I am wondering about all the stuff you need to know about meaties. Recommended sq. footage in tractor or confinement or coop with run? Best breed for your avg. weight ( I want max. 12 weeks before butchering)? Tractor vs. Confinement vs. Coop with run (what works for you)? Feed and water? Fermented or pellets with ACV in water? Protein and Carb. amounts? Using scratch and feed? As you can see I want everyones opinion on how they do it and what they have found works best. I am going to be doing this in the spring and will be brooding in my garage before they go out. Any info would be great. Thanks in advance for anything you can give me.
You're asking for a book lol! Best breed for weight is the Cornish Cross. I have never raised them so I cannot help you there but I raise Freedom Rangers for 12 weeks. I get them from Kendall @ http://www.jmhatchery.com/hens/freedom-ranger-chicks/prod_5.html?review=read You can run about 50 birds comfortably in an 8x12 tractor, although I built a hoop house and bought electric poultry netting from Premeire fencing http://www.premier1supplies.com/c/fencing/ as I find it more humane. My brooder is a utility trailer with sides. Inside I put bedding (I use hay or shavings) 1 heat lamp, a 5 gallon bucket with 4 nipples. I raise 150 at a time. ******* I put ACV in the water which helps their immune system and prevents pasty but in my experience. ***** most important point I can make. They are in the brooder for 3-4 weeks, til fully feathered, then outside for the remainder of their time. I feed no medicated feed. In fact, they are fed 16% protein Hog Feed from start to finish and seem happy. Of course they forage too. This is a start for you, I am sure many others will chime in. Good Luck, Shawn
I was similarly wondering all about this in the early spring. The best advice I can give you is to take a day and look through previous meat bird threads. There is an unbelievable amount of information in this site from very experienced people. After doing so, I raised a nice bunch of cornish crosses to 7 weeks and they averaged 7 1/2 lbs live weight. Every bit of info is here with a lot of helpful people to get you through the process.
The feed is a preference. I have read many benefits to fermenting feed and free ranging. We raise CR for show so we want the biggest we can get in 6 weeks. We use show feed as it is the best to get them growing the fastest. Read read read it is all here
