Shelters....

[Misty Oak Ranch]

I have a question about shelters. Im going to be raising 200 meat birds in the spring, and I was wanting to know if a 12'x12'x3' movable shed-style structure would be adequate for that many birds. They will be enclosed in pasture, using Premier poultry fence. Also, should I put roosts inside, or will the birds just sleep on the ground? The birds will be rosambro and red broilers from mtdi farms.

I've raised a few meat birds, but never these birds or that large a number.

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[anthonyjames]

New here myself but from your size you would need 2 of them to raise that many birds.

I am doing 10 x 10 x 2 and from what I am reading that will be comfortable for between 50 - 60 meat birds.

 

[jaku]

That's going to be packing them a little too tight. I do a 10x10, and my max is 75 birds, and even that gets tight at the end. I have to ask also, how many have you raised before? If you're just starting out with meaties, 200 is a TON of birds. I just processed 75 birds, and I have about 30 pounds of JUST wings, and 20 pounds of JUST feet! It's an insane amount of meat to deal with on processing day, so make sure you're prepared! Also, they don't need roosts- they just sleep on the ground.

 

[Misty Oak Ranch]

I'm raising them to weight and then selling them to a buyer. They will be enclosed in about a 1/4 of acre or so, so I'm really just trying to give them something to sleep in and to shelter them in case of rain or something, I'm also going to put a couple of simple tarp shelters in as well. I'm not raising them in the shelter, they are going to range inside the 1/4 acre.

 

[jaku]

Quote:
Even as just a shelter, I would think it would be tough to get 200 of them under it in the rain. Edit: I just saw that you weren't raising Cornish X's, but Red Broilers. That might work better then. Personally, though, I'd still build two shelters, just a bit smaller each.

 

[Buster52]

I would build three.

 

[Misty Oak Ranch]

So maybe two 8'x12'x3' shelters, or the 12'x12'x3' and maybe a 6'x6'x3'? I'm trying to be as frugal as possible, and at the same time make sure that the birds are going to be protected.

That brings up another question. How well can red broilers fly? I am hoping to use the 42" poultry net, and I want to be sure that they will stay in it. I could also enclose the same area in permanent fencing, the area in in a culdesac of our existing goat fence, so our pyrennes are going to be patroling the perimeter of the chickens as well. We hvae 54 acres on which to use, so I'm trying to get all this figured out before I order the birds. We just got 7" of snow yesterday, so I also want to make it so I can run the birds all year long.

 

[Buster52]

I'll be getting some poultry netting before spring. I want to do a combination tractor/netting setup like you are planning. If I were you, I would still make the shelters movable so I wouldn't have worry about bedding or flooring or what have you.

Your poultry netting sounds plenty high. The only birds I have heard of that consistently escape from them are Araucanas, but since I haven't yet run the stuff myself, I don't have any personal experience. Just hearsay.

 

[trilyn]

Have you checked out the hoop houses some bycer's built? They're really cool and I think that they can be broken down easily after your birds are done, if you wanted to that is. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2076387

I was thinking of making one or 2 to house my layers in during the warmer months so they could have access to all the grass they want. I can't free range all day like some on here can, someday when we move to our farm

Lord willing anyways! Good luck!

 

[Misty Oak Ranch]

Yeah they will be movable. I would like to make them solid, so in winter they will still be servicable. We have a tractor and 4 wheeler, so I can move them with those if need be. I really would like to move them by myself. The lower height of these sheds will do better where we live, as the weather is unpredictable year round. This summer it never got above 85 except on a few days, mostly it stayed 70's. It was warm and sunny three days ago here, and now we are soveling snow.