differently if it sees easy prey, and be trouble for more than one reason. One, seeing easy prey, might get some. Two, if the CXs see him fly over, they might get a heart attack and die. They have health issues like heart attacks, liver failure and broken legs. Make certain that they have plenty of shade, because they can easily overheat.
The great things I like about the CXs is they taste good, I'm not eating something that I got too attached to (though there has been a couple...), when I have them is the only time I get a blue-eyed chicken, and because they grow fast, it doesn't take too long to raise them to size. I've never raised meat ducks. As far as butchering, I like having somebody else do that because of the amount I typically have.

If you wanted to watch a video of them growing, I did one of the last ones I had. You can see it here:

Good luck with your Meat Birds! Once you've tasted that homegrown, fresh meat of something you've raised, you'll never want to go back! The taste is worth it!

 

[Kirkwooder]

I do all my meat birds in mobile coupes.(chicken tractor) My mobiles are 6'x10' and made with roofing tin for the sides, hardware cloth ends and a heavy duty tarp for the roof. I can raise up to 25 birds in each coupe and I move it between 1-4 times a day to control manure and to give the birds fresh grass to feed on. Works great.

I would certainly keep them all by themselves. An adult rooster will likely peck at the chicks.

 

[3KillerBs]

I loved the looks of these birds when following their threads so I recommend these articles:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-x-for-health-hardiness-and-efficiency.76068/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...inners-overview-setup-cost-and-results.75951/

 

[Tre3hugger]

I think your setup sounds good for the number of birds. Hardest thing will be manure control. Although you are offering a lot of space, they are going to tend to concentrate around the feeder and house. This could work, but your birds will be dirty and the area will be a MESS, how much so directly dependent on your ability and desire to shovel poop daily. If you don't ind the maintenance, they should do well. How many sides is the lean to in question?

Another option would be to use the same area within your electric netting, but with a chicken tractor. The tractor can be somewhat basic/light because your electric fence is your real predator deterrent. This way you control where they poop and when, and you never have to move a single wheelbarrow full of manure. If they poop that area up to capacity, move your electric fence over and bam, fresh grass. This technique also requires daily work in moving the tractor, but the birds will be cleaner and you will have less contact with feces. Also fertilizes the area so it'll grow more grass and hopefully support more rounds of meaties!!

Either way will work but I think your initial plan will take more thinking about what to do with poop and more work carrying out said plan. Will definitely cost more in shavings. Here is a pic of my A frame chicken tractor for an idea.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rame-tractor-step-by-step-build-pics.1363758/

Whatever you decide, keep us posted and keep asking questions. Welcome to the delicious world of meaties!

 

[Tre3hugger]

@Lacy Duckwing nice video!

 

[Trisseh]

Thanks everyone! This is why I posted here, to get all of the insight from all of you guys! Awesome videos and articles!

I may wind up having to do something a little different for sure if I see an increase in the birds overhead. So far I’ve only had a couple in the last few years that have even gone over, let alone checked out the poultry. I do have a pair of resident ravens that put the run on the smaller birds that come into their territory, so maybe that’s why. They haven’t bothered the chickens at all, either, which I find surprising.

I think I’ll be using my fencing material along with their house as a slightly more cumbersome, fluid form of a tractor. The fencing is in sections and attached to posts already, so much easier to move. I can reconfigure in a lot of different ways with it because it’s flexible too. The house they’ll have will be a simple a-frame (similar to the covered end of that very nice tractor up above!) that either myself or a couple people can lift and move, so no worries there either (I hope). Hoping that’ll cut down on the amount of concentrated manure as well, if I rotate them in blocks around the apple tree. I wish it wasn’t so snowy in the proposed location right now so I could take some pics! All you see right now is a tree and a LOT of snow. Haha.

I was thinking of putting them in that relative area because there’s a fair bit of shade for much of the day, and it generally gets a really nice cross breeze too. It’s awful in winter with the wind howling through but it’s perfect in summer.

 

[Tre3hugger]

Hoping that’ll cut down on the amount of concentrated manure as well, if I rotate them in blocks around the apple tree.

I think that will go a long way towards cleanliness and allow you to use what you have now instead of building a new tractor. Nice!

It's hard to say what the raptors will do. I had zero losses to them all spring summer and fall. Then lost 3 chickens and 4 guineas to hawks just in December and January! I think they are more desperate in the winter.