Corndel Closure - APPPA - American Pastured Poultry Producers

ISSUE 79
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Newsletter
January/February 2014
this issue
Breeding Pastured Broilers
President’s Corner
Embracing Competition
Pastured Poultry at TN Tech
Scholarship Awards
Guide to Email Cold Calls
Processing Pains
Community Corner
Act Now: PA Poultry Workshop
Hens on pasture at Tennessee Tech University.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Fennewald
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Corndel Closure: Tim Shell Provides His Thoughts on
Breeding Pastured Broilers
—Mike Badger
Have you ever heard of the Corndel Cross broiler? I
know many of you have. The broiler was developed
by Tim Shell, one of the original members of APPPA.
His intent was to develop a broiler breed that was
100% pastured-based, and if you read the Raising
Poultry on Pasture book from APPPA you’ll
encounter the Corndel breeding program and lots of
enthusiasm about it. Articles are also found around
the web, including apppa.org.
That enthusiasm often leads newcomers to knock on
APPPA’s door and ask these two questions, “Where
is Timothy Shell, and where can I find the Corndel?”
The answer seekers often have a heightened sense
of disgust for the Cornish Cross, which is the current
pastured poultry rock star. They read Tim’s articles
and are enthralled with the possibility of cutting the
Cornish Cross out of the pastured poultry industry for
a replacement breed that’s pastured, vibrant, and
simply non-industry.
breeding program and research. If you can’t find a
Corndel Cross broiler for sale these days, there are two
plausible reasons. The breed just didn’t perform as well
as needed to gain adoption. In other words, it failed in
the market place. Or nobody exhibited the same
passion as Tim, which caused the breed to languish
with his family’s departure to China in 2003.
The second possibility still gives the enthusiastic crowd
their hope. But hope does not beget success. And while
I may condense and only slightly sensationalize the
types of inquiries I get on this subject, consider that the
Corndel Cross has not been available for nearly ten
years. Yet, Tim and his chicken have achieved cult
status.
After all, there are people considering developing entire
websites to collecting Corndel information. I don’t think
there’s anything wrong with that. On the contrary, I think
that enthusiasm is awesome; it’s that enthusiasm that
prompted this article.
The enthusiasm, however, often prevents people
from seeing the obvious conclusion to Tim’s Corndel
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
(Continued on page 4)
Issue # 79
Once again the long term is being overlooked for
immediate gain.
The new year has begun with very severe weather
throughout North America. Record low temperatures
and snow now seem to be the norm. Global weather
is clearly changing. I have recently read that the
greenhouse gas situation is apparently far worse
than what anyone had ever thought. It seems very
clear that globally most are going for the quick grab
as opposed to thinking about the long haul.
This of course flies in the face of sustainable farming,
which I personally feel is the underpinning of APPPA.
The whole GM situation is a serious threat to global
agriculture and food supply. The initial concepts
seemed fairly reasonable, the goal supposedly being
to feed the masses. Sadly this original concept
seems to have been taken over by simple greed.
PO Box 85
Hughesville,
PA 17737
[email protected] | www.apppa.org | (888) 662-7772
The APPPA Grit newsletter is published six times a year.
The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
(APPPA) is a nonprofit educational and networking
organization dedicated to encouraging the production,
processing, and marketing of poultry raised on pasture.
Staff
Mike Badger, Director/Grit Editor
Board of Directors
Tom Wadson, President, 2009-2014
Vice President, Vacant
Greg Gunthorp, Treasurer, 2009-2014
Jennie Watkins, Secretary, 2009-2014
Will Harris, 2013-2015
Jeff Mattocks, 2013-2015
Brenda Ostrom, 2009-2014
David Schafer, 2013-2015
Val Vetter and Deb Aaron, 2010-2014
Joel Salatin, board member at-large
I was pleasantly surprised by the comments of Jim
Gerritsen of Wood Prairie farm in Maine. He came up
with a very simple comparison on how the GM pollution
can be described and how it is currently handled. It
refers to someone painting a house purple, next to a
white house. Basically the purple spray drift covers the
neighboring white house. The owner of the purple
house then sues the guy in the white house for stealing
his purple paint! This has to be the ultimate distortion.
Pretty sad really.
All of this can become depressing on a cold dreary
winter's day! YES, the glass is indeed half full.
Looking around our farm in the scenic Lukes Pond
Valley (Eli Reiff please laugh) in supposedly sunny
Bermuda, the entire place is saturated with rain. Bad
news? It is in the high 60s. It could be snow! Clearly
challenging for field work, thus we have been able to
complete the harvest of our latest broiler flock. We
target a 3-4 lb. dressed weight. Once again we nailed it.
I am forever thankful for my great team!
We now need to harvest about 300 spent layers. We
harvest these by gutting, removing the beaks and
toenails and then make them into a fresh natural dog
food. The mix includes fresh veg, fruit, cracked eggs,
and various natural additives. I have always believed
that everything on this farm is saleable. It is critical that
we turn our trash into cash. The quality of this diet has
shown excellent results. Fortunately, this product is
showing huge benefits in dogs previously fed
commercial food. The benefits are both physical and
mental. The interesting thing is that the stools come out
white and are gone in 24 hours. A lot of work, but a
great rainy day project.
In recent months APPPA and The Fertrell company
have conducted a series of laboratory tests on various
breeds of broilers on different feeds on separate farms.
A lot of tests on a lot of things. We now get to try and
make sense of a lot of numbers. A quick look at all of
these numbers does not reveal any glaring conclusions.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
(Continued on page 15)
Issue # 79
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EMBRACING COOPERATIVE COMPETITION
—Mike Badger
If you had to identify your competition, who would it
be? Is it your neighboring pastured poultry
producers? Is it Tyson, Perdue, or Bell & Evans?
Where I’m at in north central Pennsylvania, there’s a
local chicken producer raising free range chicken in a
green house. Those chickens are cheap and
everywhere, including health food stores. I consider
this producer to be the biggest competitor to the local
pastured producers because he’s locking up some
prime markets with an average chicken (better than
CAFO, inferior to pastured).
There is also a strong pastured poultry industry in the
area, and while we all compete with similar products,
we’re not really much competition for one another.
Not everyone would agree with that statement. And I
know there’s the same difference of opinion among
many of you.
