Space needed for meat chickens

[cholland]

I also built a little drum plucker for my drill. A large carriage bolt, some 4" PVC a couple of caps and some of those flat black bungee cords. Cost about $12. You can google some ideas. Makes plucking way easier and not the big investment of a large drum plucker for a few birds.
Feathers everywhere. That's when the bees show up!
A few managed to get in the screen room, but not the thousands outside. I did the boiling/scalding outside and thing plucking and butchering inside.

 

[Farmer Doc]

We have our "mobile brooder" outside with a MHP and raise year round. Everyone goes out at a day old and it works great. Wind breaks are a must the end facing west is closed off (most of our weather comes from that direction) and I have 4-foot removable clear panels on the north and south. That is where the MHP is and it has a 6-foot roof with a hatch for my access and to add friends. Works great even when temps go below freezing at night.

If you do a fry pan special, you may want to raise for 16-20 weeks in order to get a good size bird. We have/do raise some of those breeds and the size at 12-weeks we thought was too small. Big bird or small bird the work is the same and they have more flavor. Toughness isn't a factor until much later on. We keep track of our food & supplies costs and meat production so we know that things are "worth" it. A broody hen is always welcomed in the egg layers box with a move to a meat coop nesting box (at night) to raise a batch. Makes thing even easier for us!

 

[RUNuts]

Do you think 4x8 with a 4x4 loft is big enough for 12 since they won't get full size and will be out for all waking hours?

Reading the experts, 2 square feet per bird advertised. I tried. For the first few weeks, yes keeping them contained until they were too large to fit through the fence wire. The dogs are very curious.

After 4 weeks, I like seeing them wander around. Hence the garden. Doesn't help the vegetables. But the chickens eat really well. I raised CX. 8 weeks goes fast. They wander. They graze. They GROW and eat!

So, yes, that is large enough. You will want to move it twice a day near the end for fresh grass and to minimize manure load. The CX manure load is a bit higher than the cockerel mix. Still significant. Use your judgement. This is a touchy-feely hobby. Do what feels right.

My answer is always try it. See what your animal husbandry will tolerate. If the gross factor is too high, have a plan to give them more space. Start small and scale up. Mine was the garden. Tractor at night, open to garden during day. I also had a second tractor available. Easier to let them out and sacrifice the remaining veggies. The rain was NOT helping. I kept focus. They are food. I didn't like my food to be gross.

First batch was 6 (supposed to be 10). Second batch was 26. BOY! Glad a started small. Third batch in planning. Leaning towards 20 ish.

The smaller the group, the more you recognize individuals. The larger the group, the more "they" are a flock. But that may just be me.

 

[aliciaFarmer]

Small Honda Generator will power a lot of light all night on a gallon of gas. Just saying. Black bears are easy to scare off. Cougars have plenty to eat. Not big scavengers, they like to hunt and eat fresh. Bobcats are no worries as well as coyotes. Most likly wont come in with lights and generator going. Just saying. I live off the grid and have all the same critters besides bears.

Unfortunately generators cost money that I don't have. We live on an almost off-grid homestead and aren't part of the consumer nation like most of the rest of the country. Awesome thought, which we've had many times, but not a possibility at this time.

 

[aliciaFarmer]

Reading the experts, 2 square feet per bird advertised. I tried. For the first few weeks, yes keeping them contained until they were too large to fit through the fence wire. The dogs are very curious....

Thank you! Your setup sounds great. Our garden area is a 3000sf area fenced from deer, but currently only just under half planted so they would be in the unplanted section of 1500+sf. Probably breaking that down to smaller areas and moving the coop is a better plan than letting them have at it all at once. I don't think things will get that gross that fast in that much space -- my 30 layers have a tad less space in their run, though they also freerange most of the day so I could be fooling myself.

I don't think it's just you -- I feel the same way.

 

[Below frigid]

Unfortunately generators cost money that I don't have. We live on an almost off-grid homestead and aren't part of the consumer nation like most of the rest of the country. Awesome thought, which we've had many times, but not a possibility at this time.

I hear you. We are totally off the grid. 5 miles from the nearest power pole. I have to have a generator to pump water and run anything like power tools and such. The rest we run off of batteries and solar.

 

[aliciaFarmer]

I hear you. We are totally off the grid. 5 miles from the nearest power pole. I have to have a generator to pump water and run anything like power tools and such. The rest we run off of batteries and solar.

That's exactly why we have no money right now -- 100% of what we make beyond basics is going into "solar savings". So, every dollar spent outside of that means a longer wait. Once we have solar, we'll definitely quickly get a generator for back up. Can't wait!! It's nice to be off water and sewer, phone, tv, etc, and power is the final switch to being fully off grid and self sufficient.

 

[RoosterML]

My brooder was a 5x9 original coop I built. 26 Royal broilers were in there for I think 3 weeks, next moved into an 8x8 pen/chicken tractor in the yard for 2 more weeks and I finished of in a 12x12 dog pen which was moved every day sometimes twice a day in my back yard/ field. I lost one due to my own lack of experience ( covered the 8x8 pen with a tarp casing complete darkness, they huddled and one must have been caught on the bottom.) The worst part was all the poop when they were at around 7 week mark needed to move the pen alot more to keep then on fresh ground. I do not think I would ever raise them in confined space as listed (under 2sqft per bird). That will only cause very dirty birds come processing time. Granted this was late summer so growing out in the field in warm temps made it easy. In the end I could have done maybe another 5 birds total of 30 in 12x12 moved daily but no more. In the end it's all what you are comfortable with. One of the individuals who helped on processing day couldn't believe how clean the birds were. It was a really great experience and this year I will do a batch in the spring and another in early fall.
LOL as I write this I have one of them cooking right now on the counter in the good old Showtime rotisserie. "Yes as seen on TV"

 

[RUNuts]

Showtime rotisserie is a wonderful tool. Crispy skin all around. We are on our second one. Upgraded to the silver model. The plastic feet were in disrepair on the first and replacements were a whole new rotisserie. So...

Enjoy the chicken!

 

[aliciaFarmer]

My brooder was a 5x9 original coop I built. 26 Royal broilers were in there for I think 3 weeks, next moved into an 8x8 pen/chicken tractor in the yard for 2 more weeks and I finished of in a 12x12 dog pen which was moved every day sometimes twice a day in my back yard/ field. I lost one due to my own lack of experience ( covered the 8x8 pen with a tarp casing complete darkness, they huddled and one must have been caught on the bottom.) The worst part was all the poop when they were at around 7 week mark needed to move the pen alot more to keep then on fresh ground. I do not think I would ever raise them in confined space as listed (under 2sqft per bird). That will only cause very dirty birds come processing time. Granted this was late summer so growing out in the field in warm temps made it easy. In the end I could have done maybe another 5 birds total of 30 in 12x12 moved daily but no more. In the end it's all what you are comfortable with. One of the individuals who helped on processing day couldn't believe how clean the birds were. It was a really great experience and this year I will do a batch in the spring and another in early fall.
LOL as I write this I have one of them cooking right now on the counter in the good old Showtime rotisserie. "Yes as seen on TV"

That's fantastic! I hadn't thought to keep so many in a smaller place like that because I thought it could be messy, but moving it frequently makes perfect sense. I had planned on them just being inside until about 3 weeks, then only in a coop at night and free ranging in about 1500sf from sunrise to sunset.

To start though, I decided that 12 is plenty for my first time around. Then I'll probably do 30ish or more twice a year. I just don't want to overwhelm myself the first time, especially because I want to do meat rabbits as well.