Raising Meat Chickens: Getting Ready

Raising meat chickens is a great way to source your own food. I’ll show you the steps we take along the way to make raising meat chickens easier for you. I will fill you in on the equipment we will be using and why we chose them. Some of these things we will be making ourselves with scrap wood and other things on the homestead to make costs lower.

Raising Meat Chickens: Why we chose to do this

In the current times we are in with meat being rationed at the grocery stores we decided that we just need to make the final push for it. My husband and I have wanted to raise our own chickens for meat for a few years now. We just didn’t feel ready for everything that is involved. We have been doing a lot of research and think we have just about all the tools we will need and decided to give it a go.

Cost is a big factor when choosing to raise our own meat chickens. When you go to the store you can buy an organic chicken for over $20 for a 5 lb bird. I understand that cost is well earned for the company that raised and processed them. Though when it comes down to getting organic fresh chicken, it makes more sense to raise them ourselves. In the end the cost per pound raising them on our homestead costs a lot less then if we were to buy them at the store.

Another factor for raising our own meat chickens is because we know the chickens history. From the time they arrive at 3 days old, to when we process them, we know what they have eaten. We also know what medications they were given, if any. We also know that they will have lived a great life living on fresh green grass and fresh clean air.

Raising Meat Chickens: Preparing for the Chicks

The Brooder

For our brooder we will be re-purposing a metal water trough. This will house them for the first 3 weeks of their life.

We will be keeping them in the house since we don’t have a garage or barn. So they will be inside where I have a dog and 2 cats along with an adventurous 7 month old. Some things will need to be done to keep them safe.

The sides are very high, so my child can’t reach inside. It is also bottom heavy so it will not tip over easily. So we will just need to keep the wires out of the way.

The only other factor is to keep the cats out since the dog is too short. So we will be making a wooden frame that will sit securely around the top rim of the brooder. This will then be covered with garden or chicken fencing. Plastic would be best so you don’t have to worry about sharp metal corners.

Using a metal water trough is great because as most of us know, chicks can be very messy. Spilling water and food and poop galore! So anything that get dumped onto the floor of the brooder stays contained and will be absorbed from the shavings.

If things get wet in there, just sprinkle over some fresh shavings and that will keep the smell away.

Keeping them Warm

To keep them warm we will be using a heat lamp secured in place so that it will not fall to the floor. This will keep the chicks from getting too close to the lamp and keep it away from the shavings so there is no fire hazard. A lot of people use chains. These are good to keep them securely in place and you can easily adjust the height of the lamp.

We plan to switch over a heating plate from Premier1. These are very safe if your concerned about heat lamps. These heating plates mimic a mother hen by hovering close to the floor. It is placed low enough for the chicks to walk under it easily and stay warm. This heating plate has legs that can be adjusted on all four sides. So as your chicks get bigger you can raise the heating plate up.

The only reason we are not starting off using a heating plate is that currently Premier1 is completely out of stock. The demand to raise our own food has grown that much.

Shelter

Since we ordered our chicks my husband and I have been working on their shelter. This tractor was inspired by Joel Salatin’s chicken tractors.

Note: If you haven’t heard of him before I recommend checking out his farm or website Polyface Farm. There are many YouTube Videos he is in as well.

The Chicken Tractor

We decided to build a coop similar to the tractors Joel Salatin uses. We chose this because we are able to keep the chickens on grass 24/7 once they are 3 weeks old. At this point they will have enough adult feathers to be able to go outside and keep themselves warm.

This is and 8 foot square and 2 foot tall chicken coop. It sits directly on the ground so the chickens have full access to grass.

These tractors have a metal roof on about 3/4 of the top then chicken wire on the rest. This way they are able to bask in the sun but be sheltered from the rain and sun. The sides also have metal roofing on what will be the north side of the tractor and two sides. Then the rest of the sides will have chicken wire as well to protect them from predators.

On the top we made a smaller door then what Joel Salatin uses. You just lift it up to put their feed/water in and check on the chickens.

The other great feature of this tractor is that if you attach a rope to one side of the tractor you can move it to a fresh plot of grass every morning.

Now the chicken wire will keep the chickens pretty safe and will discourage most predators. If you want a little more protection you could keep a guard goose around them. They actually do a very good job at scaring off predators.

Another option is to keep the chicken tractor fenced off with electric poultry netting. We prefer the electric netting from Premier1. This will add another barrier that the predator has to go through and it being electrified will deter them.

Feeding

We will be feeding the chicks a commercial starter feed. I plan to soak the feed overnight so they get the most out of it. Soaking the grains breaks down the phytic acid. Which will then make it easier for the chickens to digest and get the most out of their feed. I will then strain off the water which is where the impurities are and feed the strained feed to them.

When giving the chickens their food after soaking you’ll probably want to use some plastic feeding troughs. The metal ones will work but the water in the feed will slowly start to rust your feed trays.

When it comes to feeding Cornish Cross chickens it is recommended to ration their food after a while. This breed can eat too much if not monitored properly. This is where you could have health issues with your chickens. If they eat too much they will gain too much weight. Some things that could happen could be a heart attack, heat stroke and a lack of ability to walk.

It’s recommended to give them free choice chick starter for the first 5 days of their life. Then ration it to 12 hours on 12 hours off. When they are 5 weeks old you will want to switch them over to a grower feed until their processing day.

Processing typically happens around 8-9 weeks of age. At 8 weeks they are typically around 4-5 pounds once processed.

Cornish Cross

We ordered the baby chicks a couple months ago. I had to call around to a few places because most places were already sold out for a couple months. We ended up getting all our chickens from Meyer Hatchery. They were so nice and answered all my questions. At the time of writing this our chicks should arrive in about a week. How exciting! It’s been a while since I’ve raised baby chickens.

Cornish Cross chickens are known for their fast growth. You can hatch, raise and harvest a 4-5 pound chicken in about 8 weeks. That’s crazy fast. This is the breed that most commercial growers use. Though we plan to raise them in a much healthier setting outside.

A lot of people think that this breed is genetically modified (GMO) but the good news is, they are not. I used to think this as well. They are actually two breeds that were chosen for specific traits and bred over time to create this hybrid chicken. From them you will get a fast grow rate, high feed conversion ratio and their meat is high in protein.

Stay tuned

Once the baby chicks arrive and as they grow up I will give you updates on their progress.

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