Raising meaties in town

[Straw Hat]

I live on a small lot in-town. Backyard usable for chicks is about 1700 sf. City regulations permit chicks as long as they're housed 20 ft away from other residences. I have a corner lot with a privacy fence, so I'm Ok.

I want to raise meat birds, probably a slower growing version of the CX since I'm at 7200 feet. While I'd love to pasture my birds, that's not possible. I'm wondering what's the best way to do it? These are my concerns: 1)smell 2)poop management 3)cost 4)health of birds.

I'm thinking I could start them in a cardboard brooder in my garage, then at 4 weeks move them to a section of my yard blocked off in poultry netting. (IMO, my yard isn't the ideal shape/size for a mobile tractor.) What could I build cheaply just for locking them in at night inside the poultry netting? Or is there something ready-made? I don't want to build them a fancy coop, as they will only sleep in it for 2-6 weeks. Predators shouldn't be a big problem. I'm thinking 15 birds, or is that too many? Could I let them roam my entire fenced yard, gleaning my raised garden beds? Would they completely wreck my yard? Or would the combo of their manure with winter snows be good for my lawn? How do CX do in the cold/snow? We're having warm weather now, but at 7200, snow's possible at any time. In high summer, nighttime lows are often in the 40s.

I eventually want a coop with layers, dairy goats, and maybe a pig, but all that will have to wait until we're able to move. I'm getting inpatient, however and want a project to practice my skills until then.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC.
You build it and they will come, the predators that is.

Look up hoop coops, they can be moved easily and taken down and stored too.

 

[Birdinhand]

I started this thread, which may be of help: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-bird-production.1115689/page-6#post-18908710

meat birds live life in fast forward. you get to a quick harvest date but you do need to pay attention to their needs as they can change quickly.

smell & poop management... keeping the smell down is a matter of moisture management. giving them extra room and deep bedding seems to do the trick at least for the first few weeks. at some point you will notice a matt of poop build up and with gloves on, it's quite easy to just reach in and remove it and throw it in to a composter. to keep the smell down you either need to cover it with dirt/compost or turn it several times a day, only practical with a tumbler composter. I really like the joraform insulated composter, it gets up in the 120f + range, hot enough to take care of most of the bad microbes.

cost: you can figure about 2.5 lbs of grain per lb of meat dressed. the chicks are about $2, shipping included.

health of birds: not all CX are created equal, there are many strains of CX. the meat industry tends to favor the ones that maximize value at the expense of health and vitality. the one strain I've found that has lots of pluck and vigor for most of the grow out and maintains a decent quality of life is the COBB 500. I recommend finding a hatchery that carries these and choose one as close to where you live as possible to minimize shipping trauma. Next day delivery is ideal, second day is OK, third is to be avoided. I am raising mine with a modified Mother Heating Pad (MHP), which allows them to sleep at night, uses a fraction of the electricity of a standard heat lamp and surely a fraction of the fire hazard. CX run hot, they have roughy 6 X the metabolism of the typical egg layer and can handle cooler temps. after 11 days, some of mine are already sleeping away from a heat source. As it gets colder, they will be growing out and getting feathers, so getting them going while it's still warm is good. the COBB 500 feathers out more quickly than other CX. hope that helps!

 

[Straw Hat]

Welcome to BYC.
You build it and they will come, the predators that is.

Look up hoop coops, they can be moved easily and taken down and stored too.

Thanks for the welcome and reminder about predators. Being in a city/suburban environment, I suppose it's easy to become complacent. But you're right, they are here. We have hawks. I used to see foxes, but supposedly something (disease) killed them off. Now we are overrun with wild rabbits. I do have a very smart, very vigilant, very bored suburban border collie in need of a job that I hope will take on the role of livestock guardian dog. Her instinct is to herd, but we broke her of that with kids, so I believe we can do so with the chicks as well. Here's hoping. I love the idea of the hoop houses. Thanks.

 

[Straw Hat]

I started this thread, which may be of help: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-bird-production.1115689/page-6#post-18908710

meat birds live life in fast forward. you get to a quick harvest date but you do need to pay attention to their needs as they can change quickly.

smell & poop management... keeping the smell down is a matter of moisture management. giving them extra room and deep bedding seems to do the trick at least for the first few weeks. at some point you will notice a matt of poop build up and with gloves on, it's quite easy to just reach in and remove it and throw it in to a composter. to keep the smell down you either need to cover it with dirt/compost or turn it several times a day, only practical with a tumbler composter. I really like the joraform insulated composter, it gets up in the 120f + range, hot enough to take care of most of the bad microbes.

cost: you can figure about 2.5 lbs of grain per lb of meat dressed. the chicks are about $2, shipping included.

health of birds: not all CX are created equal, there are many strains of CX. the meat industry tends to favor the ones that maximize value at the expense of health and vitality. the one strain I've found that has lots of pluck and vigor for most of the grow out and maintains a decent quality of life is the COBB 500. I recommend finding a hatchery that carries these and choose one as close to where you live as possible to minimize shipping trauma. Next day delivery is ideal, second day is OK, third is to be avoided. I am raising mine with a modified Mother Heating Pad (MHP), which allows them to sleep at night, uses a fraction of the electricity of a standard heat lamp and surely a fraction of the fire hazard. CX run hot, they have roughy 6 X the metabolism of the typical egg layer and can handle cooler temps. after 11 days, some of mine are already sleeping away from a heat source. As it gets colder, they will be growing out and getting feathers, so getting them going while it's still warm is good. the COBB 500 feathers out more quickly than other CX. hope that helps!

It does help! Thank you also for the link to your other thread. Lots of great info.
Of course, it will have to wait. While my husband was a hunter and doesn't have a problem with slaughter/butchery, he felt it would be too traumatic for our kids for a first experience with chicks. SO>>> he agreed to layers! I have them brooding in the garage now. We will try meaties next year, probably in late summer.

 

[Birdinhand]

I found that raising some layers first and allowing the kids to name them and have them as pets is a great way to start. we did that, and then on the second year we prepped them for the meat birds, told them we would not name them, that they wouldn't be with us long but that we would care for them very well and make sure they had a good life.