Kicking Out the Meaties!!

HidingInTheHenHouse

Songster
11 Years
Jun 21, 2008
393
8
131
Indianapolis
Okay, I just can't stand the smell anymore. I am brooding 23 Cornish X in my dining room. They turned 3 weeks yesterday, and I can no longer take the smell!! I change their shavings daily, but they smell immediately even with fresh bedding! So, can I kick them out to the coop with the big girls yet?? Will they get picked on too much? Will they get enough food?

The temps here have been in the 60s at night and 80s during the day. I can put a light in the hen house, but not in the outdoor run.

Any suggestions??
 
I think it's best, from what I have read, is for the meat birds to have there own area. This is because you don't want them running around and getting "exercise" and not gaining weight. My personal opinion would be is to find an area just for them.

Do you have a dog kennel that you could temporaily use? I am gonna use a 16 X 32 run for mine but I am ordering 150 but 50 will be leaving the same day so that will leave me with 100 for that size. I think it will do for the short time they will be here. Plus I have a dog kenel I can use if that ends up being to small.

Just a thought to ponder.
 
It makes some sort of sense to start them off in your dining room, since that's where they'll end up soon...

My only experience with meaties is the two I've been raising with a batch of other chicks their same age. But they sure do more than their share of pooping, I can't imagine a box of 23 of them indoors!

Perhaps you could rig some sort of bottomless box/cage/pen for them and keep them together outside during the day in the sun, then put them under the heat lamp in the coop at night. They'll need chick food all their short lives, and shouldn't have access to it overnight.

I have several sections of wire bird cages that I zip-tie together and make oblong pens for my growing chicks. I put plywood on top to make a roof, to keep out the rain & discourage the hawks.

You have only 5-7 more weeks to go with them, hang in there!
 
Yes, I have an outdoor pen that I made for the guineas when they were little. It is 6x6, covered with chicken wire on top and sides with the bottom open. I have been putting them out there when the weather is okay and I'm home to keep an eye on them. I just don't want to leave them out there when I'm not home, since a stray dog got in our yard once and broke into it and killed a guinea.

So, yes, I do have an outdoor option for at least part of the time. I'm thinking about re-doing the top part of the pen with welded rabbit wire and creating a hinged door, but that welded wire can be a pain to work with.

Oh, and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so they will probably still be stuck in the house.
 
Oh, I DO know your pain...or...ummm...smell. I have 51 of those little stinkers...they are 3 weeks old. Mine are outside....they are in a large wire cage...with welded wire bottom..and elevated off the ground. This allows the poo to drop through..and the welded wire is small enough it does not hurt thier feet. They have a tarp over them to keep them dry...shaded...and warm in the evenings. They do not have a heat lamp..its cozy in there all night. I am planning to put them in the yard hopefully next weekend. They will have a raised platform covered in straw to sleep on, covered with tarp....and a large yard to roam in. Everything is temporary...for these temporary guests.Once they are gone...the ground will be tilled...and reseeded for future chickens.
 
They do get stinky fast! I start mine in the garage since I don't park in there in non snow months. I place a large tarp which is folded into a smaller square in a corner and have two low walls I made out of some scrap plywood. The walls just have braces on the bottom so they are free standing and don't tip over. I can move them easily when I need to clean.

I keep shavings on top of the tarp. When it needs to be cleaned I put the birds in cardboard boxes and then remove the two plywood walls and drag the whole tarp outside and dump the shavings into the garden cart for composting. I hose off the tarp, leave it in the sun and it dries quick. Everything sets back up within minutes and the birds go back on clean bedding.

Once the chicks are big enough to go without heating they finish in my TSC tent garage which is fenced seperately from the banshees (big layers) but gives the meaties the ability for sunshine, rain and grass until they eat it all.

I am butchering mine today, they are 9 weeks old and massive.
 
You have learned the stinky truth. Many people don;t understand the 'stink' until they raise them for themselves. Now you know!

You can put them outside in a brooder set up. Remember they are 3 weeks old and will chill easily. They need a source of heat. They won't feather in as fast as they grow and will have exposed skin. The same as other chicks, if they get chilled they get sick and often it is fatal. Tend them as you would other chicks and you should do fine.
 
Well, I kicked them out this morning, in the pouring rain. I was going to wait until the rain let up, but the smell was starting to make me gag, and I couldn't eat in the house at all. I put them in the 6x6 guinea pen, covered in plastic sheeting and attached a light to the inside brace for heat if they need it. I'm not so sure about having a light outside while it rains, even if it is under plastic. It just seems a bit dangerous. I plugged the light into a heavy duty extension cord which is plugged into the garage. They seemed pretty happy about it and were running around exploring when I left.

I sure hope I didn't catch anything on fire! Going home in a minute, then I check on them, but temps were in the 70s even with the rain, so I doubt they got chilled.
 
Wow! I can't believe you could tolerate them in your dining room. Mine annoy me, and they are in the basement.
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