Meat chickens

Meat chickens are a little higher maintenance than my egg layers. They require more attention, are very messy and are pretty cute. Because of these we only raise meat birds once a year. 

We generally raise about 15 birds at a time which gives us 2-3 meals a month with chicken. We sometime up it to twice a year, depending on our enthusiasm and other projects going on. 

With meat birds timing is everything. Hauling water during freezing months sucks so we stick to spring and fall. Dealing with stinky birds is no fun in the summer either and they don't fair as well in the heat. 

We have an indoor broader set up in our workshop that easily keeps 15-20 chicks happy for a month. We use the same water bucket with nipples for watering, but start with the standard chick waterers for the first week. Once they are not on the verge of death by stress they figure out the water nipples readily. 

The workshops keeps us out of the elements when working with them and ensures a warm draft free home for the birds. After a few weeks they are ready to move into the big coop with a brooder guard to keep them safe from the big birds. 

The first week they live in a bubble in the coop and then small pop holes, too small for the adults, are opened for the chicks to venture out. By the time the chicks are two months old they are ready to take over and the brooder is removed. 

Once the chicks are a part of the general population we let them do their normal chicken thing until large enough to butcher, about four months old. If we are replacing layer hens, which we do about every four years, this is when we buy and raise new egg layers as well. 

During this feeding and growing time we add lots of extra food to the chicken run. I have expired foods from a friend's parent's survival stash. Its some 40 years of dried foods and perfect to boil up into a mash. I let it cool to a reasonable temperature and then pour it into a horse round feeder. The chickens love a hot meal in the chilly weather!