Broilers: confinement vs. pasture

[mousebandit]

Maybe this is a dead issue and everyone raises their meat chickens on pasture now, but I've been re-reading my "Have More Plan" book, and really like that multi-level brooder system they used. We rented a place a few years back that had that exact brooder (assuming it was a little more recently manufactured, but looked just the same), and we used it for the first 8 weeks. (Then we procrastinated and didn't get those poor things butchered for another month. That was wild to say the least! They were pastured the last month.)

We are thinking about doing the meat chickens in small batches on a regular basis, and are wondering about the pros and cons of this confinement system vs. pasturing them. We would be butchering at 8-10 weeks, and will possibly be moving to a different area (for my hubby's work) where we may or may not have land, could be suburb living, who knows. Thinking the battery system would work no matter where we land.

Also thinking that the battery system would provide more tender meat. Feed may or may not include bugs (working on a soldier fly setup, we'll see how that goes), or just feed from the co-op.

Thanks for any input, and also any sources for purchasing the 3-layer battery brooder like they had in the Have-More Plan book.

THANKS!
Tracey

[Rusty'sDog]

Most hobby farm chicken tractors are not one bit more humane than battery raising. Most people have them so tightly crammed with birds that it is essentially a battery. The only difference the tractor makes in that situation is that the birds are getting bugs, and some fresh grass. The biggest thing you will have to do is keep it clean. If your nose can detect the smell of ammonia in/around their cages, your birds are suffering. Miss State has done research on the ammonia factor, and have concluded that at that level (detectable by a human nose) your birds will weigh, on average 1/2 pound less per bird. If you are raising 100 birds, you are losing 50 pounds of meat.

There's an old saying in animal husbandry that if it smells, you're doing something wrong.

[Cyngbaeld]

I like that old adage, RD. Funny that the duckling brooder in the living room doesn't stink as long as I do not give the babies processed feed. Goat milk and ground oats work well, BTW.

[mousebandit]

Yeah, I remember we did daily cleaning of those pull-out poopy pans. Got a lot easier once I figured out to line them with newspaper, LOL! I definitely don't want it to be inhumane, and we wouldn't be doing anywhere near that many at once, I think. Maybe a couple dozen at a batch. Anyway, we did finally find one used and I figured out that the lower stacks are called "grow out" pens. So now I could pop $500 for one new, or maybe we'll be able to swing about half of that for the used one. We'll see. Thanks for the thoughts.

[Millroad]

We are raising our first batch of Cornish X in an 8 x 8 pasture pen - we have 29 of them in there. They don't seem crowded at all, but I haven't noticed that they are really doing much, if any, foraging. May as well be in a battery system, really. It only seems to take a matter of hours before the ground is covered with a thick layer of manure, anyway. Yuck!

[brody]

I guess it depends on why you want them on pasture partly - I want to raise the most humane meat I can ... for me, right now in time, that means they will see sun, bugs, grass, have access to food/water, be protected from predators, not live in fear or filth - some kind of ark/pasture set up fits that criteria it seems better than any battery system could .. at least in our summers ..

[commonsense]

Last year, we kept the broilers (cornish rock crosses) more confined, for their safety. They didn't move around much anyway, and we were kind of put off by the mess they made. This year, our animals are more accustomed to free ranging chicks, and we just let the little buggers run around all day. They are much more active and really put some "miles" on during the day. At night we round them back into the chicken tractor and they wait there til the next morning. They are growing extremely well and are all very active.

[ajaxlucy]

I do about the same as you, commonsense. Our Freedom Rangers are out in a moveable chicken wire enclosure at night. We feed them in the morning, then let them out to wander around. At the end of the day, we put more feed out in the pen and they all rush in to eat. It's simple to close them back in for the night.

[Ohiogal]

The first time I raised them I used brooders, and not one of them ever touched the ground. I was a bit put off by their appearances and habits, and it was earlly in Spring, so less smelly.
If I were to do it again, I'd raise them outside and just order more birds so the few that croak are not really missed. Pasture raised birds are so much happier, eat better and it is more humane.
Are the Freedom Rangers able to be reproduced on the farm?

[Wisconsin Ann]

The meat on a Cornish X that is raised free range will be slightly more firm..no doubt..because they're using the muscles. It's the difference between veal and motherraised beef calf...well marbled no muscle vs leaner with stronger muscle HOWEVER the free ranged or grass raised chicken has a deeper flavor and a more dense meat.

Trade off.

I raise them with the laying hens and they learn how to free range from the get go. They also spread all that poo around the pasture. I still have to clean out the coop regularly or it starts to mess up quickly. But it's a lot better than having them inside a pen all the time. (for me) I like to see them out and about in the pasture. They don't go FAR, maybe 50feet from the coop, but they do enjoy being out.

Thousands of people still raise their meat birds in a brooder setup. Or a horse stall or similar. You know exactly what they eat, you know your birds are healthy and not fed antibiotics or any odd chemicals...it's all good.

