I have been reading in the meat birds section for a couple of hours and done some searches. I can't find all I want to know, so here I am....
I've had chickens for eggs off and on for several years. I presently have about 50 new chicks that will be moved into a new 10X13 coop tomorrow. More than half are roos who will be processed for fryers at around 10-14 weeks; they are 3 weeks now. I live in the south; temps have been ranging 50-80 for the past couple of weeks. I have about 11 acres which was farm land til 4 or 5 years ago. Most of it is weeds, with some grass and trees here and there.
I am looking at providing meat for a large family who would probably eat around 250-300 birds in a year. This is not a group who is going to get upset about eating what they have raised, at least for the most part (not your problem!) I want to try some Cornish X, but am also seriously thinking of trying colored range (JM Hatchery) or red/black broilers (Ideal.) Or maybe I should be looking at regular Cornish, like dark Cornish?
Predators are a problem here. I'd like to try about 25 or 50 Cornish X. What size should a tractor be for 25 birds? Does it need to have anything but a cover and shade? Do they need roosts? Do they sleep on the ground? Would I need to move it more than once a day for them to have some natural vegetation to eat?
I have a pen that is about 10'X15'X2' tall. Could I use this? Would it need a cover to keep them from flying out?
Could I add colored range broilers or red/black broilers to the current flock? (I get the thing about gradual introduction, isolation, etc.)
Mostly -- what would be your game plan here?
I've had chickens for eggs off and on for several years. I presently have about 50 new chicks that will be moved into a new 10X13 coop tomorrow. More than half are roos who will be processed for fryers at around 10-14 weeks; they are 3 weeks now. I live in the south; temps have been ranging 50-80 for the past couple of weeks. I have about 11 acres which was farm land til 4 or 5 years ago. Most of it is weeds, with some grass and trees here and there.
I am looking at providing meat for a large family who would probably eat around 250-300 birds in a year. This is not a group who is going to get upset about eating what they have raised, at least for the most part (not your problem!) I want to try some Cornish X, but am also seriously thinking of trying colored range (JM Hatchery) or red/black broilers (Ideal.) Or maybe I should be looking at regular Cornish, like dark Cornish?
Predators are a problem here. I'd like to try about 25 or 50 Cornish X. What size should a tractor be for 25 birds? Does it need to have anything but a cover and shade? Do they need roosts? Do they sleep on the ground? Would I need to move it more than once a day for them to have some natural vegetation to eat?
I have a pen that is about 10'X15'X2' tall. Could I use this? Would it need a cover to keep them from flying out?
Could I add colored range broilers or red/black broilers to the current flock? (I get the thing about gradual introduction, isolation, etc.)
Mostly -- what would be your game plan here?