Meat bird management questions, specifically freedom rangers

[tickens33]

I have some questions about changing my current setup from an egg operation to a meat operation. I am specifically looking at freedom rangers and am pretty set against cornish X due to their health issues. My post history has more context for these questions, but hopefully they are straightforward enough!

1. How much space in sq footage would meat birds require, if they have 24/7 access to the coop and run (no tractor and very limited free ranging a couple times per week)? With our laying hens we aimed for a minimum of 8sqft in the coop and 10sqft in the run per bird. The coop is about 50 sq feet and won't be getting bigger, the run is currently about 70sq feet with plans to expand.

2. In my current setup, the chickens access their run space by climbing down a ramp every day. Food and water are under the coop, and birds have to climb down the ramp to access them. Do meat birds like freedom rangers have mobility considerations? Would they be able to get up and down a ramp that Orpingtons are able to use?

3. Currently with our laying hens, we do a deep litter/deep bedding type setup. This involves removing the biggest clumps of poop a couple times per week, as well as turning the litter in areas that the birds don't walk through much so they are not turning it themselves. I also add fresh litter material every few weeks when it looks low. Generally, there is little to no visible poop on the topmost layer of bedding and no smell. Would this same setup be doable with meat birds? Could I do the same thing just with an increased frequency of cleaning? I have read that they poop a lot more.

4. Can freedom rangers free-feed, or do they need their food measured every day?

 

[SnackMeat]

Here are some threads that might interest you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...eed-amount-feed-conversion-and-growth.729919/

Delawares, what I am considering getting next for meat birds. Though maybe some Dorkings too since they are supposed to be really good tasting. These will grow slower but if you don't mind smaller chickens, you can slaughter early and still have a fairly decent amount of meat left.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...delawares-for-meat-eggs-and-breeding.1096105/

 

[tickens33]

Here are some threads that might interest you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...eed-amount-feed-conversion-and-growth.729919/

So I did read this thread earlier, but was honestly a bit confused at the implications of all the numbers since I'm so new to this. It seems like on average, this person's feed cost was $2.50/lb of meat (with the organic feed we use, with this person's numbers it would cost us about $3.15/lb of meat I think) and time to butcher was a little longer with a little less meat compared to Cornish X?

Edit- after a re-read I'm not sure where I got that 2.50 number from, must be thinking of a different thread.

Delawares, what I am considering getting next for meat birds. Though maybe some Dorkings too since they are supposed to be really good tasting. These will grow slower but if you don't mind smaller chickens, you can slaughter early and still have a fairly decent amount of meat left.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...delawares-for-meat-eggs-and-breeding.1096105/

I haven't looked into these yet, could be a good option, thanks!

 

[SnackMeat]

I think I know the thread you're talking about. Someone did the breakdown for Cornish cross and I think it was still $1.78/pound.

I don't have any math for you, nor know what the weather is like (since you'd likely be processing mid September) but if you stagger your chickens and have a black soldier fly farm setup, all that excess stuff you don't use-- head, whichever organs you don't use, possibly feet if there was bumble feet, can feed the BSF. It's kind of hard because you still have to have stuff to feed it in the meantime, but vegetables and meat scraps can work. And that can be a cheap (or close to free if you have a lot of scraps) source of protein for the chickens since they can't free forage.


Staggering can help because those first few culled can really help the fattening of the later ones.

But it is more straightforward to have them all at the same time and process at the same time. I hate doing more than 3 chickens in a day though. And even three kind of sucked for me personally.

I knew a couple who would raise and process 100 Cornish cross in one day but they had five offspring so it was 7 people working and even then it sounds like a crazy day.

 

[Skyeknight]

2. In my current setup, the chickens access their run space by climbing down a ramp every day. Food and water are under the coop, and birds have to climb down the ramp to access them. Do meat birds like freedom rangers have mobility considerations? Would they be able to get up and down a ramp that Orpingtons are able to use?

Meat birds are able to use ramps. They only need to learn how to use them, so probably for the first week you will probably manually have to lift a few inside in the evening. They jump down but don't understand the going up part as easily. Don't know what you mean by a ramp an Orpington would be able to use, but I keep my 3 month old CX girls in a horse trailer and they use the ramp or simply jump up with no problem. Do make sure the coop "door" is big enough for them.