Raising Meat Chickens
We decided with all the weird goings on that we wanted to raise and butcher our own meat chickens because we didn't know anybody locally that we could source chicken meat from. This was our first true step to homesteading and a more sustainable lifestyle. During the process, I wanted to share our how to raise meat chickens series just talking through the things we have done/will do as we do them.
We ordered the chicks from Meyers Hatchery just because they had solid reviews and their prices were really reasonable. We ordered the chicks on the 30th of August. They arrived on October 19th: 25 Jumbo Cornish Cross Broiler Day Old Chicks straight-run it cost us $70 with free shipping. We wanted to start with a small number to really see what we were getting ourselves into before we tried raising hundreds to share with friends and family.
Setting up a Brooder
My dad was gracious enough to let us borrow his brooder setup. It is a metal 100-gallon stock watering tank. You can find them for $110 to $150ish if you shop around and even cheaper if you can find a used one. It doesn't need to hold water anymore for this purpose so you MIGHT be able to find one for free that someone is throwing out.
The top is just a panel of horse fence panel that has been trimmed down with cable cutters, a reciprocal saw, a cutting wheel, or really whatever you have available. Cattle fence panel also works it just provides slightly less security from cats or other critters that might try to get in and do harm to your chicks. I would definitely recommend trying to find this second hand as the full panels come in 16 foot sections. If you can find a piece that has been cut up already, you'll be able to get it for much cheaper.
The chick feeder, chicken feeder, chicken waterer, and heat lamps can all be sourced online, at local stores, or 2nd hand. You will need a small feeder to start the chicks on for the first few days, but as soon as they're tall enough, I recommend moving to a larger feeder that you hang from the panel with wire or a strap (If you hang the feeder and waterer, you can adjust their height as the chicks get older which will help keep chicken poop and bedding out of their food and water). They will scratch their bedding into their food constantly and you will spend time every day just pulling their bedding out of their food.
The chicks will need a heat lamp on nearly all the time especially in colder climates, but it is best to only have a heat lamp on one side of the brooder and away from their water. Having the heat lamp on one side of the brooder will allow the chicks to self-regulate their temperature some.
The ideal temperature for chicks is 95 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the first week then slowly reducing the temperature by 5 degrees every week after that until they are fully feathered. The only way to correctly measure this is with a thermometer in the brooder. There are lots of options if your brooder's temperature is too low with one heat lamp. You can add a second lamp, cover part of the top to help hold the heat in or insulate the outside of the brooder with spare towels, cardboard, or insulation.
We went with shredded straw bedding for our chicks because straw breaks down into compost very quickly especially when mixed with nitrogen rich chicken poop. Every couple of days their bedding will need to be swapped out for fresh bedding and the old bedding can get added to your compost pile, but pine or cedar shaving also work very well.
For food, the chicks need a high protein chick starter food. You can choose to go the more expensive, GMO free, organic chick starter route, find a local feed dealer, or even just buy some chick starter from your local farm and ranch store. They make organic, non-organic, medicated, and non-medicated variants.
Water is easy. Just make sure you are giving them clean water at least once a day because they have a tendency to poop and get junk in their water. I will note that you should make sure you are not giving them chlorinated water. If you have a municipal water source, it is probably chlorinated and should be run through a charcoal filter of some sort to get the chlorine out of the water.
Most sources recommend not giving your chicks food scraps until they are several months old because chick starter feed is specially formulated to help the chicks grow, but if you want to treat them to worms, maggots, or other high protein chick snacks, I'm sure they would appreciate it.
Chicks Are One Week Old
Our chicks are one week old today and are already growing like weeds. I have not built their coop yet as they will be in the brooder until they are two to three weeks old. I do have the plans drawn up, and I will take lots of pictures and videos as we build a chicken coop. I can't say it will be anything too fancy, but it will have to be sturdy enough to keep the dogs and critters out!
More Later
~ Mitchell
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