Meat bird living quarters...

[dbjay417]

I'm not sure how to keep my three lil meat birds.

I've seen fantastic coops for pet and egg birds, with nest boxes and roosts and runs etc, but most of that seems pointless for meat birds. By the time they are really old enough to use the roost, they will be too fat to use the roost, they'll never come close to laying age, so all i can figure is a small enclosure with a run and feeder and waterer.

Right now i got three 1 1/2 -2lbs pullets in a pretty small cage with a feeder and waterer, and while they never strayed far from the foodsource anyway, they look cramped.

I would just love to see where others have reared their meat birds, so i can get some ideas.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Most people keep meat birds in a chicken tractor I think. I've already built mine. About 2' tall, and you just move them to a new spot each day. No roosts. They will get breast blister if they have roosts. Just let them run around on the ground.

 

[Miltonchix]

Quote:
Breast Blister?? Can you please elaborate.
I just butchered my first 2 roosters yesterday that slept on a perch and theres nothing wrong with their breasts.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Were they regular chickens or cornish X? The heavy birds rub their breast on roosts and they get a fluid in their breast called breast blister from their weight against a perch.

 

[jacque]

I keep them in a 14 X 14 room, heated with lights.....they are actually quite active, but I contribute that to the warmth....The last 2 batches we had I kept them in a horse stall, which is a bit smaller....10 X 10...and they didn't do as well....I think it was to cold for them....I also learned that if they got cold they depleted their source of minerals and vitamins causing leg problems and a high mortality rate...So I now put vitamins/minerals into their water....and right now it seems to be doing the trick....We haven't lost a bird in almost 3 weeks.....When the weather is better I can let them out into a small area, but, these meat birds don't seem to be as active as the egg laying variety....They seem to prefer, eat, sleep and be merry.....

 

[silkiechicken]

I also keep mine in a tractor. 4x8, 2 feet tall, with attached 2x4 hutch for the first week or two. Pretty simple and tractors are great... move the pen and don't even worry about shoveling massive poo... Just grow zucchinis right out of it.

 

[picklespickles]

i am looking at building something for mine i'm fixing to get. not used to keeping them cooped up but then i've just been eating random chickens out of the yard, not proper roosters. and i don't really want them running everywhere.

the idea of a movable coop is so great but i just don't know if i can build something like that.

i know mine will be bigger than it "must" be just because that's my personality. i think i will add a bunch of branches and stuff in there too so they can hide and not all kill each other. plus will prolly help for warmth and stuff.

i could also plug all the holes in the regular chicken coop and keep them in there i guess. but the chickens like perching on the various boards when they are in the mood. i don't know. hmmmmmmm.

i'm sort of thinking of building it up against one fence. that way, one less wall for me to build. (my kind of thing is go with the flow). then a tarp to keep the wind from the worst side. or, could put branches up and around for wind too.

i'm still thinking, can you tell?