Meat bird coop question

[DianeInRI]

I have some experience with egg layers and already have my hen house and run for my girls but I have 20 meat bird chicks arriving on June 9th and I need advice on the coop for the meat birds. I don't have a grassy area for their coop and I know that they will only be around for a couple of months. I don't want them housed with my layers. I have looked at all the tractors but I really don't have the option to move one around my yard. My real question is can I just have them in an a-frame stationary coop? or will the lack of green grass be a problem? I am in Rhode Island and my plan is to raise these meat birds for my own use just once a summer. Any advice?
Thanks everyone!

 

[mollybuck]

i am on my own first dozen of these. I have them in a sectioned off part of my shed. They only go outside on the weekend or if it is nice in the evening and we dont have anywhere to be and then I just put them in my garden, since nothing is planted yet. Thats when I clean out the coop.. and turn the heat lamps on to dry it out really well. I got mine earlier though. we butchered 4 last weekend because one couldnt stand anymore and a hen had a broken wing with the bone exposed.. i have no idea how that happened, it was a first for me! anyways, they were 6 weeks old and were a nice size. I will do the rest in the next 2 weeks, just in time to rototill...

My dad gets 50 a year and he keeps them in the upstairs of his garage ( but it is ground level on one side, on the side of a hill. He never lets his outside at all. he gets them early enough that there is usually still snow on the ground for most of their life. the lack of green shouldnt be a problem. I give mine some of the veggie scraps that I give my hens.. and they dont even touch them.

 

[DianeInRI]

Thanks for the reply! I like the idea of letting them have an occasional 'field trip' outside the coop! Any input on how much space my 20 meat birds need? Keeping in mind that they won't be in a tractor and in a stationary, temporary coop? Thanks again!

 

[RedMini]

I have 19 meat birds right now. We have an outdoor area attached to the coop that they will be in once they get fully feathered (which will be very soon). I have had them outside for a short period of time when it was close to 80 degrees a few weeks back.
The outdoor area is about double the size of the interior of the coop....maybe too much for 19, but I plan on doing another batch after these & getting minimum of 30 birds.