How much room would 25 meat birds need?

[JulieNKC]

My 6 meaties have a 3 x 8 tractor. They also free range during the day, but their tractor still needs to be moved every 3 days or so. Thought about keeping a few of my fat sweeties, but them eating me out of house and home and making a mess of wherever they are has shot down that idea lol. So make sure wherever they are is easily movable.

 

[LilyD]

To begin with you can go small with your brooder for them but after doing them for a few years I really would suggest a bigger area once they are over 4 or 5 weeks. That way they aren't having to lay in their poop all day. We were finding that no matter how good we were about cleaning they were getting really dirty so we gave them a large fenced in outdoor area to roam during the day so that when they poop it's more spread out and cleaner.

 

[Jschaaff]

We have a 5 x 5' pen for our 10 meaties. With that size, I could have up to 16 meat birds, but I like to leave the extra room for their water and feed. They free range all day (if they choose to come out) and I've found they are a lot more active than I thought they would be by allowing them to roam around. No lazy meaties here at four 1/2 weeks (So far...could change shortly). Its great to see them run (well, waddle-run) around and chase each other.

1.5 square feet per bird is recommended for the pen, but if you have room to fence an outdoor area for them to roam, or can just let them free range (with access to their pen/coop) I think you get even happier meat birds. I believe it can take a little longer for them to get to weight, since they are eating bugs and grass, not just chicken feed, so that is something to consider if you are in a hurry to get them culled at 7 weeks.

We put straw (a small amount and I have been told that mice can be a problem so consider that if you use straw) in the pen for bedding and move the pen every few days. Once moved, we rake the old straw, let it dry in the sun( sun? sun? what is that?) and then move it to the compost bin. Hose down the area to get rid of any remaining poo. Even with them free ranging from 7 am to 7 pm, there is a massive amount of poo in the pen, so it is really important to move your tractor/pen as often as you possibly can. Many people on here move it once a day.

-Jessa

 

[belgie]

I have to say I am loving this site you are all a wealth of knowledge.
we have a place for them when get them as day olds in an existing coop, and will put them inside a tractor tire spacer until they can jump over and move them out at about 5 weeks into the 10x10 tractor (that my DH will build

) and I even now know we should move it about every 3 days. I cannot let them free range as we have 2 dogs and a cat, not to mention the raccoons, coyotes, and hawks. Do we move the tractor with the birds inside it? If we go slow do they shuffle along? And do you think they a safe from predicator s in the tractor or do they need to be put in something more secure at night?

 

[SammyRouen]

10x10 is plenty i have an old metal gazebo frame that i transformed into a tractor for my birds i can move around my yard after a day out they are let back in with my layers in the large coop and run for the night. (They are Black Australorps)

 

[NH Chicken Lady]

I use a 5'x10' tractor for about 30 birds. That is plenty of room for them up to 7 weeks. The cornish cross don't like wander far anyway.

 

[offgridhermit]

I have a 8x16 coop I made out of pallets and currently have 12 meat birds in it, but I could have put 25+ in it.




They are now ready to butcher.



Sorry, I didn't notice this thread was started in 2011.

 

[WildOrchard]

I am raising 100. How much room do you suggest I need?

 

[SillyBird]

I realize this is an older post but found it interesting and wanted to add what we use for space for the 50 meat kings we have each year. We've been lucky to have the room in the barn that we do and start them off in a box stall (about 10 feet by 10 feet). This is alot of space but they soon fill it up. At about the three week point we allow them access into a larger space that measures 10 feet by 20 feet, so in the end they have a 10 by 30 area. They LOVE the extra space. They run and flap their wings, they spread out in their little groups, or on their own, lay in the hay (they love to play in piles of hay, and lay on it), and we have had no leg problems/issues with allowing them to move around more. Ideally we'd love to have an outdoor space for them but it is not possible, but the barn is light and they can see out of the space as we used chicken wire along the aisle way as the 'wall' if that makes sense. (We can then easily remove it and use that space for something else when the birds leave). They truly enjoy the little bit of extra room and 'freedom'. They also love it if you put in a pile of sawdust or shavings...they take 'baths' in them. Sure they don't move around as much as normal chickens, but the way we look at it, their life is short, and they give us so much back in regards to wonderful food to eat, so why not make their lives 'kinda nice' for the short time they are with us. That's just our view on it. They DO know the difference...they don't want to be crammed up like sardines. When we first exposed them to the new area they just ran and flapped their wings.....they were so excited. Anyway, this is just the way we do it...and we wouldn't change a thing. : )

 

[Hay Belly]

I have my monsters in a 10' x 20' space and they do love to run around and dust bathe. They will take as much room as you give them.