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You don’t have to provide an outside run for your birds, but it certainly is a nice benefit for them! Sunshine and fresh air is needed by all animals, so we always make an outdoor run for the meat birds.
You can see in the picture below that we have set up T-posts around the perimeter of what will be their run.
T-posts make fencing pretty easy. I used 2inch chicken wire and threaded the posts thru the wire before pounding the posts into the ground with a sledgehammer.
Then I moved the feeders and waterers outside in an attempt to entice the meat birds out into the fresh air….and you can see it worked!
As long as the weather is good, the birds can go out during the day. We have two doors on that side of the room, for easy access to the run.
A tip: If you can, place your feeders and waterers close to the building. If it rains, they will be under the eaves so the feed doesn’t get all wet and clumpy. With the overhang, the chickens will all go under the eaves if it rains.
If you want to learn everything you need to know about raising meat birds, grab our ebook 8 Pounds in 8 Weeks: Raising Day Old Chicks for the Dinner Table!