After I move my tractor through the pasture I sprinkle daikon radish and winter rye seeds into the Pelosi the chickens leave then emulsify the Pelosi and seeds and inject them into the ground with a needle jet on the garden hose. Works great
Diego Footer. I can't tell you how much I love your videos. I'm getting everything ready for my first no-till garden next spring and I'm learning a ton from your wonderful videos.
P.S. want to move chickens without any trouble? Get a big RC kid truck, fill it with maggots or any treat they love, just let them know, and drive the RC to where you want them to be. Pro tip, have some training wheels type of thing in it so they don't tip it, they will run fast. Quick and easy. There is another electrification of the feeder that will work wonders on having them move around but I will let you both figure that one out, wayyyy less work after it.
Shut up because these chickens are gentrified food that poor ppl can't afford. All these ppl "treating animals right, or growing organic" are doing so because ATM the return on the marketing for these things allows more profit. A lot more profit. This is the gentrification of food. I don't support ppl who do this as long as they are only able to sell to more upper class ppl. Healthy, sustainable and humane practices don't mean anything if you aren't feeding the Amazon wharehouse workers and Walmart wharehouse workers of the world and are only feeding their corporate office counterparts.
we do a chicken tractor and and a chicken run for our chickens. our chicken run was built to go over our garden box to have them till the boxes. perfect way to fertilize
Koo Laid good eye. It's my favorite of the shelters too. Light, doesn't tip over, works for sheep. Kids like to play on top, and there's no rusty metal to cut me or the kids.
So cool to see your farm as a suggestion in my playlist! I know you don’t know me, but I remember you from our sojourn days, many many moons ago, in Louisville! It’s great to see how things are growing and changing for you all. We just bought a house, and only have about 3/4 of an acre, but we are gonna start layers in the spring with EPN, and a chicshaw :) this is giving me some new things to think about though! So awesome!
6:51 what does he mean by there is a lot of labor by catching up the chickens we have some neighbors that help us out with that, what does he mean can someone please explain?
I loved using the poultry netting to create a larger pen for our broilers, but it ended up not working for us because the owls began picking off birds at night, and it was too much work to corral them in a pen each night, so we went to the John Suscovich tractors. Keep up the great work, Luke, and thanks for the video, Diego! I've followed the podcast for a long time! Have a great 2018 season!
We have geese with our chickens for hawk protection. We do same system shown here but do have a tractor for when it gets freezing cold out. We are in Iowa.
this is the correct way of handling pasture raised chickens. Many breeders keep the chickens in mobile coops where they eat the grass but they are stuck in the coop all the time this is not pasture raised this is pasture fed. Farmers who manage chickens in mobile chicken coops use the term pasture raised only to sell the most expensive eggs or meat are true charlatans. Pasture raised you leave the hens loose in the pasture all the time with the chicken coop open only closing it at night to protect against predators, they are free to go and come back to the henhouse when they want, they eat when they want and whatever they want this is the true way of pasture raised chikens.
Basically what I do. However, I have 7 x 7 tents I move around. One flock has taken to roosting under my canoe. I brood them in a tent on pasture day one.
im really thinking we will be raising chickens next year, using similar method- i like chicken tractors so far, but would like to persue more space and less tractor moving(daily isnt cost effective for my context). Good stuff, thank you Diego!
I don't think this system works if aerial predators are a big problem. The only solution I have would be to have a smaller pen with more shelter area for them to run under if a bird of prey swoops down.
Fantastic video guys. This will really help me. I'm planning on starting my chicken enterprise this year. This is the exact same setup I'm trying to go with. My property has a LOT of hedge and juniper trees so on one hand I think that avoiding chicken tractors will allow me to better utilize the forage and decent amount of shelter provided by said trees. What I do wonder about is, will the trees allow a vantage point for hawks? Will a goose with the chickens help protect from hawks?
@@DiegoFooter Thanks a lot for your info. Your info will definitely help a lot of people that want to do this professionally. Thanks again - from Canada
at 3:28 you talk about two other systems: salatin (which i know of) and "darby" (which i haven't heard of). can someone tell me where to learn more about the "darby" system please. thx
72hrs of podcast! whoaw... will have to figure out how/when to listen to that... how is his system different than salatin? the only image i could find was gmap of property :S
Do you clamp their wings as they get bigger. I am asking this because of the height of the electric fencing. What advice will you give some that opt to do this in the city.