Some of you view the pressure of other producers as
a serious threat to your business. You’re inclined to
protect your “product and production secrets” for fear
of losing your competitive edge. I find two inherent
problems with this thinking. One, your neighboring
producers probably already know your secrets or can
find them out easily, if desired. The other problem is
that most of the producers in my area fall somewhere
around 1,000 birds a year with an outlier or two
approaching several thousand birds (green house
guy not included).
Now let’s do some math.
Americans eat approximately 80 pounds of chicken
each year. The population of Lycoming County,
Pennsylvania (where I live) is approximately 117,000
people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That
means county residents eat 9.4 million pounds of
chicken annually. Based on a four pound carcass, we
need 2.3 million chickens to satisfy the demand. The
numbers obviously increase if I were to include
adjacent counties. All the producers in a 50 mile
radius of me could not supply the demand for my
home county, let alone the counties where my
“competition” resides.
Given this perspective, it’s easy to see that my
neighbors are not competition. In reality, the biggest
local producer in the area is not a real threat to me.
We all have an incredible opportunity to supply
chicken of a variety of types ranging from
unremarkable cheap CAFO chicken to super-niche
organic, non-soy, pastured.
I would submit to you that most of what we fear as
competition is actually a marketing void. There is a
reason that businesses employ marketers and hire
marketing agencies. Marketing creates demand for a
product regardless of whether or not the product is
considered the “best.” Best products don’t inherently
(Continued on page 17)
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(Continued from page 1)
At any rate, I wanted to track Tim down and get his
perspective on the Corndel Cross. I also asked him if
he’d mind providing some advice for those who may
want to pick up his work.
Some of you may be inspired by Tim’s advice while
others may get a ruffled feather or too. However,
there is something for everyone, including breeding,
flock management, challenge feeding, and business
philosophy. A couple of things are clear. Tim is still
passionate about farming and poultry. His reputation
as an expert producer and critical thinker shine
through. If you want an honest pep talk about raising
pastured poultry and about breeding, this is a
worthwhile read.
Tim’s responses to my questions were verbose, and
as a result, I didn’t need to ask him many questions.
I’ve edited his responses to fit space and topic, and
added a few headings to help organize the topics.
Mike Badger: Your work resonates with people;
however, as best as I can tell, no one has really
perpetuated your breed. Do you have any notes or
information that you would feel comfortable passing
on to me for publication?
Tim Shell: Our Pastured Peepers project started as
a response to Joel Salatin asking for a source of
chicks from pastured breeding stock. My family knew
Joel quite well. We had known and collaborated with
Joel in pastured poultry production since 1990 and
greatly enjoyed implementing his models of grazing
and poultry on our Mother’s farm in Bath County, VA,
an hour’s drive from Polyface.
Initially we used an egg mobile just like Joel but
found that the perfect cleanliness required for the
eggs for high hatching rates required roll out nests so
that the egg was removed from the bird immediately
upon laying. The best hatching rates come from not
washing the eggs at all, so as to not wash the bloom
off of the egg. These nests were nearly impossible
to keep level on hills where we farmed; so we parked
the shelter and learned to rotate the birds around it.
This then allowed for permanent water and electrical
systems and commercial feed bins. We took the best
of pastured poultry and commercial poultry and
combined them. We were running about 2,000
broiler breeder hens our last year and produced
about 60,000 chicks that year.
The biggest surprise/let down for us all was that our
chicks were not that much better, if any better, than
commercial chicks. Joel’s initial thought was that as
his pastured eggs were so much better than super
market eggs, chicks from his eggs would be better
than industry chicks. So we jumped in on that
assumption and ran it for four seasons, selling most
of the chicks to Joel in the beginning. In time, I was
able to actually purchase a dozen industry broiler
eggs and crack them out and show them to Joel.
They were just as good as his. His response was,
“How do they do that?” In other words, without
pasture in the diet, how can they get a good egg from
confinement flocks? Actually, it isn’t that difficult with
a balanced ration with proper micro-nutrients even
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with zero forage consumption. It turns out that to get
a profitable hatching rate, industry breeder flocks
have to have much higher nutrient levels in their
rations than commercial table egg flocks require.
The hatching rate of table eggs would be very poor
and therefore unprofitable not only because of
nutrient levels but also because of age. Hatching
eggs are always fresh and no older than 9 days. We
were comparing the wrong thing; no one in the
hatching industry sets old table eggs.
In the
beginning we thought we’d have chicks that would far
out perform those of the industry and sales would be
easy, but in the end, after putting several hundred
thousand chicks through the hands of pastured
growers over four years, the consensus was they
were industry equivalent but no more.
In the
enthusiasm of the early days, everyone wanted to
believe they were better, but we proved it over time in
real economics with real flocks.
Mike Badger: The biggest questions I get are in
regards to the breeding and the feeding schedules. If
I understand my research correctly, you're crossing a
Delaware rooster and a Cornish hen, but then what
happens after that? Do you cross it back?
Tim Shell: Anyone can go to a commercial broiler
breeder website such as Cobb and download the
production manuals with all the charts and feed
recommendations related to the following free of
charge.
Restricted feed program:
The first thing to
comprehend is that broiler parent stock are just as
capable of gaining weight as fast as their offspring
will. If permitted to do so, they become so overweight
that they cannot reproduce naturally. The female’s
abdomen grows compacted with fat, limiting egg
production and leading to prolapse of the rectum at
Joel eventually went back to other suppliers. Then
we were left with only the novelty of having a
pastured breeder flock to differentiate our product
and we ourselves were losing interest, having never
been interested in hyping something up to get it sold.
Soon afterward, we moved to China from 2003 to
2010, and we have been in Mongolia since 2010. It
was a relief to be out of the business because we felt
the chicks would sell themselves if they were so
much better; but they weren’t and didn’t. We had a
high customer turnover rate as well, which indicated
that many growers were just as happy with bigger
suppliers after the first year.
(Continued on page 6)
There are decades of strong science behind what the
commercial poultry industry does and generally a lot
of ignorance and enthusiasm on the part of pastured
growers. I think it’s good to work at getting as fully
informed as possible, and the industry has a lot to
offer. They’ve been at it a long time. So, we [the
Shell family] just lay the facts out for others to benefit
from whenever questions arise.
