Better Day, Recovery, Going Forward

Only lost one bird today, but that bird had weak legs and was very stressed from yesterday's disaster. It refused to move out of the sun and looks like it just gave up. The extra shade and less crowded conditions did the trick. The day was not quite as hot as forecast which was good. The real issue with the disaster day was the wide temperature swing, probably 45+ degrees after the cool spell. Must certainly remember this in the future when an extreme weather change is forecast. Had we been home, instead of out making a produce delivery, I might have noticed when the first bird died and could have tried to make some changes. Besides the extra tarp/shade cloth idea, it would have been good to have an old camper shell , hoop, etc for portable shade to separate the birds and give them more space. I will try to latch on to materials that may be suitable for small portable shade areas to be used as needed. Worst case, I'll just build a wood frame covered with metal roofing for this purpose. The bunching behavior has to be mitigated somehow in a stressful situation. They will crowd, climb, bunch up in response to any perceived or real stress. The Salatin pen seems better suited as they can move out of the shade, test the sun, and quickly go back under the shade if they consider the sun to be too hot. I may be doing more of these pens going forward. Right now the Salatin pen is in the market garden where the birds have a chance to work the soil there.

Hot Weather Disaster, Huge Loss

Well it started out as a promising day. Until disaster struck for the broilers that is. We went to Moorefield about 11 AM to deliver a produce order. Then we had a nice lunch at Aroma's Coffeehouse. The broilers were watered, feeders full, they were frolicking on fresh grass etc. when we left. Our weather had been cool, damp and rain for about a week. Today that changed radically. In Moorefield, the bank sign said 100 degrees, our truck thermometer said 97 degrees. Our weather station said our max temp was 92.7. After the recent rains, the heat and humidity were pretty stifling combination. Anyway, we knew the birds were overcrowded in the single hoop pen even though they forage inside the electronet fence. What happened is that they all went inside the pen seeking shade and their bunching behavior fatally overheated them and also they trampled each other. The Cornish cross bird really bunches up badly when they are distressed in any way. And there was not adequate shade inside the hoop pen for all. Around the back of the pen, there was more shade, but they did not go there. They also would not walk back into the sun to get any water. The total dead was 42 birds. A catastrophic loss. No count of the living but I did move 20 birds to the Salatin pen which leaves about 60 birds or so in the hoop pen. The hoop pen has handled 50 birds just fine so it now a more normal # of birds in that pen/fence arrangement. We rigged up an additional sun shade tarp off the side of the pen for tomorrow as its supposed to be very hot again tomorrow. I expect some losses again tomorrow but hopefully not in the catastrophic range. These are probably the kind of days that make people give up farming as they have consumed almost 7 weeks of their of their 8 weeks worth of feed. At 5 pounds per bird that's 210 pounds of meat lost and $630 worth of revenue lost from the batch today. A very bad day indeed.

Last Batch, Real data

I've read that it should take 15-18 pounds of feed to grow out each broiler. This is for a "standard" cornish cross or cornish rock bird. So for the final 2007 batch (30 birds) I'll do the record keeping to document our real experience. Give the above, then it should take 450-540 pounds of feed in total for the batch, that's 9-11 bags of feed (50# bag) I will store this feed separately so I can tally the use accurately. With this result I can hopefully project the total feed requirement and expense for 2008. If the weather turns cold in October, feed conversion may lag somewhat but if the fall weather is warm it may not be a factor. The first 2 bags will be higher protein 20%-24% commercial starter feed from TSC, then I'll switch to the French's Mill feed. The Southern States starter feed is only 18% protein which I do not think is enough of an initial protein boost. French's Mill feed is probably 16% protein. I will augment with soybean meal again to get the protein level up to approx 18-20% for weeks 3-8 and of course this will count in the bag total. Will probably add a bit of fish meal again but that is minimal cost, $5?
So in total it may look like this: Week 1: 1 bag 24% starter feed , Week 2: 1 bag 20% starter feed, Weeks 3-6: 2 bags of soybean meal, and 5-7 bags of French's Mill feed.
So at $8/bag average it should take $72-$88 for feed for the batch. The birds will cost probably $50 with shipping and the processing will be $52.50 for 30 birds. So that's $175-$190 in total cost for the batch with no value assigned to labor, no amortization of pen costs. You could "pay yourself" for labor and tally lower profit margin but really what's the difference. Retail price for 30 5# birds at $3/pound = $450. So you are looking at a venture that approximately doubles your money in 60 days. If you lose birds you lose top line revenue. If you need more feed you have higher costs. Both event squeeze your profits. Still if your profit margin were to drop from 100% to 75%-80% its still a very profitable venture. With batch number 3 I had zero leg problems, except for one bird which as a peep arrived with a crippled leg. I believe that the initial protein boost in the first 2 weeks pretty much determines the outcome for the final 6 weeks to achieve a target 5 pound bird in 60 days. So for a projected batch of 50-75 birds for 2008 batches these feed totals will be about double the above. I'll repeat the record keeping with the first batch for 2008 for verification.

