housing for meat birds

johnnam

In the Brooder
12 Years
Jul 14, 2007
44
4
22
sweet home, OR
Hi I am getting a couple of cornish x's next week and from what I have been reading I don't really want to keep them with my other chickens. What I was wondering was, I have a "Dogloo" for a large dog. Would that work for my meat birds? It sounds like they don't really like to roost, and the top comes off for easy cleaning. I could make them their own little run and they would stay warm. Any ideas would be greatly appriecitated.
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You want to make sure you provide 1-2 sf per bird in the "dogloo". They get pretty big pretty quickly. If you are going to house them in a permanent shelter, you'll have to change the bedding pretty regularly. Also, you may consider adding a vent to the top to let excess heat escape. Chicken resperation alone makes enclosed spaces very warm and too humid.
 
I just keep my cornish X in the outside brooder for 8 weeks and butcher them... They will never get to roost and usually spend all their time crawling around and eating. They grow like crazy. You are planning to eat them right?
 
Hummmmm......Okay well I guess I have to come up with something different. The dogloo is pretty big, my 150 pound mastiff can fit in it but you are right venilation might be a problem. Maybe I will just portion off part of my coop for them. Do you think the run would be okay for them to share with the other chickens. They mostly feed in the coop right so I could still keep them on separate feed....right? I am new to this so I am just flying by the seat of my pants:p
 
yeah I am going to eat them. What does your outside brooder consist of and how big is it? Can you tell the difference in the birds you raise and the store bought one?
 
My Cornish X's freerange with my laying hens. Of course I give them broiler rations also. Mine took slightly longer than most because I wasn't able to get the rations at first, but, I just butchered 2 birds that were 10 weeks & dressed weight was a respectable 8.4lbs & 7.5lbs. I'm happy letting mine run around with the layers if I'm getting those weights & mine have not had the leg or heart problems most of these type birds can get.

Funny thing about the Cornish X's. Most ppl say all they do is eat, poop, & sleep, which they can do. Mine are more active foragers than my laying hens. I must have some of the healthiest X's on the planet. Now I just hope they aren't tough from all that freeranging. LOL!!
 
let me know how they turn out. I haven't decided what to do with mine yet. I was going to let them free range with the other chickens, maybe i will try it this time since i am only getting two.
 
Quote:
I do bunches of 4 cornish x's. They start off in a 2x3 brooder and then at about 2 weeks and are a bit hardier, move to a run/brooder that has a 4x8 run and a 2x4 house attached. When I deem the temperature and weather approperate, I open the door to the run and they can come and go as they please. I find my own birds to have more flavor and don't fall apart as easily when you eat them. Plus, I have the satisfaction of knowing they lived a good live and didn't suffer.
 
Well we just ate our first home grown freeranged chicken last night. It was deeelicious. I'll agree with what Silkie said above. They do NOT fall apart like a store bought chicken but he wasn't tough either. He just had a little more substance to him. LOL!! A lot more substance. With a 8.4lb bird, & only 2 ppl eating it, we are eating left-overs tonight. Still got half a bird left. LOL!! Gotta love homegrown chickens!!
 

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