How Many Meaties?

[Connorrm]

Will fit into a tractor that is 6.5ft x 9ft x 2ft tall. Also, is a covered space 6.5ft x 3ft good enough for shade/cover?

 

[chickenfeverforever]

well 25 meaties are supposed to do fine in a 10x10 dog kennel. That much I know. Or I have read. So maybe 15-18???

 

[ninabl]

do you plan to let them free range?

 

[Connorrm]

I would be keeping them in the tractor and just moving it every day.

 

[chickenfeverforever]

I thought u were getting meaties in the fall? Are you getting them sooner?

 

[Connorrm]

Quote:
August, but I got bored and built the tractor ahead of time. I like to plan

It's way too hot here now. 85+ during the day only 75 at night. Usually we peak around 90+

 

[Araylee]

We are two weeks from slaughtering our first batch-some friends had a dozen extras that they gave to us. If you can...start small! I was absolutely horrified at the amount of crap 12 chickens produce. I had them in a 50+ sq ft brooder area and no amount of added hay would keep them clean. They would cover fresh hay in an hour. The flies...

We ended up flirting w/ coccidiosis but caught it in time and dosed with Corid for 5 days and immediately moved them to their outdoor tractor. They have 9.5 sq ft per bird on grass and we have to move the tractor daily or they are laying in their own feces. They eat, and poop, and lay down while eating, and lay in their poop... they eat some grass and lay in the sun, which makes it worth it. to move them-it's fun to see them eat grass! But really, you need a plan for poo control! My 8 layers are in a 6x6 coop full of fluffy cedar shavings and their coop smells like fresh shavings after a month without new shavings or clean-out, they scratch around and keep things covered. The meaties would have infested that same space in ONE DAY.
Connorm, it's not that they need a lot of space to move around, because the furthest they'll waddle is two feet before collapsing from exhaustion. The space issue is all about the amount of poo they'll produce and the fact that they will lie down in that poo all day long, even while eating. W/ a 10x10 I would plan on total cleanout every other day. From what I understand coccidia take 3 days to reproduce so removing the contaminated feces every other day should limit your risk. We kept adding hay in an attempt to "compost" the litter but it didn't work.
I have 114 sq ft for 12 birds. You are talking 58.5 sq ft. IME the grass is mostly matted in poo after one day with my setup, and I would expect with two dozen birds you'd struggle to keep things clean. If you're going to raise in a smaller space, you might plan on slaughter @ 6 weeks vs. 8.
I hope that helps!!

I'm not trying to discourage, but I walked into meaties w/ no idea how revolting they are. All that said...I'll probably do it again in the fall, when the flies aren't as bad. And I'll limit my numbers. 25 at most. My 12 go through nearly 3 gallons of water every day. Thats a lot of water if you're talking 50 birds-hope you don't need to tote it! My 8 layers use 1/6th of the water.

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
39 of them (1.5 sqft/bird). I would give them more shade. I cover 75% of the roof and 50% of the sides on my tractors.

 

[Connorrm]

Quote:
No no - I'm thinking maybe 20-25. I still want some light brahmas or a columbian colored something or other

That really sounds like a lot of poo. Yikes! Maybe I'll expand another 3 feet. I am def. going to cover more of the tractor though!

 

[fried green eggs]

I have 6 CX (our first) they are 9 week olds. I built a 4'w x 8'L x 4'H tractor with half covered for shade and rain. I let them out for 4 - 6 hrs each day to Free Range and they love it.

If they see me walking anywhere near them they come a running. Ok really LOL it's kind of a flapping very fast waddle but even today when it was 96 deg with a heat index feeling more like 104 they are still very active and seem to be handling the heat better than I am. I know they are big enough to butcher but they hang out under our fruit trees and seem to be enjoying life so, they have more time. On Cooler days I have been taking them for short walks for exercise - they like to follow me - OK it might be because I am the one that feeds them.
I hated them when we had them in a brooder - Too much poo. Then we moved them to a small 4 x 8 Coop with a very low grade ramp to 8 x 10 run and they wouldn't go out of the coop unless we chased them out and then we had to catch them to put them in at night

So I built a fast cheap tractor and moved it daily the first week then started letting them out and its great and letting them out for exercise is the best.

I'm sure I could do 10 easily in our tractor next time.

Good Luck with yours.