Where am i ever going to put these meaties?

[Riparian]

you will need ventilation if you plan on raising them to maturity in there. the gasses from the meatbirds poop build up pretty fast. its best if you have no top at all on your pen.

That looks like a great brooder, but to raise them to maturity i dont think that will work.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Quote:
Theres no way I can have no top, for one its in a garage with a dirt floor. The likely hood that something will get in is pretty high. HOWEVER I do have a sort of mesh lid we found in the barn that I believe the old owners used for meat birds and it will probably fit over the top. The whole thing is just a frame of chicken wire.

 

[Riparian]

heres what I use for a brooder. I have a couple of these. its in my basment, but 30-40 birds out grow this space in about a week or two.

After that I move them to my shed and stack straw bales to form a pen as big as need be. you really need full ventilation on these birds after 4 weeks. outside with a roof over their head and mesh walls is even better.

your brooder looks really good, it will buy you some time but soon you will be needing a larger pen for them I think.

 

[Riparian]

Also, what I have done before is built a frame out of 2x2s and stapled chicken wire to it. this gives me a portable wall that I can place on top of my brooders or pens, to keep them from flying out and predators from getting in.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

We only have 20 chicks coming.

Also, I don't know whereabouts in Ontario you're located but just my luck the first night they're out of this brooder/pen they'd be killed by the coyotes that live in our neighbors field. I think 4x8 should be sufficient enough space to house them until 6-ish weeks, our 4x4 brooder house our 16 standard RIR x girls until 10 weeks even though it was a bit cramped near the end.

I just don't understand where you're coming from. We have a dog run we plan to put them in for the daytime, but it is not practical nor is it safe for us to leave them out 24/7 here.

I'm assuming this is all just preference, Acheeknmanbestfren had hers in her brooder until 6 weeks and it was smaller than mine, she only had 1 less chicken I believe. I mean we have coyotes that come right up to the backstep of our house so It just doesn't work in my brain that they could be left out in an open air coop and not get killed by something other than myself.

I respect your advice, but I just don't see how that would work.

Our brooder/pen is 4 ft wide by 8 ft long and 2 ft high so I dont see how that would not be big enough.

 

[Riparian]

no problem, im just trying to help. I cant really see your situation so i dont really know. I think your off to a good start, but all im saying is you might find that heat, moisture and gas will build up in the inclosed brooder once they start to get bigger.

I dont doubt you have problems with predators. I live in a rural area near Stratford, I have german shepherds and electric fences to keep predators out.

good luck

-Andrew

 

[Riparian]

oh and meatbirds put out alot more heat and moisture than layers. I do the same thing, i can keep my layer chicks in a fairly tight space but meatbirds are much different.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

Quote:
Lol well predators are so bad we can't even leave dogs out overnight, most people don't leave their guardian dogs out overnight. Our neighbour has 3 german shephards and a rottie he brings in because of the coyotes and wolves, and our neighbour across the street even brings their Akbash in.

We're pretty treed in behind the house, and the coyotes are not at all scared of us, we've even see them running from the backporch a few times. There was even the dead body of a fisher in the barn in the summer! I can get the top off the brooder when needed, and put side vents in if I have to, and of course a fan...whatever I can do to keep them from having to stay out 24/7. I won't feel so bad once we have the big pavillion up..like an open air shed but made out of hardware cloth and kennel wire with a roof and all that.

You live pretty close to the lake, predators out in Bowmanville area were never that bad either, and people just used electric fencing or whatever to keep them at bay. My dads friends parents had their chickens taken by a bear, right out of a secure coop one night up here.

 

[Riparian]

we do have a fairly large population of coyotes here. but they dont seem to bother my livestock as much as racoons and weasels and feral cats do.

once i got my dog, i havent had a problem since. She comes in at night too, but im convinced that her scent is enough to keep the coons and coyotes away.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

You're very lucky

Our coyotes and wolves don't even seem to care that dogs are out. They've actually been known to lure neighbours dogs away, attack them within their pack, and eat their stomach while the dog is still alive. It's pretty gruesome and they're not those little coyotes we used to see in the GTA, these things are huge. They're maybe 3/4 the size of a wolf, mean, and they're not scared at all of people or dogs.