We are still interested in the whole poultry business
and waiting for the right time to get something going
over here.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
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first egg, which is usually fatal. The males cannot
mount the hens or, if they do, they seriously damage
the hens. Therefore broiler breeders are kept on a
restricted feed program which keeps them healthy
and gaining weight on a schedule that compares very
much to any normal commercial egg laying breed.
The birds on restricted feed look and act like a
normal chicken, and can even fly if their wings aren’t
clipped!
The diet does not harm them in the least. Of course
the birds have the same appetite as before, so they
consume their daily ration in about 20 minutes and
sincerely believe they are starving to death the rest of
the day. This in turn causes them to scavenge
vigorously and turn to cannibalism if they become
nutrient deprived. On pasture they will consume
more forage due to this hunger.
This restricted feed program is standard industry
practice and must be practiced by any pastured
broiler breeder stock program. It should be noted
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
here that we used the Fertrell Company to develop
special pastured broiler breeder feed supplements
and credit those balanced rations with much of our
success in being able to match industry production
and hatching standards on a pastured program while
remaining disease free.
Lighting: Contrary to popular opinion that it is
somehow cruel to force birds to lay eggs with artificial
lighting, light is a comfort factor for the birds and
controls their laying cycle. Chickens originate from
the jungles where day length is normally longer. If
lighting were a stress factor it would decrease
production when in fact it does the opposite.
Regardless, it is mandatory with broiler breeders
which only profitably lay a maximum of 150 eggs per
cycle, and that’s only with optimum management of
feed and lighting.
The lighting program is used in close cooperation
with the feeding program to induce egg production.
Generally, lighting commences by creating 14 to 15
hour days (with 40% of the lighting in the AM and
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60% PM) and increases to a maximum of a 17 hour
day in 30 minute or one hour increments. As long as
day length is not decreasing there is no signal to the
bird to decrease egg production. Day length is
increased 2 weeks prior to first egg, at which time
feed is increased to bring the birds to peak
production. If lighting is not increased, there is no
stimuli to initiate reproductive development, and the
birds continue gaining weight rather than maturing
sexually.
Alternate breeds: The Corndel Cross was an
experiment closely following the line breeding
principles taught by Mr. Jim Lents, author of The
Basis of Line Breeding, and was designed to limit the
genetic potential for pastured broiler weight gain to a
9 to 11 week finish as opposed to a 7 or 8 week
finish.
A Delaware male was crossed with industry standard
Cornish Rock females which gave a 14 to 16 week
maturity. These males were crossed again back to
the Cornish Rock females to shorten the finish even
more.
One of the key concepts of line breeding is intense
culling pressure. Only the top 5% or so are used in
subsequent matings. In the beginning, very few
candidates will match the ideal type desired. We
progressed in 4 years with two complete generations
per year for a total of seven or eight generations.
Line breeding, as per Lents, requires 14 generations
to achieve a pure blood type after which most of the
traits have been stabilized and culling percentages
drop to 15% or less.
Our final disbursement of stock was to Tom
Delehantey (of Pollo Real Farm) in New Mexico who
kept the breed going for a few years, but no longer
has them to my knowledge. At the time of that
disbursement the birds were still lacking in some
important points of uniformity of body conformation.
Tom worked hard on that trait for several years.
supply. Otherwise, smart folks like Tom Delehanty
would still be breeding them today.
Tim Shell: The take home lesson from our years of
work with the broiler breeders was this: The easiest
way for us as pastured broiler producers to increase
the hardiness of our pastured flocks is to challenge
feed commercially available chicks rather than breed
for new ones. Contrary to popular practice, the birds
won’t die if the feed trough is not full 24/7, although
they of course may imagine they are dying!
After seeing broiler breeder stock grow to maturity in
24 weeks on restricted feed, we realized we can
control the growth of pastured broilers with great
accuracy to any target maturity date simply by
challenge feeding. Anyone with any common sense
can see that pastured broilers are not living in
optimum health; they are gluttonous to the extreme,
which we consider a disgrace at best and quite
dangerous at worst for health in the human
population. They are sick and weak and stressed
due to their huge appetites. Just backing the feed off
a little can change their viability greatly.
There is not that much increase in feed consumption
between growing a bird in nine weeks as opposed to
seven, except that there are two weeks extra labor,
but there are benefits that balance that. The birds
will be more active, they will get up and move around
more instead of just sitting there all day, they will
forage more, and their muscle will have more tone,
(not necessarily tough if prepared correctly). There
will be lower mortality and performance under
weather extremes.
The birds will be capable of
performing in other production models that require
them to range farther. They will be happier and
healthier. All that is required is a little practice in
limiting the feed intake of the birds.
One can simply add only enough feed twice a day so
that the trough is empty six hours after feeding. This
gives a six hour period twice a day when the bird’s
digestive system can rest and work more efficiently.
Mike Badger: You've confirmed much of what I
suspected about the experiment being good/
educational, but not outperforming the industry
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There is no need in our opinion to develop whole new
breeds once this information is understood. But most
broiler growers are unaware of the dynamics of
maintaining optimum performance and proper body
condition of animals designed for rapid weight gain,
having never dealt with breeding stock. And being
human as we are, this level of attention to details is
more than most producers will care for, so in the end,
a breed that is not capable of growing out in less than
9 weeks will have a place in the chick markets for
pastured broilers. But it would be a shame if that
were simply because growers were without the
knowledge of other options.
Mike Badger: Tim answered a very important
question before I had a chance to ask it. What would
your approach be like today?
Tim Shell: If I were starting back into pastured broiler
production today, I would use standard industry
chicks from a quality supplier and limit feed them (on
rations balanced by Jeff Mattocks of Fertrell) to grow
out in nine weeks. I would also use the stationary
netting model we developed that allows them to
range more and render the extra two weeks of labor
irrelevant because there is no daily moving of cages,
just daily move of feeders and weekly moving of
netting. It also allows for automated watering and
feeding if desired.
which in my view would give everyone a better deal-the birds while they live, those who grow them, and
those that eat them afterwards.
Mike Badger: Your work with the Corndel has
developed quite a following with most people ending
up at the same point: how can I get more information
on his breed?
Tim Shell: If there are those who still wish to develop
their own slow maturing breeds, it should be stated
clearly that it is very doable in a short time (14
generations in 7 years) by following proper line
breeding rules and starting with industry stock
females and an alternative male.