[PlicketyCat]

I think a lot of it has to do with what breed of chick you're using for broilers. Many Cornish X have been bred to live in battery with provided feed and don't manage as well on pasture. Whereas a less modified breed is happier and healthier foraging out on pasture. The method that seems to work best for the "heritage" breeds in this area (high predator pop) is letting them out on pasture with temporary electric fencing during the day and tucking them in to mobile coops at night. The cost of feed is high and the winters long, so every bit of self-foraging in good weather helps... and helps with our mosquito swarms as well!

[trbizwiz]

seems that raising them in a battery is an expensive way of getting store bought chicken to me. There are plenty o fcommercial outfits that use high quality feeds and such. In Missouri there is a brand called smart chicken. They are raised with better feeds and then air chilled rather than immersed. Supposed to be better chicken. Why not just buy something like that rather than mimmick it at a higher cost??
I am not trying to be mean or slam anyone for doing things differently. But to me pasturing poultry si because you cant get it commercially everywhere, adn because I enjoy chickens. But keeping them in a box you cant really enjoy them. Or perhaps I am missing part of the equation.

[MDKatie]

I've always raised my Cornish X out free ranging from the time they were old enough to go out (and not need a heat lamp). They always forage extremely well and I've never lost one to a heart attack or loss of leg use. In fact, I have a Cornish X hen who is over a year old. She runs around with the layers and roosts at night. She's HUGE, but gets around well.

[Rusty'sDog]

From what I've seen, the Cornish-Xs are not great foragers. They would rather sleep with their heads in the feed bowl than go looking for something.

[mygoat]

We pasture raise broilers. Broilers do not like to wander much at all, though. We tend to move the feed pans and waterers regularly to accomodate walking. We also try to provide water and feed in shade and sun depending on what temperature they want, and also a distance from their shelters.

Mostly, though, they find a happy medium - equal distances between the waterer, feeder, and their housing - and lay there.

BUT, I noticed a HUGE difference between our birds and some birds we butchered for another local farmer. He fed his 10 birds a pre mixed feed, and kept them in individual cages their entire lives within his barn. Their bones broke like CRAZY while butchering - I'm guessing a vitamin D deficiency from being indoors. We butchered them no differently than we butcher ours. They seemed 'mushy' overall (livers fell apart, though were good looking for the most part), and they were VERY pale in the comb compared to birds we raise.

I would not have eaten his chicken dinner if he had invited me, lol.

[PlicketyCat]

Not all Cornish X or other hybrids are doomed to sedentary life. I've seen a few who are mostly active, although it seems a bit tougher on them... like overweight children on the playground. I guess it depends on just how many generations of specialized inbreeding has gone on as to how robust they are outside a cage. I wouldn't be opposed to a cross that I bred myself, but I'd never buy hatching eggs or chicks from a hatchery that I suspected bred them down for several generations... just too many health issues there.

I feel bad enough about the confinement I'm forced to impose my birds when it's -40 for weeks on end in the winter. Call me a softy, but I prefer knowing my animals have the closest thing to "normal" little critter lives before they end up on my table. I'm even considering "free-ranging" the rabbits instead of having them in cages in hutches.

[trbizwiz]

I cant even fathom how one could free range rabbits. It would be interesting though. I would guess a .22 would be involved in the harvest.

[PlicketyCat]

Planning to keep the does in a family-style pen, the bucks in a bachelor pen, and the fryers in juvie hall. So not really totally free "free range" but not cooped in a little cage either. But that's a discussion for the bunny forum Although I think you could probably tractor them like chickens with the right set up.

The hardest part of pasturing our chickens is predator control. The electric fencing works well for most of the ground predators (except the bears, but they want the goats not the chickens). But we have some honking huge aerial predators as well so have to make sure that the top is enclosed and they have a few places to get under additional cover to hide. That's another reason we started going with the heritage breeds, not only does their coloring tend to blend in better, but they seem a little smarter when it comes to "duck and cover". Having the chickens mobile seems to momentarily confuse the smaller predators; when we had them in stationary confinement the weasels knew exactly where the buffet was

[Wisconsin Ann]

What PlicketyCat is talking about with the rabbits is a colony. secure pen..safe from predators. Tractors don't work well because of the dig out problem.

If anyone wants to try freeranging or pasturing CornishX birds, I strongly suggest buying some chicks of a ranging breed and raise them together. The "normal" birds will teach the cornishX to range for food. Then move the feed outside during the day....get them outside. But be prepared to wait a week longer for them to get big.

[PlicketyCat]

Colony - yes, thanks Wisconsin Ann I'll have to visit the rabbit forum when we get closer to bringing ours home.

We've also noticed that the more sedentary breeds of chicks (typically bred for production in confinement) do seem to do better when raised with more self-sufficient/heritage brethren. They take a little longer than normal to make butcher weight, but are still a couple weeks ahead of their "siblings". Just DON'T wait until the others are ready to slaughter them, they're just too big at that point and really seem to suffer IME.