When raising a slower growing breed or raising birds in a less climate controlled environment, with lots of space for exercise you’re always going to be less fed efficient. Grain is so more nutrient dense than grass or the occasional bug. Even if they get 10% of their calories from salad, the inefficiencies are overcoming that calorie count. It’s more the quality of life, vitamins and exercise that we do it for.
Love the breed but there life expectancy is short. Daughter owns one but with the dog being on a farm the life expectancy does increase and these dogs were meant to be on a farm or large piece of land
We raise males or straight run broilers, just to be clear. But there is often times around 40 sq ft per bird in there. I move the infrastructure inside the netting daily and the netting gets moved every 4-7 days. If i want less impact, i just move the infrastructure further each time. Once they get to the end of the Paddock, I take off the back fence panel and add it into the front.
I have a question: What type of grass seed or forage you use for the chickens ? Thank you. If anyone know what type of grass it is. Would be appreciate it :)
Whatever grows best locally is fine. There is likely a mix of local grasses and legumes in any location around the world. Beyond that the chickens don't care.
Inspiring to see you putting so much thought and love into raising these chickens. I have no land to keep chickens but im interested in their welfare. Iv noticed when i buy free range eggs on some packs its stated that the chickens have been vaccinated against salmonella, do you know if this is standard practice for all free range eggs, do i need to switch to organic ? Im in UK
Wendy Bell I'm thinking you'll need to ask the farmers providing your local eggs. I don't participate in any organic labeling, don't raise eggs, and I'm not in the UK. So I would just suggest getting to know some local producers.
Which kind of chicken coop is suitable for chiken or hen in a warm area ? Chiken coop built of clay or mud or built of wood? Please mention reasons if there are?
This is really interesting and I can see it as a better option than the chicken tractor. I do have a couple of questions. John Suskovich did an analysis on the amount of feed needed to bring CornishX, heritage breed, and Rangers to slaughter weight and found the Rangers were the least efficient. Does this full pasture model change that? What are the reggulations about selling meat at a farmer's market? Don't they have to be processed at an FDA facility if they are not sold on the property?
We do this but with tractors and donkeys because of predators.. If a coyote jumps the fence a dog would have a hard time doing anything from the outside of the fence. The birds are free to roam during the day but closed up at night in the tractors for this reason and ease of moving before letting them out in the morning.
Our dogs patrol the whole property, and can absolutely jump this fence. We have coyotes in the neighborhood. But our dogs constantly patrol all night long, barking very loudly. We just don't see any coyote pressure on our whole farm, even though they are in the area. a cattle farmer 2 miles away shot 56 one winter.
It works great. We have done it a few different ways. But now we just don't put the birds out quite as early as one might in a chicken tractor system. They are always out onto pasture by 3.5 weeks at the latest, and they do just fine. They know how to get under the shelters when they need to.
Hi Diego - informative video. how do you manage in rainy season - with lot of flowing water. Secondly- in winter- how you protect from elements? Regards Molefe
We’re don’t raise birds in winter. In rainy weather we give them an extra week in the brooder if necessary. Then we expect they go under the shelters in the rain
Neal Cummings orchard grass mostly in this section of the pasture. Fescue dominated with an array of forbs and legumes throughout over half of the farm.
Ok thank you. I've often thought about raising chickens like this and kind of fishing for info on the subject ,as well as how they are sold ? I'm guessing since you have them processed you must sell at farmers market , I wonder how can one get in to selling to distributors, grocery stores or meat markets?
Neal Cummings I also found it hard to locate examples of systems like this when we were getting it started. On that front and the marketing front, sometimes you just gotta try things to see what will work. Only thought on selling birds wholesale in the markets I have experience in is you've got to have some real economies of scale before you can afford to start selling at wholesale prices. There can be contextually relevant exceptions to that. But it's probably true most places I know of.
This reminds me of my uncle's stories when he used to raise chickens. He'll let them forage and sleep in the forest. When he goes to call on those chickens, some of them bring back some chicks with them
As compared with chicken tractors, the degree to which there is any sleeping or standing in poop is dramatically diminished. We can tell on butcher day, because my butcher tells me he's amazed at how few of our chickens' feet pads end up burned by standing in manure. We have almost no damage to our chicken feet from this, which makes cleaning them a breeze on processing day.