Cobb, has been forced to develop this very breed
type for its chick markets in India due to customer
preferences for more muscle tone in their meat and
feather colors other than plain white. The truth about
line breeding is that it is, in fact, cloning animals
I fed the birds in portable feeders which were out in
the paddock, and slid them along to a new spot once
a day. They were just half pvc pipe on pvc runners.
But this spread the manure around the paddock
evenly, created no hot spots, forced the birds to
range, kept 50% of the droppings in the field,
extended the life of the bedding, and caused the
grass to respond with even, lush growth.
The birds would maximize their forage intake to
satisfy their hunger twice a day and still have the
same conformation of breast the customer is
accustomed to with slightly more tone to the
muscle.
I am only suggesting slight changes to key variables
in the overall program of pastured broiler production,
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genetically speaking. It just takes 14 generations
instead of one and modern farmers don’t want to wait
that long. All that the genetic engineering industry
wants to do with cloning can be done by any
common farmer with the proper knowledge,
commitment and patience.
Every farmer has his
prize chicken or cow that he wishes he had a
hundred of, and by line breeding he can have as
many as he wants for as long as he wants. With
proper culling there is no limit to the duration of the
program.
It is truly amazing how ignorant the American
agricultural community has become of the true
secrets of livestock breeding.
Most agriculture
schools, sadly enough, still ridicule line breeding.
Mike Badger: Basically, a core take away from your
previous research is that it still basically comes down
to management. Good management can make an
industry bird work. For those who poorly manage the
Cornish Cross (i.e., health and mortality problems),
it's doubtful they will have the management skills
required to breed their own broiler.
Tim Shell: Much credit for my work goes to Jim
Lents of Anxiety 4th Herfords for mentoring me in
these breeding secrets, to Shelly Wenger of
Westdale Hatchery for hatching and shipping my
chicks and teaching me about hatching eggs and
chick quality, to Jeff Mattocks of Fertrell for teaching
me the intricacies of ration balancing first hand, and
to Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, Inc. for providing
the initial market guarantee for our chick sales and
the encouragement to get our program launched. It
has truly been a pleasure to know and follow these
men in their work.
Most of all, I am blessed immeasurably by my
Heavenly Father, the inventor of the chicken, in all
that He is teaching me about His marvelous poultry in
this process and am glad to freely share with others
what He has freely given to me. After farming for 30
years in three countries, I can’t stop admiring and
enjoying these amazing, incredible birds that help
feed our world today. Three cheers for APPPA!
Tim Shell: Yes, it's all about management by staying
aware of daily details and promptly adjusting that
which is out of order. I forced myself to spend 20
min/day/bird group sitting on my upturned feed
bucket observing the flock. Anything that is out of
order will make itself evident. Then I refused to allow
myself to eat, relax or do anything until those
adjustments were completed. Those are the most
critical and necessary moments of the day without
which my entire operation could not have prospered.
That time is just sitting and observing, not feeding or
water or anything else. People who throw in the feed
and rush back to their other life can never make it
work. You have to be devoted to observation with
poultry in order to catch their stress points and
correct them before they affect their performance.
I'm also a strong believer in creating dual
environments. The outdoor and indoor, and let the
birds choose where they want to spend their time.
Mike Badger: Some final thoughts from Tim...
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
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Pastured Poultry Education at Tennessee Tech University
—Dennis Fennewald, Assistant Profession, Tennessee Tech University
Editor’s Note: The Tennessee Tech University
Poultry Program was one of the recipients of
APPPA’s 2012 scholarship program.
We have purchased lots of building material, heat
lamps, feeders, waterers, water tanks, nest boxes,
electric netting and egg cartons.
I want to thank you again for the gift from APPPA and
want to send an update on the Poultry Program at
TENNESSEE Tech University. First, I would like to
give a little background to make it easier to see why
this program is a logical step for TENNESSEE agriculture. TENNESSEE Tech currently operates two
farms. One farm is two miles from Tech and contains
100 cows, 15 sows, 8 wool sheep (left over from the
show days) and 35 Dorper hair sheep. The sheep
are guarded by a donkey. The farm also supports
itself by producing soybeans and corn. There are
several greenhouses operated by the horticulture
department. The second farm is located about 20
miles from campus with 450 commercial cows. This
is easily one of the largest farms under the control of
a university, especially east of the Mississippi. The
diversity and size of these enterprises offer Tech students hands-on experience in labs and as employees
of the farm. We are always interested in hiring energetic students to work on these farms.
In the three semesters I have taught, approximately
100 students (freshman to seniors) have been exposed to poultry. Students have been involved in
raising layers, mixing feed, moving electric netting,
and collecting eggs. In addition, they have raised
chicks using the new GQF incubators and hatchers.
Students have built four 10’ x 12’ PVC hoop houses,
four 10’ x 12’ cattle panel hoop houses, an 8’ x 16’
eggmobile, and converted a 20’ x 40’ greenhouse
into a 40’ x 60’ gutter-connect greenhouse/chicken
house.
Next spring, we will start a broiler project! There is a
small, family-owned processing plant located 30
miles south of Cookeville. This plant has been open
for a few months and has been very busy. We plan
to raise ~400 broilers to research different methods
of production.
My goal is to build the number one poultry
program in Tennessee and an ongoing
pasture poultry enterprise for students to
“learn, earn and serve.” Students will
learn proper animal husbandry, earn
money operating the enterprise, and
serve the community by communicating
via field days and workshops. This will
make them more valuable in their internships, foster an entrepreneurial spirit and
expose them to poultry.
We used the gift from APPPA to help fund
the poultry program. Other donations
include a Bright transportation coop, two
GQF incubators and a GQF hatcher,
three zip-tie domes and chicks (layers).
A hoop house at Tennessee Tech University.
Photo provided by Dennis Fennewald.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
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American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
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APPPA Awards $1,000 for
Pastured Poultry Education in 2014
The 2013 APPPA scholarship saw a nearly 400%
increase in proposals. The topics were diverse and
competitive. Several people proposed technological
projects while many sought funds to attend
conferences. Still others pitched workshops and
other educational efforts.
The APPPA scholarship selection team decided to
award two $500 scholarships in 2013. Selections
were made at the regularly schedule board of
directors meeting on December 19, 2013. The
awarded funds will support pastured poultry
workshops in Idaho and New York. APPPA’s core
mission is education and networking, and the winning
proposals embodied that mission.
Excerpts of both proposals are included for review.
