How bad is the stink

[PineShavings]

I currently have 150 meat birds in my house garage that are about 2 1.5 weeks old. I have to shovel all the poop out everyday and put in the backyard. I first put them around the trees, but there aren't any trees to put more poop around so today I'm gonna have to dig a big hole and layer the poop and dirt in it. Going to have to move in the backyard soon. It's all worth it though, very few things taste better than chicken that you've raised on your own.

 

[donrae]

I think smell wise you'll probably be fine. you'll just have to add shavings or whatever bedding you're using, then clean it all out once you're done. Think of a version of the deep litter method and you'll be okay. Space might be a little tight--any chance of opening the pen and free ranging them some?

You might want to put something temp up to keep the chicks off that lower part of the fence--that's an iffy height when they're young. as they age and gain weight, esp in the breast area, they won't be able to get up there.

My other concern is can they get through the fence? Are the holes small enough for a little chick to get through? Just something to keep in mind.

I love having a good predator deterrent dog! Makes things so much easier, doesn't it?

 

[cestial225]

My brooder pen is kept in the regular coop and has a wire bottom. with regular chicks I havent had to shovel out the **** I just rake it around to mix it in with the rest of the coop floor and it worked fine. If the CX poop more those first few weeks I guess I can shovel it out and put it in my compost. The big girls will be able to see them but not get to them. Once they dont need supplemental heat they will get moved to a different yard away from the layers.

 

[Angelicisi]

Lol they all followed his lead too. They are very active on FF & free range. The fermented feed helps the poo stay solid and less smelly but they are eating a huge amount and that's gotta go somewhere. The yard will need a bit of recovery time but the birds are only going to abuse it for 2 months or less. I put mine outdoors at 2/3 weeks, but I am in the deep south and we have mild winters and warm springs in general. Next Friday we are getting 50 more. This time brooders will have wire tops and bottoms With 12 I think you'll do fine.

Here is a photo of a 3 week old CX from another thread: Originally Posted by Angelicisi He started out inside. The younger ones are the ones I think you have to be worried about. They are less able to fly as they get heavier......

 

[pipemum]

I'm raising CX for the first time. I had 14 for a bit (just processes 6 as Cornish game hens), and the smell is a non-issue. Well, while in the brooder, there was a smell problem --despite being on fermented feed from day 1, they eat a ton, and therefor poop a ton and that doesn't work too well in a small brooder in a small house. Now the broilers are in a 6x5 A-frame pen, and are let out 2x a day for a couple of hours. My 6 laying hens have their own coop, but all the chickens are let out into the yard together. The layers ignore the broilers for the most part--the lowest hen in the flock tends to chase the broilers around, but that's fine, gives them needed exercise!

I'm in the southwest, where vegetation and grass is NOT plentiful, and their pen is on dirt. I'm in the midst of doing deep litter with the broilers--at 6 weeks I'm putting in fresh pine shavings every few days. When they are all processed, I'll rake it out, have some fabulous compost, and the pen area will be...back to regular ol' dirt. Mine seem to be growing more slowly than I've read about, but they are on restricted food (more of a work schedule thing than a feeding regime) and were outside without heat from 1.5 weeks old. Oh, 6 of them are the slow-growing broilers, so that's to be expected, though they still seem small. The 2 regular CX are 6 weeks, and not near to being ready to butcher as a full-sized chicken.