Stationary Meatie pen???

[madamwlf]

I'm looking at doing meaties next year but really don't have the room to move a tractor style pen around. Is it possible to do a stationary meatie pen? I have room next to my chicken pen that would be about 4' by 12'. Is this big enough for 25 meaties???

What would I need to do to keep the smell down? Thanks.

 

[momofchicks]

I did my meaties in a large round watering trough (sp?). We had to clean it out at least 2 times a week. But they did well.

 

[augustmomx2]

This past spring I raised 15 meaties (13 survived to processing). I live in a suburban area and can't really move my tractor either, I moved it once out of 8wks. At first, it wasn't that bad...then as they got bigger, the poo started to really accumulate. I bought 2 big bundles of hay and a large bag of DE. About everyother (or every depending on smell) day I would put some more hay down with some DE sprinkled over. Although, some people think that CXs don't have any natural chicken behaviors, mine would; scratch, dust, peck at the hay all while stirring it up for me

After processing, I was left with a perfect large rectangle of hay and droppings to put in my compost pile. That was the part that stunk...when you start to move it around, it disturbes the "smell" plus, at that time it was getting warmer. This fall may be a bit different for me since, it will be getting cooler as they get older, I would think the stink wouldn't be as bad once its time to move the pile to the compost pile. But, I am getting 25 the next time around...so I'm sure there will be a significant difference in amount

I'm not sure what size mine is...but here is a pic of them the night before processing to give you an idea:

 

[cjdmashley]

I wouldn't say 25 in a space that big. that is the size we did our tractor and realized within a few weeks that the space was not enough. by 4 weeks we moved them to a 1/2 shaded section of the lawn, attached deer fencing (secure the bottom well) and opened a hatch so they could go in and out of the tractor. We have 32 in there and (thankfully) because I am digging up sod for a new garden, I have been able to re-sod their "run". If not for re-soding they would have had the ground bare in about a week. If you have any extra dirt or sod to cover the run, that would help with the smell. Good luck