Grit

I noticed that there were bits of undigested corn in the chicken waste, so yesterday afternoon I added 1/2 of a large coffee can of grit to each range feeder. After some initial hesitation at the feeder, the birds started consuming the grit. This morning I noticed that it had all been consumed. I used both large and small grit which I had purchased at Southern States. Before I had only used the small grit. I also put in a handful of oyster shell grit normally used for the layers. If there is any undigested feed in the waste, then feed conversion is being compromised.

Processing Schedule

I called Berry Blossom Farm and canceled the turkey processing that was scheduled for Nov 13th. That way a space is freed up for someone else. The final chicken processing (final 30 birds) is scheduled for Tuesday Oct 30th. With the last batch of 30, the total for the year should be just under 200. The batches will be 25,26, 120+/-, and 30+/-. The first batch of the year was a disaster with the weather and predator losses. The second batch was just fine after the pen was modified for predator protection. The third batch has been just fine although its too many birds for the single hoop pen esp. now that they are larger. I could move a few to the new pen but I have not yet done so. It would add another chore set. But perhaps I will in the next few days. The final batch of 30 will finish out the year. I had a goal of doing 4 batches although the numbers were not as I had anticipated. For 2008 I plan to do 4 batches but probably of 50-75 birds per batch for a total of 200-300 birds. I want the production and processing to be more balanced and stick to a strict 8 week production schedule. I'm looking at getting birds April 15, May 15, Jun 15, and Jul 15 with processing of Jun 15, Jul 15, Aug 15 and Sep 15. With multiple pens I can get the next batch of birds out of the brooder house at 3 weeks. So for a one week overlap period both batches will be on pasture. I'll be keeping a better journal via this blog for 2008 to include all feed purchased and any other costs.

Order Glitch, Tired of Waiting, Moving Forward

Today was strike 3 for the previous supplier of broiler peeps. That was George Dibert of Mt-Di Poultry near Altoona PA. The last time delivery went well as he met me near Cumberland with the peeps. Pricing was good at 60 cents each. He has not returned 3 messages so I had to move forward. I find this hard to understand as I was a non demanding, courteous and prompt paying customer, the kind of customer I would think a business would try to retain. Perhaps he had some sort of issue and has no birds to sell, but he should at least contacted me. Perhaps he sold his whole hatch to a larger buyer. Still he should have followed up with me. I've been trying to call him for weeks now. We're doing one last batch of just 30 birds for the year. I called Moyers in PA but they are back ordered until Sep 10. I can't imagine they are that busy this time of year but I couldn't wait that long. They did have K-22's but they wouldn't finish until Thanksgiving so I didn't order them. Perhaps I can try some birds from Moyer's next year. I thought about asking the Yahoo pastured poultry board for a supplier recommendation but didn't bother. Just wanted to get an order in place. I plan to buy one of Ray's K-22s to see if there is any taste difference at all. So I ended up back at Ideal Poultry out of Texas. Long way to ship but their service and delivery has been just fine in the past. Peeps will ship on 8/29 and I should get them on Friday 8/31. I have butchering planned and scheduled for Oct 30th. I'll call Berry Blossom and cancel the appointment for the turkey processing on Nov 13th since the turkeys won't happen this year. I plan to run this small batch in the Salatin pen as a chicken tractor over the recently mowed off market garden area. They should have a field day digging things up with the all the seeds and scraps there. Corn, tomatoes, sunflowers, weeds, grass seeds, etc. I think they'll be quite content there as well as help aerate and fertilize the whole market garden area. I'll move the pen probably daily.

Salatin Style Pastured Poultry Pen

I completed an original Salatin style pastured poultry pen. Now just need birds for it. Its 8' x 12' and pretty lightweight. Easier to move than the hoop style pen currently in use. May consider adding the exterior predator guards of 1/2" hardware cloth later.

Next to Last Batch for 2007

Right now we have about 120 birds in our pastured poultry pen. The are due to be processed on September 4th. They seem to be progressing just fine.

Starter Post

This is the first post for a web log for our activities related to pasture raised poultry.