Post pics of your meat bird facilities

[silkiechicken]

Oh, and the "frypan" special, will most likly be far from meat birds. Instead of the 4-6 lb dressed birds in 8 weeks, you'll have 2-3 lb dressed birds in about 5 months.

 

[urbanagrarian]

chickencrazy,

I'm in Massachusetts where everything is very frozen now. The last batch I raised was Sep-Oct because I like them to be able to eat fresh grass/weeds. The temperatures near the end of the eight weeks that I had them got to slightly below freezing maybe around 30F. They were bigger then and I just made sure the tarp covered them on the side that the wind came from.

I brooded them in my detached garage for the first 21 days using a lamp for heat. I noticed that the Cornish cross chicks seem to be able to tolerate cold earlier than regular chicks, probably because they grow so fast.

If you look at the pic in the blog you will see some plastic baby fence around the pen. . I also use that fence in brooding. The way I set up the brooding was to make a circle with the baby fence about 5 or 6 feet in diameter. Then I lined it with a tarp and draped and tied the tarp over the edges. At the end of brooding I can fold up the tarp and easily carry the shavings to the compost pile. Regular chicks would fly over a fence that low, but the chubby little cornish cross chicks stay put.

If you really find that 30 is too much. You can butcher some early. I butchered 4 of my pullets at day 26 to see how I would like cornish game hens. They were 1lb5oz dressed and were excellent as cornish game hens. One of them split is enough for two regular servings or a whole bird for a hearty eater.

pic of fence I memtioned
http://urban-agrarian.blogspot.com/2007/10/chicken-tractor-in-garden.html

 

[snugglepup]

I have kept about a dozen chickens at one time in this:

The perches are in it from when I had a bunch of extra cockerels housed there over the summer. They were tasty, but not much meat. The broilers obviously don't use the perches at all. In fact, the 2x4 sides are an impenetrable wall to them.

 

[chicken crazy]

Thanks everyone for all your replies! Since I'm in Canada and too far from the U.S border I can't order from Murry hatchery as I'd like to. They don't ship accross the border and I would have to drive to pick them up in Sweet Grass. AAAAahhh that is a 7 hr drive! Bummer, lucky you get to buy yours from there if you'd like.

 

[UncleHoot]

This only took a few hours to build, a couple hours to find the parts at Lowe's (except for the special PVC fittings which were ordered online), and a bit over $200 for all the pieces.

My daughter helped me put it together.

The first occupants

The intended occupants

This worked very well for me, but there are are few things worth noting:
1. The "floor" pipe would occasionally run over the chickens' feet. They seem to figure it out quickly, though, and after a couple weeks, it wasn't much of a problem.
2. The tarp keeps blowing off. Fasten it down well, and probably figure on getting a new tarp every year.
3. It's lightweight. That makes it easy to move, but I generally staked it down every day (2 stakes worked). However, I forgot to stake it down on a couple exceptionally windy days, and it never blew away, either. No "chicken-kite" thankfully.
4. Use at least 350 to 400+ psi pipe, or it will be worthless.
5. I've heard that the PVC doesn't last very long outside. I've only used it one summer. But if the PVC pipes break, they're relatively cheap to replace. Most of the money went into buying the special fittings.
6. The instructions are all here: http://www.pvcplans.com/pvc-pastured-poultry-pen.htm, as are the links to places to buy the special fittings.
7. When it rains "sideways" (from the east), the birds can get wetter than I'd prefer.

If I was to build one from scratch today, I'd probably make it 10x12 feet, with three 4-foot sections, rather than two 5-foot sections, with the tarp covering 2/3. That would eliminate the rain problem altogether.

I'm going to be using this for about 40-50 chickens this summer. It worked well for 30 last summer.

 

[chicken crazy]

UncleHoot nice set up. I think that I'll have to copy your design. But does it come with the 1st occupants? Lol

 

[jaku]

Quote:
UncleHoot- Did that hold together pretty well for you? That plan looks nice- I see you also live in Michigan. Did you have any problems with predators getting under it?

 

[professor_yellow]

I have not raised meat chickens yet. My only expereince has always been with layers (Sex Links, Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds).

Recently I recieved 13 Pekin ducks as day olds, which grow even faster than meat chickens. The brooder I built was 4'x4' and 18 inches high. By two weeks they outgrew that. I had a 4'x6'x30" brooder for their next home. That only lasted 2 weeks. Then I put them in my 8'x16' fiberglass greenhouse.

I will be butchering at 12.5 weeks even though some weighed in at 8 pounds at 7 weeks. It is amazing how fast they grow!!

I used nonmedicated turkey Starter, then moved to grower pellets after 4 weeks.

Just make sure you have PLENTY of space ready before they need it.

 

[willheveland]

I'm brand new on this site,so I don't know how to post pictures yet.I have some photo's on my page though that shows some of my chicken pens(meat birds).I put 25 in a 8x8 pen and it doesn't seem too crowded.I think they like to compete kinda like pigs.I've only raised meat birds during warm weather.I move their pens to fresh ground each day.In my area I wouldn't try to raise them when it was cold.I'd try to do one batch to fill the freezer before winter.Check out my pictures on my page,maybe they will give some ideas.They work great for me. If you want something in particular just ask. I hope this helps. will

 

[muddler6]

The folks on here have good advice. My current set up for my bantam cochins was originally for the Cornish X I had. I raised 15. One thing I learned quickly, they don't like to climb the ramp into the coop. Also, be ready for a lot of fertilizer, A LOT of fertilizer. You can see what I used on my link below in blue. I am building a new set up this year, lower to the ground and no where near as elaborate.