Hi, I rec'd cornish/rock peeps last week, and it's going well. I'm new to meat birds, so I started out small, just a dozen. However, if all goes well, my friend (she also got a few for the first time) and I are going to expand and get 50 next summer. Since I have a farm, they will all be kept together at my place, and she will help with feed, labor, and facilities (ie any fencing, etc that needs to be built).
I was thinking that once they're past the brooder stage (for the summer chicks next year), I would like to keep them outside. I have a sizable fenced paddock next to the barn, and my thoughts were to keep them locked up in a coop (located in the center of the paddock) at night, and forage in one of four pens that they will rotate through a week at a time (each accessed from four different doors from the coop) during the day. But when I started to think of how much coop space 50 cornish/rocks would need (knowing they would be using floor space, not perches), I began to wonder if such a coop is really feasible. Does anyone have any thoughts on this, or suggestions of types of facilities that could adequately house 50 meat birds in the last few weeks of their growth? I don't think I want to do a tractor as it would be too big to move easily and I don't want to have to get into hooking up a tractor or a horse.
Thanks,
Anne
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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