These programs will take place in 2014, and, as a
condition of receiving the award, each awardee will
provide a report to be published in the APPPA Grit.
Award #1 APPPA member Katherine Noble, Hailey,
Idaho
I have a 10-acre, soon-to-become organic farm in
south-central Idaho at 5500’ elevation. I have raised
Turken broilers and Barred Rock and Rhode Island
Red layers for 2 years, and I have belonged to
APPPA for 1 year. I have found APPPA to be
extremely helpful in reminding me of some of the
things I have forgotten about chickens
since helping my grandmother many years
ago and in extending my understanding of
the science and art of raising these
delightful birds. I have been very grateful
for the blog and have learned a
tremendous amount by listening to the
conversations. The publications on pricing,
feed and processing costs have been
extremely helpful to me in trying to
establish a market for my birds and eggs at
a fair and profitable price.
I have more recently been involved in developing a
co-op in my area to develop a mobile-processing unit
for poultry and purchasing organic feed from local
farmers so that we can mix our own for our flocks.
We hope to have our co-op and mobile unit up and
running in about 18 months, which will save all of us
transporting our birds 4hrs to the only state licensed
processor in southern Idaho. Since I sell primarily to
restaurants and a local organic grocery, I am
required to have my birds processed by a state
licensed facility.
I would like to use the scholarship to give a workshop
on mixing feed, general chicken health, best
practices, and to help all of the south/central Idaho
poultry producers raise healthy, profitable pastured
poultry. None of us have raised poultry for very
many years, and, as far as I know, I am the only one
who belongs to APPPA. All of the new poultry
producers I know here are struggling with various
aspects of raising and marketing poultry, and I think
we would all benefit very much from a one-day
workshop. As far as I am aware, no one has held
any poultry workshops in Idaho, and our University
system does not have a poultry division, so we are
basically out here inventing it as we go!
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
(Continued on page 13)
Issue # 79
12
Award #2 Nancy Glazier,Cornell University
Cooperative Extension, Pen Yan, New York
I am requesting $500 through the Jondle Memorial
Scholarship to conduct a pastured poultry workshop
for beginning farms. As Cornell Cooperative
Extension’s small farms specialist for a 10-county
region, I have the opportunity to work with these
farmers who are eager for basic information to get
started in an enterprise. Many have small acreage on
which they wish to raise animals as a part-time
business. Nearby urban and suburban areas provide
an ample customer base. The missing piece for
these beginners is education. One of my chief tasks
as an educator is to provide workshops for those
learning about farming.
day. This also provides a networking opportunity for
beginners to meet and get to know those with
experience.
Speakers will include regional pastured poultry
producers: Bob Ott, Hermann Weber, Fred Forsburg,
Marla Parsons, and myself. Location will be at the
Riga Town Hall, Monroe County, a fairly central
location.
Stay tuned for details of the 2014 scholarship.
The best means of learning is to hear first-hand from
experienced farmers. With a combination of
marketing and production education, participants can
learn the basics of pastured poultry production in one
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Issue # 79
13
Concise Guide to Email Cold Calls
—Mike Badger
If you want to grow your business, you need to reach
new customers. I’ve never been very good at cold
calls, but I have been successful using email to get
new business.
Ask for the sale.
Communicating via email presents a special
challenge in that it requires writing skills—basics
such as punctuation, reasonable spelling accuracy,
and comprehension. In addition, it’s harder to write a
short, concise message than it is to ramble on, but
brief wins the day with email prospecting.
Ever. Personal emails do not have multiple
recipients. Obvious broadcast emails are easy to
ignore.
If you understand these basic contexts, you have the
understanding to succeed with email prospecting.
It’s important to note that this guide may be
presented in the context of email, but there’s no
reason it wouldn’t apply to a postcard, a phone call,
or a chance personal encounter with an interesting
prospect at a conference.
Here’s six easy-to-implement email prospecting tips
to ensure you engage your prospect rather than put
them off.
Build a list of targeted, relevant prospects
If you want to sell chicken to chefs, CSA’s, and direct
-to-consumer, you need a message for each group.
Write a concise message with contact information
Remember, you’re sending an unsolicited email to
someone you hope to do business with. Be respectful
of their time, make your pitch, and thank the person.
Provide links to detailed information and a telephone
number. If you hit a person with a serious need to
buy what you’re offering, they’re just as likely to call
you.
Create a personalized template
Personalize the email by including something specific
about that person, if relevant. The template portion is
the offer you’re making, and is typically more boiler
plate information.
That’s why you’re bothering the person in the first
place. Tell the recipient what you want them to do.
Never, ever, cc/bcc recipients
In an APPPA context, I’ve used this type of
prospecting to recruit workshop attendees. In my
business, I’ve used this approach to build a mobile
processing business. When Christie and I wanted to
sell chicken to restaurants, this approach found chefs
willing to buy from us and increased our seasonal
production by over 500%.
Here’s a sample email we used to recruit chefs.
Some of the information has been <removed>:
Hi, <name>!
I was browsing <a website> and came across <you>.
I think it is fabulous that you use locally grown and
raised veggies and meats as much as possible!
Although I realize that you have pastured poultry
suppliers already, I wanted to reach out and offer you
one more resource, should you find yourself in need.
Many thanks for all that you do to promote locally
grown and raised products!
It’s a short message that was sent directly from my
wife, Christie, to chefs she selected. It demonstrates
our offer and our familiarity with the chef; we ask for
the sale. The email signature includes additional
contact information, which isn’t shown.
Nobody bought chicken based on the email alone.
They responded and Christie closed the deal on the
phone. But at that point, the contact is no longer a
cold call but a well-qualified lead.
Happy prospecting.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Issue # 79
14
(Continued from page 2)
We have a very talented Board with great insight. We
are looking forward to great conclusions.
Your Board is very excited about our upcoming
diversified poultry pre track and annual general
meeting at PASA. Pease try and attend if you can.
The APPPA general meeting is on the Thursday
evening.
local agriculture. Log on to tunein.com. Go to North
America, and Bermuda then comes up. It is on radio
station FM 89. I would like to think it will improve your
day.
As we go into this new year, I wish all our members a
happy, healthy, and prosperous 2014. Your APPPA
Board continues to work hard for YOU! All the best
to each and every one of you.
Sincerely, Tom Wadson.
