I will be going down in March to Panama to take a few days off and also setup a chicken Ranch to raise local meat for the island .
I have not been around chickens in 45 years and never knew much to begin with . The man that will be in charge of raising the chickens has worked 7 years on a chicken ranch .
I been reading up on how much room each chicken needs in a coop . It appears that each chicken needs about 1 1/2 sq. feet of space . Bases on this ,to raise 300 chicks I need a 450 sq ft building ? Does that sound right ?
My big concern is keeping the Boa Snakes away from the chickens . I have heard that they will eat them . We do have boas , but they seem to be about 3-4 feet long and not very big around .I would like to be able to turn some loose to eat bugs during the day ,. but I do not know if this is a good idea . We plan to have layers too for egg production .
The 300 chicks will be brought into the island by airplane about once a month . How much can I expect them to grow in a month ?
Question on laying hens ?? Do they lay 1 egg a day ? How long does it take before a hen starts laying eggs ?
I would appreciate any ideas or information .
I have even thought of building 4x12 coops on bicycle wheels that can be moved so we can fertilize new areas as it falls through the floor screen .
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Once everything is up and running a "by product" will be a mix of Chicken crap and "free" sawdust from the small local sawmill on the main island . They are glad to get rid of it . 50 pound empty flour sacks cost us 10 cents each and Genaro says we can sell it for $3 a bag . Believe it or not , fertilizer is a essential need on the islands .That seems like a good idea to me . The feathers will be given to the local indians to make bedding and pillows . The chicken innards will feed the local fish and crabs . Chickens will be processed only after orders are taken and given immediately to the customer after slaughter . Not only will they be fresh but we do not want the headaches of trying to refrigerate meat . Anyone wanting to buy "live Chickens" can also purchase them that way .More than likely this will be the Indians and bush people that live way out in the out islands .
Am I missing anything ??? Jobs are hard to find in the islands and I see this as a great way to get locals employed and keep the money in the local area instead of it going to the mainland . I have no intention of trying to make money out of this but to keep Genaro and a few other locals employed .The tourist industry is really hurting down there and many of the locals are suffering because of it . If it breaks even I will be more than happy . Just seems like if we can order fish or Lobster from the local fishermen and they will deliver it to the house for us still fresh , I don't see why we can't do the same thing with chickens .
Genaro has received pre orders for the entire monthly production from a few local restaurants once we are up and running .
Seriously looking and asking for input from the members here . Just seems like a "No Brainer" to me . What am I not seeing here ???
I have not been around chickens in 45 years and never knew much to begin with . The man that will be in charge of raising the chickens has worked 7 years on a chicken ranch .
I been reading up on how much room each chicken needs in a coop . It appears that each chicken needs about 1 1/2 sq. feet of space . Bases on this ,to raise 300 chicks I need a 450 sq ft building ? Does that sound right ?
My big concern is keeping the Boa Snakes away from the chickens . I have heard that they will eat them . We do have boas , but they seem to be about 3-4 feet long and not very big around .I would like to be able to turn some loose to eat bugs during the day ,. but I do not know if this is a good idea . We plan to have layers too for egg production .
The 300 chicks will be brought into the island by airplane about once a month . How much can I expect them to grow in a month ?
Question on laying hens ?? Do they lay 1 egg a day ? How long does it take before a hen starts laying eggs ?
I would appreciate any ideas or information .
I have even thought of building 4x12 coops on bicycle wheels that can be moved so we can fertilize new areas as it falls through the floor screen .
.Once everything is up and running a "by product" will be a mix of Chicken crap and "free" sawdust from the small local sawmill on the main island . They are glad to get rid of it . 50 pound empty flour sacks cost us 10 cents each and Genaro says we can sell it for $3 a bag . Believe it or not , fertilizer is a essential need on the islands .That seems like a good idea to me . The feathers will be given to the local indians to make bedding and pillows . The chicken innards will feed the local fish and crabs . Chickens will be processed only after orders are taken and given immediately to the customer after slaughter . Not only will they be fresh but we do not want the headaches of trying to refrigerate meat . Anyone wanting to buy "live Chickens" can also purchase them that way .More than likely this will be the Indians and bush people that live way out in the out islands .
Am I missing anything ???
Jobs are hard to find in the islands and I see this as a great way to get locals employed and keep the money in the local area instead of it going to the mainland . I have no intention of trying to make money out of this but to keep Genaro and a few other locals employed .The tourist industry is really hurting down there and many of the locals are suffering because of it . If it breaks even I will be more than happy . Just seems like if we can order fish or Lobster from the local fishermen and they will deliver it to the house for us still fresh , I don't see why we can't do the same thing with chickens . Genaro has received pre orders for the entire monthly production from a few local restaurants once we are up and running .
Seriously looking and asking for input from the members here . Just seems like a "No Brainer" to me . What am I not seeing here ???
. I'll stay away from the hardwood shavings as I think that would be much harder to compost and the bugs /termites hate it .
