Steps 1-4 should be completed January to March. Earlier is better.
How many can you handle? If you are new to raising broilers start off with 20-60 early in the season. If you want more later in the year you can always get a second batch in.
Select the chicken breeds. We use Cornish Cross, There are a couple farmers who will use Rangers for more of a heritage type breed but they take longer and are more expensive to grow.
When should they be ready by? To avoid cold weather losses your butcher date should probably be between end of July to end of September. Check with your butcher to see what slots they have available. You may need to schedule 6-8 months in advance.
Calculate when to have the chicks delivered. If they are Cornish Cross then subtract 8 weeks from the butcher date to get the delivery date. For other breeds check the supplier website to see the recommended butcher age.
Four weeks before they arrive make sure you have shelters, heat lamps, & feeders ready for them. Expect to have 1 heat lamp, feeder and waterer per 35 chicks as well as 1/3 sq foot/chick of indoor/garage space for the first 3 weeks. A 2ft tall x 4 ft wide and 4 ft long box should handle 50 chicks for starting out. Get one 50lb bag of chick starter per 100 chicks and feed it until it runs out. Get 2 bags of coarse pine shavings per 50 chicks. You will end up using about 15lbs of broiler feed per broiler if using Cornish Cross.
Water Pebbles: To keep the chicks from falling in the water.
2 Heat Lamps: Be sure they are rated for 250W
2 Heat Bulbs: Get the 250W ones.
Chick Starter: https://luxemburgfeedservice.com/collections/non-gmo-feeds/products/lux-21-no-corn-no-soy-chick-starter
Chick Feed: https://luxemburgfeedservice.com/collections/non-gmo-feeds/products/lux-no-corn-no-soy-broiler-19
When the chicks arrive take them out of the shipping box one at a time and dip their beaks in the water to make sure they learn how to drink. Count them and see how many survived. It is normal for 1 or 2 to die on the trip so the hatchery will typically send you a few extra.
Water and feed the chicks morning and night for the first 3 weeks. Check with your local feed mill/grain elevator for the best price. Towards the end of the 3 weeks the chicks might start flying out of their box. Keep some hardware cloth on hand to cover the top if necessary.
After the three weeks indoors you will need an outdoor shelter, a 5 gallon waterer, and 2 two gallon feeders. If it is chicken tractor style you will need 1.5 sqft per bird. a 8x8ft chicken tractor can handle up to 40 birds. Otherwise if you are using the fenced technique an 8x8 shelter can cover 100 chickens.
Chicken Tractor Designs: https://barngeek.com/chicken-coop-library/chicken-tractor-6x10
Or my favorite electric fence setup.
Once they are 3-4 weeks old move them to the outdoor shelter.
Ideally check on them morning and night for the next 5 weeks. Depending on the shelter type and how big they are you may need to move them twice a day or once every 2-3 days.
Do not feed the chickens the night before the butcher. Move them into a smaller fence so it will be easier to catch them.
If your butcher is offsite you will need to put the chickens in boxes early the next morning to be transported. If the butcher is mobile and is coming to your farm you will need to have a water line available and a power cord near the chickens. If you are butchering them yourself don’t worry about this step.
This covers the basic steps for raising your broiler chickens. Please contact us if you have any questions.
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