*play chicken music here* Chicken tractor!

[Wolf-Kim]

I mentioned to my husband a few days ago that I wanted to build a chicken tractor this year and go in with someone one some meat birds. I get a call on my lunch break asking where the Lowes giftcard was... I thought he was making me some bigger rabbit cages and came home to a 10'X10' chicken tractor.

We had some metal piping laying around, so instead of making it out of pvc, he made the frame out of metal pipe. It's light but very strong. When he asked what wire to use, I told him just to use chicken wire.. *gasp* I know, coons and the likes can rip right through it, but, a dog can dig under, a coon can lift the tractor up, and well hardwire cloth is really expensive. LOL We also have a very low predator load here, so I think we will get plenty of our money out of the poultry wire before we have to replace it.

I'm excited! It will be our first time with meaties. I've contemplated Freedom rangers, but I figured that since they were going to freezer camp in just a few weeks anyway, it wouldn't make too much of a difference.

Pictures tomorrow. We only have the frame so far.

 

[justusnak]

Woohoo!! Meaties! Congrats! If it wasnt for all the poo...and the smell...and the work...I might raise a few this year again as well. Maybe 25 at a time, in stead of 50 at a time. WOW, THAT was overwhelming!
Can't waite to see your tractor.! What a good DH you have.

 

[SKR8PN]

SWEET! We plan on doing 25 meaties this spring as well!!

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I'm hoping that we would only do 50 birds or less. Depending on how much our friends would like to go in with us.

The poop and whatnot shouldn't be too too bad with a chicken tractor right? ((Yes, too too was intentional, LOL)) Moving the tractor should keep the poo from piling up and creating a haven for bugs.

I'm excited, all we've had so far is just cull birds from our dual purpose flock. I've heard some people claim that the Cornish Cross have a 'mushy' texture and then debate that this is only dependant on how they're raised. Any comments?

 

[justusnak]

First the poo.....let me tell you...50 birds will poo...ALOT EVERY day!!! UGH! Im not trying to discourage you...but I hope you can keep them UPWIND of your home.
As for them being " mushy" ?? I didnt think so. We raised 25 one year, and 50 the next...( to sell some) and I was able to sell mine for $15.00 a bird, weighing between 6 and 8 pounds each. My customers are begging me to do it again this year. We butchered between 6 and 8 weeks of age. Lovely birds...heavy, plenty fat..and YUMMO!!!

 

[Wolf-Kim]

First the poo.....let me tell you...50 birds will poo...ALOT EVERY day!!! UGH! Im not trying to discourage you...but I hope you can keep them UPWIND of your home.
As for them being " mushy" ?? I didnt think so. We raised 25 one year, and 50 the next...( to sell some) and I was able to sell mine for $15.00 a bird, weighing between 6 and 8 pounds each. My customers are begging me to do it again this year. We butchered between 6 and 8 weeks of age. Lovely birds...heavy, plenty fat..and YUMMO!!!

We will probably end up doing 25-30 instead of 50. I get to spouting higher numbers than what we'll really do. LOL

Feeding 50 frankenbirds would eat us out of house and home. LOL

 

[Buster]

I'm glad you are going to be raising your own birds. As to the qualities of the Cornish X... well, let's just say I'm not all that fond of them. They have many problems besides poo. I will be raising some this year myself, but only as part of my education. I will be running them side by side with Delawares, Dark Cornish, and possibly Rangers, each breed in its own tractor so I can observe, compare, and contrast.

Be sure to feed your CX 12 on and 12 off. That will help minimize some of their less desirable traits.

For a full discussion comparing them with the Dark Cornish, here is a brief thread on the subject over on our sister site...

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=299177

 

[freemotion]

Be sure to post your report on that experiment here for us, Buster. I, for one, would really appreciate it. We are ordering our first batch of meaties and I don't know yet what to get.

 

[lorihadams]

We got broilers from meyer hatchery last year but if we do it again we might go with welp instead. Our broilers are not mushy at all and we let them go 9-10 weeks. We didn't do any whole birds, just cut them up in pieces after skinning them and and I think it came out to a little over $7 a bird. I didn't think that was too bad....the breast meat was gigantic! We did 12 hours of feed and 12 hours of rest. We butchered ours the week before and the week of Thanksgiving so we didn't have the heat issues. We had no leg issues and lost 3 birds out of 32. They had fresh grass every day and we started giving them some scratch grains the last 3 weeks mixed in with the regular feed. It was not so bad.....30 is probably the most I will do at once though but don't quote me on that....