Show me your meat bird coop!!

[DianeInRI]

I am making a go at meat birds. My 20 meat bird chicks are due in on June 10th. I need to build a temporary, stationary coop for them. I want to break it down when they are....gone. And I don't want them in with my layers. I can't have a tractor. Any pictures will be helpful!
Thanks everyone!
~diane

 

[SIMZ]

Hi Diane,

We set up a temporary pen in our detached garage. It works really well for us. 6-7 weeks and we clean up the mess and store the pen frame until next year. There is a video in my signature thing at the bottom of this post.

 

[DianeInRI]

I checked out your video. That's a great set up! Unfortunatly I don't have a garage or barn or even a shed. Need some more ideas please. Keep em coming!

 

[m7boondocker]

If your are looking for something temporary and easy to take apart, make the "bones" of your coop out of a pallets. Screw them together and skin them in pole barn steel. I have made a few homes from my critters with this method and it works well.

 

[LindaB220]

To both Diane and Boondocker. Have you thought about fermented feed for yours broilers. Cuts down on the stench if you keep it stationary. Easy to make and uses less feed. Check the last few pages of Fermented Feed for Meatbirds. They have a link that's short and can tell you everything.

 

[Triple Willow]

For my 12 meaties I have a 6X8 4 foot tall chainlink dogpen. I have a 4X4 8 feet long laid across the top then covered snuggly with a tarp. There is a nipple water bucket hanging from the 4X4. There is a roost, pine shavings and a doghouse there if they choose to use it. I have had some birds that love a doghouse. The young ones will especially pile in and cuddle up.

 

[Triple Willow]

   To both Diane and Boondocker.    Have you thought about fermented feed for yours broilers.   Cuts down on the stench if you keep it stationary.  Easy to make and uses less feed.    Check the last few pages of Fermented Feed for Meatbirds.   They have a link that's short and can tell you everything. 

Hey Linda. Ditto on the fermented feed and poop smell. My CX pen hasn't smelled bad at all. The fermented feed makes their poop more solid instead of runny. It makes the feed go a lot further too! And makes for some really healthy birds.

 

[ChaoSS]

What's your weather going to be like? My thoughts are a couple of t posts and some welded wire to make a run, a simple a frame for shelter, and if you need to worry about dogs or other large predators fix some electric fencing onto the t posts as well.

 

[gabrielj]

Here's my mobile coop... Other than the gate I kind of explain on the top it's been great! It's 8 by 10'6 by 2.. That's the only change I'll make to it.. I have 40 more ordered for June first but I think they might be a bit to crowded.. But 25 seems just right

Chicken tractor overview:

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I have two grow out pens for my meat birds. The first is my mobile coop, converted from a 18 year old mini-van with an attached movable run. Probably more than you want to invest in but we had the van just parked out in the meadow for almost two years before I converted it.
The second is probably more inline with what you are asking. I have two large greatdane-sized dog crates that I can combine to make a pretty sizable enclosure. I set them up in a corner of my large (probably 1/4 acre) dog run lining the inside of three walls with corregated plastic panels to protect from drafts and predators (held in place with zipties) then reinforcing the door end with hardware cloth (learned the hard way that raccoons can reach into the dog crate and grab a chicken leg and start munching). A large sheet if metal roofing goes on top for rain protection and I have a night-time enclosure that currently houses 16 meat birds (started with 19 but lost parts of 3 to a raccoon). I currently have this shelter in one corner of the dog run and have several big dog kennel panels similar to the ones shown in Triple Willow's photo above, dividing it from the rest of the run. I will probably move it into a different corner when these birds are gone and the next batch is ready to come out of the brooder.

The good thing is that I can dissasemble the dog crates and store them in a pretty small space in my garage during the winter months, which is what it sounds like you were interested in doing.