Meat and egg layers

Welcome to BYC!!

There's a lot of great info on the site that deals with the questions you're asking, you just have to do a search for it. I'm going to give you my advice on how I would do it, but just letting you know that everyone has a different opinion on what works for their chickens. People on this site are not always used to the idea of chickens as a business.

Layers need 16% protein, but they do well on 18-20%. More than that should be reserved for breeders, sick or injured girls, molting hens, etc. It's not too feasible as a business to feed them very high protein. Some egg operations get away with 14% but if I were you I'd stick to 16%.

You probably want Red Sex links, they're a layer hybrid that lays a big brown egg every day. They can start laying at 5 months, but others start at 6 months. I would get chicks earlier than April, maybe mid-March (though I know that's coming up soon)--you want to be sure they start laying before the days shorten in the fall. Some will lay through the winter, especially if you have a light on in the coop that gives them 14 hours of daylight all winter long. You might also look into commercial Leghorn varieties if you want white eggs.

For small egg layers, 3 square feet of coop space is ideal. For larger egg layers, it should be 4 square feet. Their coop can be smaller if they have a large space during the day to range. Many commercial producers use a small coop with a large portion of pasture fenced off with electronet to let the hens range without worrying about ground predators. Again, the ideal space for ranging is 10 square feet a chicken.

I'm not very familiar with meat birds so I couldn't say. We usually put regular breeds out as long as it's above freezing at 5 weeks, if they have all their feathers (no more fuzzy chick down). Meat birds should go out before then, but they might need a lamp if they haven't grown too many feathers in yet. As long as it's above freezing, you'd be surprised at what a 3 week old chick can handle. Since it will be April, I would put them out at 2-3 weeks, though you'll have to have a heated space for them before then, and they'll be pretty big at 3 weeks. Again, not too familier with meaties like Cornish X so don't take my word for it.

Baby meaties need at least 20% protein for the first 3 weeks. Then, switch to 18% protein and feed only 12 hours during the day, then take away feed for 12 hours at night. This is to slow their growth so they don't develop health problems due to their weight. Keep them on this schedule until butchering at 7-9 weeks.

Broilers need about 1 sq ft a chicken, but are happy with a little more as long as you move the pen so the poo doesn't build up.

Hope that answered at least a few of your questions. Good luck and let us know how your chicken adventures go.