Smallish backyard and meat birds?

[Coldd]

Greetings! I’ve been interested forever in raising meat birds. I’ve got a group of hens around 3 yrs old (6 of 8 have gone this long) so I’m not completely new to chickens.

I’ve got a broody hen right now and am thinking of getting her some eggs to hatch. Is it possible to do say, 10 birds in a smaller space? I could make a tractor and pull it around the yard, but it’s quite dry where we are and they’ll probably destroy the grass pretty fast.

Do people do this often in suburban settings? My neighbors don’t care but we’re not in the country. Also other chicks rely mostly on feed or will they mow down on the grass?

I would love love love to get a rooster to maybe keep the peace in the run but I am looking at replacing my current flock with something new. Winter egg production has dropped to zero for months.

Any suggestions or guides on doing 8-10 birds on a 1/4acre or possibly less?

Thanks and good to be back.

 

[Bigdumogre]

Meat birds like cornish cross eat a lot and poop a lot. Thats the main reason to move them daily because they produce a lot of waste. But they will be ready to cull around 8 weeks. They may not eat all the grass in that day but their feces will cause damage to the grass if left in the same area for a few days.
But you are also talking about eggs too so how about dual purpose birds? Would that suit you better?

 

[Coldd]

It might, but the faster growth of the CX’s would work a lot better for my yard size. My problem is that while we have a half acre of space on the lot, it’s dry and much of the grass has gone dormant for the year. There’s quite a bit of green but not like early summer or spring.

So 8 weeks versus 12-16 would be really beneficial.

Edit: any specific breeds you
Might recommend for heritage meat birds? I’ve got rocks and giants hens now. I’ve been interested in Barnevelders and Bresse.

 

[Tex452]

You will get more bang for your buck raising Cornish x, because of feed conversion.
I have been getting hatching eggs from different people, mostly dual purpose, I give the pullets to the people I get eggs from and grow out the cockerels to butcher, it takes them a lot longer to grow them out and to get rid of pin feathers.
It’s a hobby for me, because I could get good money for these beautiful pullets.
The dual purpose are good eating but it takes a while to grow them out.