Pastured Poultry - the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Pastured Poultry
Raising Chickens in a Grass-Based System
Erin Campbell-Craven, Livestock Program Assistant
Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture
What is Pastured Poultry?
Pastured poultry ≠ free range!
• “free range” is a marketing term
• “Producers must demonstrate to the Agency
that the poultry has been allowed access to
the outside.” – USDA Food Labeling fact sheet
• Outside could be pavement, gravel, rocks,
dirt… not necessarily pasture
What is Pastured Poultry?
Pastured poultry ≠ organic
• Feed must be organic
• No use of hormones or antibiotics
• Environmental regulations
• NO pasture regulations for poultry, only
ruminants
Pastured poultry are…
•
•
•
•
•
Raised on FRESH pasture for most of their lives
Given access to sunshine
Usually frequently rotated
Less crowded (enclosure space per bird 1-2ft²)
Fed either non-organic or organic feed
– Pastured poultry NEED feed or planted grains
supplementation to thrive and produce (diet is
only about 10% grass)
• Often slower-growing, heritage breeds
Types of Pastured Poultry
• Broiler systems
• Layer systems
Broiler systems
•
•
•
•
•
Raise from chick to slaughter in 8-12 weeks
Usually kept in confined chicken tractors
Moved often
Often processed on site
OK allows home-processing without licensing UP
TO 1000 birds/year
– only allows sales to household consumers
– must process at USDA-certified plant to sell across
state lines, contract with stores, restaurants
• Darp Processing Plant – Tahlequah, OK
Layer systems
• More often free-range or surrounded by
electric fence & locked up at night
• Need more space
– Higher frequency of cannibalism/pecking in layers
– Will be in production for years, not weeks
• Egg-mobiles
• Easiest to sell directly on-farm to consumers
– OK laws governing egg sales are stricter than
federal laws!
Why Pastured Poultry?
• Waste control
• Fewer health problems
– Heat stress
– Cannibalism/pecking issues
• Pasture improvement through use of manure
• Health benefits/Tastiness of eggs & meat
Pastured eggs have…
• Thicker albumen (egg white)
• Darker orange yolk
Pastured Eggs vs. Non-pastured Eggs
Pastured eggs have:
• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-1001/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx#ixzz27LvkfgLn
Other Benefits of Pastured Poultry
• Ethical concerns
• Appealing appearance of flock to customers
You’re not just marketing a product, you are
marketing a way of life!
Pastured Poultry Challenges
• Weather
– Heat stress
– Cold stress
• Parasites
– Midges – avoid having poultry near boggy spots
• Predator control
– Electric fence
– Livestock Guardian Dogs
Heifer Ranch Pastured Poultry
•
•
•
•
•
•
Raised 1000 broilers/year for kitchen
Processed on site
Cornish cross shipped at one-day old
On pasture at 3 weeks, processed at 8 weeks
Production from early spring to late fall
Non-medicated feed (chick starter for first 2
weeks)
Kerr Center Pastured Poultry
Project
2009-2010 Chicken Tractor
2009-2010 Chicken Tractor
•
•
•
•
Can house 6-8 birds year-round
Easily moved with an ATV or other vehicle
Generally moved once-twice/week
Perfect for pulling over beds or rows to
fertilize garden pre-planting
2011 “Learning Experience”
• 100 Golden Wyandottes and Dominiques
placed on pasture at 8 weeks in June 2011
• Surrounded by electric fence and locked up at
night to limit roaming and predation
2011 “Learning Experience”
2011 “Learning Experience”: Problems Faced
• Birds did not recognize the trailers as their place to
roost
• Could not be herded into the trailers easily – had to
walk up narrow, steep ramp to access trailer doors
• Had to be individually caught and manually placed
inside the trailers
– Too stressful for birds
• Already over 100 degrees in beginning of June –
couldn’t shut birds up inside trailers to acclimate
• Roamed widely as soon as they were placed in pasture
– Not trained to electric fence
2011 “Learning Experience”: Lessons Learned
• Start over!
• Order 40 chicks, not 100
• Raise chicks in trailers
– “Home base” will decrease roaming
• Put chicks on pasture as young as possible
– Acclimate to weather before summer
• Place wire panels on either side of ramp leading
to trailer door to herd birds into trailer
• Move trailers frequently to limit roaming,
predation
2-day old chicks
Electrolyte/Vitamin Mix - dissolve 4oz. packet in 2 gallons of water – add
10oz per gallon of water for 4-6 weeks – promotes fast feathering
Brooder temperature recommendations
• Week 1 – 95 degrees
• Week 2 – 90 degrees
• Week 3 – 85 degrees
• Week 4 – 80 degrees
• Week 5 – 75 degrees
• Week 6 – 70 degrees
• Week 7 – 60 degrees
These are just recommendations – the faster you
can wean your chicks off of the heat lamp, the
faster they will feather and the better they will
acclimate to changes in the outside weather
conditions.
2 ½ week-old chicks
Note advanced feathering – use feathering as a guide for decreasing temperature as the
amount of feathering a chick has will dictate its cold-tolerance
Look for signs of stress in the chicks to make sure your brooder temperature is
not too hot or too cold – these are not stressed chicks!
One-month-old chicks – outside in trailers during the day, inside the barn at night
6-week-old chicks – fully adapted to living outside surrounded by electric fence,
put up in trailers at night
8-week-old chicks – moving out to new pasture
Rock Creek Project – chickens move in a 2-3 day rotation behind cows in an
effort to scatter cattle manure patties and decrease internal and external
parasites in the cattle
Panting to dispel heat – normal in chickens on hot days
Scratching through cattle manure to fertilize pasture and destroy internal and
external parasite larvae
Kerr Center Pastured Poultry: Future Plans
• Develop breeding program
– Acquire Delaware rooster – breed pure and
Wyandotte crosses
– Use hens for natural incubation
•
•
•
•
Cull roaming hens
Livestock Guardian Dog for predator control
Fecal egg counts
Soil tests on improved pasture where hens
have been