I notice the increased availability of no corn, no soy
layer rations. We are using them now. Many are
hoping for a similar broiler ration. The results seem
very good so far. We are very encouraged by
consumer comments, most of which are heard at our
farm store. The fact that we are much closer to non
GM is very satisfying.
We used to feed organic feed, but I must say the
pricing simply made it impossible to continue from an
economic standpoint. The fact that they always
seemed to be loaded with mycotoxins was a huge
worry. I am now seeing a huge improvement in flock
performance, 30%! Bear in mind that we have to add
about $175 in freight per ton of feed.
Another annoying thing is that quite often it appears
that a lot of poultry products seem to be dumped on
our offshore market. Worse than that is the fact that
these products are marketed here as fresh. Every
bird that comes into Bermuda is at least partially
frozen as the container temperature settings are 32
degrees at the highest. Better not say too much as
then the purveyors will then cut me off!
As I look back on almost 40 years of farming, there
have certainly been many changes and current
economic conditions seem to add to a demand for
cheap food. I say "You get what you pay for!” I also
say that if this business was easy, everyone would
be doing it.
I happen to do a weekly radio broadcast on a local
radio station. I do this at 8:45 am eastern time on
Friday mornings. It is live streamed on the internet. It
is usually fairly amusing and sums up the week in
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Editor’s Note. The analysis Tom references is currently
being compiled and written up. I expect to publish it in
March. Jeff will have isoflavone analysis of three broiler
breeds reared on three farms using two feed formulations
(soy and non-soy rations). APPPA sponsored nutritional
analysis of six broiler carcasses from the feeding trial. We’ll
publish omega 3/6 analysis, in addition to vitamins A, B, D,
E and cholesterol for both feed groups. Think you can
predict the results? Now would be a bad time to let your
membership expire.—MB
DOTSON FARM
AND FEED
Distributors of Fertrell
Poultry Nutri-Balancer
and the complete line of
Fertrell Products.
Fertrell
Also Available :
Certified Organic Hay
Dotson Farm and Feed
2929 N. 9th Street Rd.
Lafayette, IN 47904
Ph 765-742-5111 cell 765-404-9826
Fax 765-429-5601
Issue # 79
15
Processing Pains and Opportunities
—Mike Badger
Processing, like predation and regulations is a
universal pain point for small-scale pastured poultry
producers. We all cope with the pain as best we can
and implement systems that work for our aptitude,
attitude, and scale. Failure to sufficiently solve the
processing problem will put you out of business.
At the end of the 2013 growing season, Jesse from
Appenzell Farm started a conversation on the
Producer Plus list by saying, “I've been frustrated
with how much work and man hours go into
processing per chicken on my farm,” and “the topic of
how to increase efficiency with processing has been
on my mind.” Here’s some of the responses to
Jesse’s common question.
My own personal reaction is that people need to
practice and efficiency takes repetition and volume.
1. Proper layout, which means a compact footprint
2. Match equipment to scale: crates = chickens per
day/8, scalder = plucker capacity, kill station = 2x
scalder capacity
3. Rotary kill station
4. Rotary scalder
5. Evisceration shackles
6. 30-second evisceration—requires practice
Terrell Spencer from Arkansas recommends
inspected processing. Spence’s reply highlights the
opportunities available with scaling up. “I pay a
processor to process for me. USDA. Cost is 3.00/
whole bird and 5.00/cut-up. This particular processor
started doing poultry this year because I had built up
to a volume that he was willing to take a risk on (300400/wk).”
Happy Processing.
Drawing on Lean manufacturing principles, Toni
Rowe, of Pennsylvania, recommends: “Draw a
diagram of your process first (called a "Spaghetti
Diagram" because of the spaghetti lines showing the
path of the product/operator) - look for waste,
eliminate waste, setup appropriate sized buffers, and
re-evaluate.”
Greg Gunthorp, offers this advice. “I think one of the
best analogies to look at slaughter and processing is
the weak link in chains. You have to be able to
identify the spots in your process that determine final
output and then identify the requirements that lead up
to that end result. I think if we research this topic we'll
find a very steep L shaped cost curve. A person has
to be really careful that "premiums" for pastured
poultry aren't ate up in small scale processing and
distribution. It's a very scale driven business. It's a
very capital, management, and labor intensive
business.”
David Schafer of Featherman Equipment provides
his perspective. “Studying the most successful
operations I could find, I have come up with six key
points, five of which are found in all of them.”
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Issue # 79
16
(Continued from page 3)
win in the marketplace. If the best products gained
the most market share, then there wouldn’t be a
conventional chicken industry and Microsoft wouldn’t
be the dominant PC operating system (it’d be Linux).
I recently exchanged some emails with iconic
pastured broiler breeder Tim Shell who said that
learning and mastering production practices is a
relatively simple thing that anyone can do. Sales and
marketing was much harder, and basically, the
marketers often stood a better chance of succeeding
at their pastured poultry businesses.
Tim’s perspective perfectly framed the competition
concerns I hear so much about. Instead of standing
off against our neighbors, we should be collaborating
to improve. After all, we can all benefit from iterative
production efficiencies, which in turn will make our
existing sales more profitable.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
That presents an interesting question. If you could
give your neighbor a production tip that helped
improve the neighbor’s carcass size, would you do it?
That question embodies the mission of APPPA. Our
Producer Plus members discuss ways to be more
efficient producers all the time. The APPPA Grit
constantly publishes practical production, marketing,
and business insights gleaned from producers across
the world; shared for the benefit of all. If you believe
the APPPA community is valuable, then you should
turn the same favor onto your neighboring producers
and learn to collaborate more and fear less.
Making what we do more profitable through
collaboration with our peers doesn’t put us at
competitive odds. Instead, that cooperative
competition builds our businesses and our industry.
Good luck this year!
Issue # 79
17
contact Matt Buvala at [email protected] or
(715) 495-7927.
Producer Marketplace
To place an ad, email [email protected] or call (888)
662-7772.
Move to Wisconsin
5 acre farm just west of Milwaukee with: 3800 SF
home built in 2003, 40x60 block outbuilding with 20
foot clear inside, 40'x90' hoop house w/ water and
electric, 2 acres of woods. $700,000.00. Established
market
for
new
grower/farmer
wannabe.
[email protected] or 262-524-8263.
