Underground meatbird farming

[trdamsdel]

I'm doing it. I don't care anymore. You can't force me to feed my family trash from the supermarket.



I have raised a lot of meat birds over the years but I had to move into an area where owning chickens is outlawed. I'm going to run a batch of cornish x in my garage. Anyone done anything similar? My thoughts are that in 8 weeks someone has to find out, tell someone that matters, the town has to get a warrant to go inside my garage, effectuate said, warn me, wait 2 weeks, then come back and give a ticket, wait for a court date, etc. It's not all going to work out in an 8 week span and frozen chicken parts simply aren't evidence of anything.

Tips for avoiding detection?

 

[Molpet]

I'm doing it. I don't care anymore. You can't force me to feed my family trash from the supermarket.



I have raised a lot of meat birds over the years but I had to move into an area where owning chickens is outlawed. I'm going to run a batch of cornish x in my garage. Anyone done anything similar? My thoughts are that in 8 weeks someone has to find out, tell someone that matters, the town has to get a warrant to go inside my garage, effectuate said, warn me, wait 2 weeks, then come back and give a ticket, wait for a court date, etc. It's not all going to work out in an 8 week span and frozen chicken parts simply aren't evidence of anything.

Tips for avoiding detection?

Usually people raise quail or rabbits under the radar in the garage.

 

[trdamsdel]

Usually people raise quail or rabbits under the radar in the garage.

Haha quail may be an option but local cops will arrest you for animal cruelty over meat rabbits. I wish I was joking.

 

[CloneFly]

I would raise jumno quail as they are less noisy in comparison to chickens. Not to mention, they mature by 6wks do faster time to harvest and if you like, the girls will start laying eggs by 7wks. 3quail eggs = 1chicken egg

 

[nuthatched]

Insulate your garage door and keep it shut? Put curtains up? Don't draw any attention to yourself.
Or move again to where you can do it legitimately with good husbandry.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I absolutely wouldn't advise meat chickens in a garage. You'd be drowning in poop long before they were ready ti be processed

 

[NatJ]

Tips for avoiding detection?

I think chicken bans are usually because people are worried about the smells or the noise, or they don't want to see someone butchering chickens. So avoiding those things may help you avoid people complaining. So keep the droppings under control, don't butcher where you can be seen, and if one of the cockerels starts crowing you might want to butcher him even if he's not "big enough."

And obviously, inviting people to come see the cute chicks would be a bad idea, if you don't want them to know.

It would probably be a good idea to start with a relatively small number (maybe 3-6), then consider whether twice as many would be good the next time (double the space, the manure, the dust in your garage, the bags of feed, the time to butcher, and so forth.) Then work your way up over successive batches to whatever number you really want to do at a time, or until you run into problems and scale down again. Or else be prepared to butcher some really early (Cornish Game Hen size) if they turn out to be too dusty, too stinky, too crowded, etc.

 

[trdamsdel]

I think chicken bans are usually because people are worried about the smells or the noise, or they don't want to see someone butchering chickens. So avoiding those things may help you avoid people complaining. So keep the droppings under control, don't butcher where you can be seen, and if one of the cockerels starts crowing you might want to butcher him even if he's not "big enough."

And obviously, inviting people to come see the cute chicks would be a bad idea, if you don't want them to know.

It would probably be a good idea to start with a relatively small number (maybe 3-6), then consider whether twice as many would be good the next time (double the space, the manure, the dust in your garage, the bags of feed, the time to butcher, and so forth.) Then work your way up over successive batches to whatever number you really want to do at a time, or until you run into problems and scale down again. Or else be prepared to butcher some really early (Cornish Game Hen size) if they turn out to be too dusty, too stinky, too crowded, etc.

Yeah I was gonna start small about 25, I used to do batches of 50 in a 20 foot carport. Complete bedding change every 3 days was a thing then and I'm sure will be now

 

[NatJ]

Yeah I was gonna start small about 25, I used to do batches of 50 in a 20 foot carport. Complete bedding change every 3 days was a thing then and I'm sure will be now

Oh, good. You do know what you're getting into.

I see quite a few posts from people who have never raised a chicken in their life but want to start with a large number, and I was afraid you were doing that too. But since you've already dealt with bigger numbers than what you are planning to do now, I expect your plans are realistic enough to work well

 

[trdamsdel]

Oh, good. You do know what you're getting into.

I see quite a few posts from people who have never raised a chicken in their life but want to start with a large number, and I was afraid you were doing that too. But since you've already dealt with bigger numbers than what you are planning to do now, I expect your plans are realistic enough to work well

Ventilation is a concern, I know I'll have to keep the garage door shut and locked and there's only 1 window. I may need a big blower fan