Pasture/Pen Rotation for CornishX

[U_Stormcrow]

Might I chime in and suggest rabbits as a meat source instead? Here is why...

1. No brooding needed, Mama will take care of all that, every time.
2. Rabbit poop can be direct sown into your garden, OR used to make INCREDIBLE compost. It is the true black gold, and has increased my plant yield by about 30 percent when coupled with composted (1 yr) chicken litter.
3. THE SPACE REQUIREMENT! This may be the most important for you. I currently raise between 75-100 lbs of rabbit meat a year, using only 2 does. My rabbit cages (4Lx2.5Wx1.5H) are a little over twice the size recommended by the USDA. I suspended them from the outside wall of my chicken coop, so really no extra space needed. The chickens love scratching aound under the cages, and keep the bugs down. 4 cages is enough, 1 buck, 2 does, 1 grow out cage.
4. Quick Turn around-just like cx, my rabbits are ready for processing at 9 or 10 weeks old.
5. Ease of processing. No scalding, no plucking, I can fully process a rabbit in under 3 minutes.

Just a suggestion. If you have any specific questions about raising rabbits for meat, please don't hesitate!

I brought on rabbits for the same reason. I gave my rabbits considerably more space, following guidance from the UK Livestock Conservancy, each of my (on the ground) rabbit pens measures about 5.3' x 10' x 3.5' tall. Considerably more expensive build. Annoying to try and catch rabbits in all that space. Also, I had to put down a tremendous amount of CMUs around the border to keep them from digging out, and had to wire the top to keep them from jumping out. Recommend following Trehugger's guidance on cages instead. I will eventually rebuild, with different materials.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I brought on rabbits for the same reason. I gave my rabbits considerably more space, following guidance from the UK Livestock Conservancy, each of my (on the ground) rabbit pens measures about 5.3' x 10' x 3.5' tall. Considerably more expensive build. Annoying to try and catch rabbits in all that space. Also, I had to put down a tremendous amount of CMUs around the border to keep them from digging out, and had to wire the top to keep them from jumping out. Recommend following Trehugger's guidance on cages instead. I will eventually rebuild, with different materials.

I was initially drawn to ground pens because, well, I love animals and want them to be happy. But extensive reading changed my mind. I prefer to control my breeding schedule is the main reasoning against a colony situation. Also, parasite load on the ground can be a problem. I am sure some people do it successfully, but I love my cages from KW cages. Now that I moved them outside the chicken coop (they used to be suspended inside from the rafters) I think I will make a playpen area near the rabbitry so they can run around a bit when I am putzing around out there. I'm sure my breeders would appreciate that.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I do have separate pens to control breeding, dame, buck, dame - but still recommend against keeping them on the ground.

and yes, this is WAY cobbled together. I didn't even remove the tags from the ends of the PT lumber. A rush job I continue to regret.