Experience wanted
Newcomer to pastured poultry wants to intern some
in chicken/waterfowl operation to gain practical
experience in western Pennsylvania to eastern Ohio.
Call 412-628-8096.
Wooden Chicken Crates
Brand new wooden chicken and turkey crates. Solid
floor to protect pullet feet. Chicken crates for $42.
Call
Mike
at
(570)
584-2309
or
email
[email protected]. Pennsylvania.
Plucker and Scalder
Too large for my space! Had to replace.
Ashley SP 30 plucker auto door opener. Retail
$6,900.00 Thermostat controlled Pickwick scalder
and
older
model
dunker
included.
Asking
$4,200
for
all.
208.512.2268
[email protected].
Mobile Processing Unit
For more information, pictures, and price, call
208.512.2268 or email [email protected].
Electric Netting Fence Cart
Patent pending electric netting fence cart used for
retrieval, deploying and storage of electric fence
netting. Can be either used by hand or with an ATV
or utility vehicle. $479.00 each plus shipping. Made
in Pepin, Wisconsin. Details at buvalafarm.com or
Pastured Poultry Pens
Patent pending design developed by Absolute
Pastured Poultry's years of experience. Contact us at
[email protected].
Details
at
www.pasturepens.com or call us at (570) 788-1044.
Rebar Portable Shelter — Churt Design Manual
Now available on disc by Tom Delehanty. Mail $39 to
Pollo Real, PO Box 1429, Socorro, NM 87801. Email
[email protected].
Gibson Ridge Egg Washer
Sink-top unit scrubs eggs with hot water and brush at
a rate of 28 eggs per minute. Suitable for a 3,000
layer flock. Made in U.S.A. of as much U.S. materials
as
possible.
$1,875
plus
shipping.
Gibsonridgefarms.com or (740) 698-3330 (Ohio).
Processing Equipment Rentals
Locate or list processing equipment rentals at the
Featherman website: featherman.net or call (660)
684-6035 for more information.
Rehoboth MINIBARN
D.I.Y. Plans for a 4-bird barn-shaped chicken tractor.
Features retracting wheels and open bottom for easy
grass pasturing and lawn fertilization, easy access
nest boxes. Detailed step-by-step manual complete
with materials list with sku #s from a national home
store. Preview and Order as immediate download
online at: www.rehobothinnovations.com or call 804244-1044 to order hard copy. Price: $18 for download
$25 for hardcopy
Calendar of Events
February 5-8, 2014: Join APPPA at the Pennsylvania
Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA)
Farming for the Future Conference in State College,
Pennsylvania. For details visit http://pasafarming.org
or call (814) 349-9840.
February 27-March 1, 2014: Midwest Organic &
Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) Organic
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Issue # 79
18
(Continued from page 18)
Farming Conference in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Visit
www.mosesorganic.org or call (715) 778-5775.
May 17, 2014: Pastured Poultry Workshop in Attica,
New York. Speakers to be announced. Contact
Hermann Weber for registration and more
information at (585) 591-0795.
Industry News
Registration opens for country’s largest organic
farming conference
SPRING VALLEY, WI–Registration is open now for
the 25th MOSES Organic Farming Conference,
which takes place February 27 through March 1 at
the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
This is the 25th anniversary of the MOSES
Conference, which is put on by the Midwest Organic
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES).
MOSES is marking the occasion with contests,
awards, historical exhibits and an anniversary
celebration on Friday evening during the conference.
Registration is available online at mosesorganic.org/
conference, by mail, or through the mobile app. See
the MOSES website (mosesorganic.org) or call (715)
778-5775 for more information.
West Virginia Dept. of Ag Considering Changes to
On-Farm Processing Limits
According to the West Virginia Food & Farm
Coalition, small-scale pastured poultry producers in
West Virginia are able to process up to 1,000 birds
under the exemptions provided by the federal Food
Safety Inspection Services (FSIS) poultry processing
regulation. The state’s poultry inspection program
does not recognize the FSIS 20,000 bird exemption.
Farms producing more than 1,000 birds must use an
(Continued on page 20)
Issue # 79
19
(Industry News continued from page 19)
inspected processor; however, the state has no
inspected processors.
In 2013, the West Virginia Department of
Agriculture proposed a rule change that would
make it legal for state poultry producers to process
up to 20,000 birds on-farm in accordance with the
FSIS P.L. 90-492 processing exemptions. If
approved by the legislature, West Virginia
producers could take advantage of the increased
limits as early as 2014.
Source: West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition, (304) 4604869, www.wvhub.org .
Consumers Reports Concludes 97% of
Purchased Chicken Breast Contaminated
Consumer Reports analyzed 316 chicken breasts
from samples purchased throughout the United
States. The study tested for salmonella,
campylobacter, staphylococcus, E. coli and
enterococcus, and klebsiella.
Of the samples, 252 were conventionally raised, 40
were labeled with no antibiotics, and 24 were
organic. The major brands tested include Perdue,
Pilgrim’s, Sanderson Farms, and Tyson. The report
shows no difference between the production
method (conventional, antibiotic free, or organic) or
the brand.
Key findings include:
 97% of the sampled breasts contained
bacteria deemed harmful
 More than half the samples contained fecal
matter (enterococcus and E. coli)
 Contamination by bacteria: Enterococcus:
79.8%, E. coli: 65.2%, Campylobacter: 43%,
klebsiella pneumonia: 13.6%, salmonella:
10.8%, staphylococcus: 9.2%
 Multidrug-resistant bacterium was found in
49.7% of the samples and 11.5% percent
tested positive for more than two multi-drug
bacterium
The report highlights the opposing views on
responsibility for bacteria by indicating that
consumers should expect their chicken to have
bacteria, and that safe handling and cooking is the
best way to protect your health from those bacteria.
Then speaking in the context of the Foster Farms
recall, a Center for Disease Control (CDC)
representative says that blaming the sickened people
for unsafe handling “doesn’t ring true.” The CDC
attributes contaminated chicken with more deaths
than any other commodity based on a study from
1998 to 2008.
Nevertheless the study concludes that personal
responsibility and diligence to ensure proper handling
on the part of the consumer is the primary prevention
method. In addition, Consumer Reports recommends
that consumers should select chicken raised without
unnecessary antibiotics because “that’s good for your
health and preserves the effectiveness of antibiotics.”
The full report can be found in the December 2013 issue of
Consumer Reports or online at consumerreports.org.
