Third Attempt

It was my intention to have free ranging broil chickens.  I bought my 50 chicks and fed them on chick feed until they were three weeks of age.  About the same time, my girls headed west and I was left with lots of chores and not enough time to make a chicken tractor but wanted them outside so improvised.  If you recall this was my first attempt at bringing the meat chicks outside.

Obviously it was a temporary setup during the day.  This meant I had to transfer the chicks back to the greenhouse every night and send them back out again every morning.  It became a hassle.  So at four weeks, I made my second attempt.

This was bigger and had a sheltered area for the chicks at night.  It was predator proof and what I thought would do until I got around to building a bigger tractor.  Well for starters it wasn't tall enough and the chicks feared the sheltered area and never went under it.  The temperature dropped one night and I lost about ten chicks because they huddled together in the open exposed to the elements area.  So I brought them all back into the greenhouse and decided they would remain housed until they were at least five weeks old.  They are nearly seven weeks old and should be ready for slaughter in about a week or so but I am still determined to finish them off on grass so dug around the property and came up with something.  This is my third attempt.

It's basically a 4x8 coop made out of pallets, chicken wire and particle board.  It's not nearly as big as it should be for 40-something chicks so I have extended their living quarters with two attached dog pens.  During the day they have plenty of leg space and at night one side of the "coop" is enclosed while the other side is open.  I can already foresee some problems including crushing while trying to stay either warm in the sheltered area or cool in the open area.  And the coop is too close to the ground enabling the chicks to roost on the roof if they wanted and then potentially leaping off the other side outside of the enclosure to freedom.  So I added a canopy netting to prevent rooster on the coop.

It seems to be working for now.  Meanwhile, it is so wonderful to finally see them outside foraging on green grass.