Study Finds Salmonella and Campylobacter in
Processing Waste
A study by University of Georgia (Trimble et al, 2013
Poultry
Science
92:3060-3066)
studied
the
prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter in the
soil and compost as a result of on-farm chicken
processing. Samples were collected from the soil (42
samples), compost (39 samples), and waste water
(46 samples) across four pastured poultry farms. The
primary objective of the research was to collect data
as a stepping stone to further research. The further
research, according to the study’s authors, is to
improve the processing waste disposal on small farms
in order to control pathogens.
The four farms have not been identified by the study
but produce approximately 1,000 broilers a year. The
samples from each farm were composited for analysis
to form a total of three compost samples, three soil
samples, and two wastewater samples. No control
samples were taken to measure the bacteria level of
compost or soil.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Issue # 79
20
The study acknowledges that Salmonella and
Campylobacter can survive in a compost pile
including vegetable based compost. However, the
authors do not discuss the composting methods used
by each farm.
Results from the abstract: Salmonella prevalence
and concentration (mean log10 MPN per sample
weight or volume) in soil [60%, 0.97 (95% CI: 0.66 to
1.27)], compost [64%, 0.95 (95% CI: 0.66 to 1.24)],
and wastewater [48%, 1.29 (95% CI: 0.87 to 1.71)]
were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Although
Campylobacter prevalence was not significantly
different by sample type (64.3, 64.3, and 45.7% in
soil, compost, and PWW, respectively), the
concentration (mean log10 cfu) of this pathogen was
significantly lower (P < 0.05) in wastewater [2.19
(95% CI: 0.36 to 3.03)] samples compared with soil
[3.08 (95% CI: 2.23 to 3.94)], and compost [3.83
(95% CI: 2.71 to 4.95)].
Study
can
be
content/92/11/3060.
found
online:
http://ps.fass.org/
The following table shows the results by breed. All
broilers were 10 weeks old at processing. Due to a
small sample size, results for each breed and feed
type were averaged across all three farms. All
broilers, however ate the same feed and were
pastured.
Boneless Breast Sample
Weight (lbs.)
Cornish Cross, Non-Soy
0.923
Cornish Cross, Soy
1.163
Noll 22, Non-Soy
0.493
Noll 22, Soy
0.499
Barred Silver Cross, Non Soy 0.450
Barred Silver Cross, Soy
0.440
The data suggests that Cornish Cross fed a soybased ration provides the better boneless breast
efficiency.
Boneless Breast Yields from Broiler Carcasses
Mike Badger, APPPA director and mobile chicken
processor, collected 23 boneless breast samples
from three breeds on three farms throughout
Pennsylvania. The sample also measures the breast
yield variances between soy and non-soy feed
rations. The breast samples were originally cut for
various nutritional and isoflavone analysis that will be
published soon.
The sample sizes, while small, provide some
suggestive insights on breeds and feed relative to
boneless breast yields. The Cornish Cross showed
the biggest difference by feed type with soy-fed
broilers having an average breast size of 1.16
pounds while the Cornish fed non-soy rations were
0.923 pounds.
Otherwise, the Barred Silver Cross and Noll 22
breeds performed similarly on soy and non-soy feed
with regard to the measured boneless breast sizes.
Otherwise, these alternate breeds produced
boneless breasts half the size of the Cornish Cross.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Issue # 79
21
Diversified Poultry
Workshop at PASA
When: February 6, 2014
Where: Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable
Agriculture (PASA) Farming for the Future
Conference in State College, Pennsylvania
More Information: pasafarming.org or (814) 3499856
Poultry production offers a viable option for farmers,
either as a sole enterprise, but more often as part of
their diversified farm. The size and scope of
production can vary greatly, as can the season in
which the poultry is raised on each farm.
Join this varied group of experienced poultry
producers for a day in which they share their
knowledge and experience in raising classes of
poultry other than broilers and laying hens. These
grass-based, pastured livestock (both feathered and
hooved) farmers have diversified their successful
farm operations through raising turkeys (both
heritage and commercial), ducks, geese and guinea
hens.
This day is geared for the experienced poultry
producer who is interested in acquiring the
knowledge needed for diversification to include
turkeys, guineas and waterfowl.
New DVD Series Coming
APPPA will be filming a Diversified Poultry
workshop at the PASA conference. The event will
be turned into a multi-DVD set and made available
for purchase.
At the time of publication, the price per DVD has not
yet been set. You can reserve your copy by
contacting APPPA.
Diversifying Poultry Pre-track Topics
Presenter
Duck Production
Greg Gunthorp
Special Nutritional & Health Needs & Considerations for
Waterfowl, Turkeys & Guineas
Jeff Mattocks
Broad Breasted White Turkey Production
Tom Wadson
Heritage Turkey Production
Val Vetter & Deb Aaron
Guinea Hens
Will Harris
The Future of Diversified Poultry
Mike Badger
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Issue # 79
22
Join or Renew APPPA Membership
Check if renewal
□
(Please print clearly. Return form to APPPA at the address below.)
Producer Information
Name _________________________________
Farm __________________________________
Address ________________________________
City, State, Zip __________________________
Phone _________________________________
Email Address ___________________________
Membership Information
Membership (select one)
□
□
□
Producer—$40 / $70 (2yr)
Producer Plus—$60 / $105 (2yr)
Includes online benefits
Business—$200
Pastured Poultry Book
Raising Poultry on Pasture
$34.50 each (shipping included)
# of Copies ____
Website ________________________________
List Pastured Poultry Products:
Total Enclosed: __________
APPPA, PO Box 85, Hughesville, PA 17737-0085
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association
Issue # 79
23
APPPA
PO Box 85
Hughesville, PA 17737
PRSRT STD
U S POSTAGE PAID
Eau Claire, WI
Permit #203
If the number printed above your address is #79 or earlier, renew by mailing the form
on page 23 or renew online at www.apppa.org.
Call for our free color brochure.
Specializing in hatching
guinea keets, bantam silkie
chicks, Muscovy ducks, and
Khaki Campbell ducks.
To order ducks, please
contact Fifth Day Farm, Inc.
717-445-6255. To order
Guinea keets or silkies,
contact JM Hatchery.
178 Lowry Rd, New Holland, PA 17557
717-354-5950 | Fax: 717-354-0728
www.jmhatchery.com |
[email protected]