I didn't hear if the sheep were grazed first, then after three days the fowl. Isn't this needed for fly control & spreading the dung? Also, isn't alfalfa best at bringing up minerals? It re-mineralizes without needing rock dust.
Our sheep move across the landscape 10x faster than chickens. So we usually start them behind sheep. But the sheep nearly lap them around the farm. Fly control with sheep manure isn't as big of a concern as with cow, from my experience. When I said remineralization, I was talking about the macronutrients as well as other nutrients. It probably wasn't the ideal term. But I was just saying there is need in this part of the farm for fertility to be transported there because of the hay and crop removal of the past. Chicken feed turned into manure achieves that goal quite well.
Okay hear me out a great way to move the chickens for moving cells or processing grab a couple friends and get a huge length of bright colored cloth and spread out and encircle the birds 9/10 times they’ll run away from the cloth
Spring/summer/fall like most pastured poultry folks in this biome. The last batch (finishing in coldest weather) gets to have chicken tractor access to the end. All the others have no walls after 4 weeks.
I don't know who I would sell to. Of all the videos I've watch and research no one really talks a good deal about the market side and how and who to sell to. Could someone give me some insight on this?
T'eni B'egi L'oju Igi Ti R'uwe we've employed a variety of strategies for aerial predators. Narrow paddock shape can discourage dive bombing by hawks. Also taller weeds at certain times, in some paddocks, can discourage them some too. The dog deters them some. And they do run under the shelters when they see danger. Usually it's only weaklings that get caught.
Can you pasture raise on non grass? I live in northern Nevada (desert) Can chickens forage, I mean I’m sure there are bugs and yummys here too right? I couldn’t find any chickens farms in nv
There will be a lot less for them to feed on if it's bare earth. The idea of the pasture isn't just the plants the hens graze on, but the amount of bugs & critters that are underneath. The interesting part about co-grazing with livestock is that the poultry remove some of the parasites, reducing the need to treat the livestock with wormers.
Also, you could limit the distance between the mobile house and fence. This way it makes it uncomfortable for Ariel predators to land. "Richard Perkins" shared the concept with me in his pastured broiler system. That being said Ridgedale Farms is in Sweeden but he does indeed have Ariel predator threats
@@jackclark4356 because a guard dog doenst make a lot of work, feeds himself and pays the bills for the doctor. cmon, its often not worth the costs to raise chicken in small scale, because people give shit about organic, free range chickens and buy the cheapest of the cheapest from big scale operations. then you want to protect by dog? would like to know how many broilers or hens you have to keep, just to get the costs for the dog. i like the system of chickentractors. if you dont overcrowed them, its much better then losses to dogs/birds and a lot other predators. also they dont run in their own poop and the ground gets time to recover.
RATHER than feed grain with 12 % protien and 18% bioavailability........... try sprouting barley with 28% protien and 82% bioavailibility........... seems to me that to feed barley seed grains to be a waste with the above numbers.................I raise lots of chickens but not commercially and the birds love the barley. John
Our non GMO chicken feed is 21% protein, and I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 18% bioavailability. I don't think that our chickens are pooping out 82% of the nutrients in their feed. But more to the point, we've tried soaking and sprouting whole grains as a supplement on this scale. And even as a supplement it is very hard to get over some of the logistical hurdles when you try to scale the systems. As a full ration, the unanswered questions only increase. I'll give you a few examples: Temperature variations: There isn't really any place on our farm where temps don't vary dramatically on our farm. Sprouting grains in a set system need variables to be consistent, or it needs more scarce time and energy invested. Weight: where we have consistent running water and the ability to keep it under cover and control more variables, we end up 1000 feet away from where the chickens eat the grain. Transporting wet and/or sprouted grain becomes a bit more complex and back breaking. Scale: 700 lbs per day of dry grain fed to omnivores is already a logistical hurdle. If you moisten it, that weight might triple. What containers are you using to transport it? Amino acid/vitamin profile: will the sprouted grains actually increase nutrition, flavor, feed conversion, etc, or will they be missing something that is present in a complete feed? I'm not sure. But I know this works, and the work is manageable. There are too many questions about switching over in full to different feeds. And I may again try to supplement with sprouting again. But when you scale something and plan on paying your mortgage with it you have to consider a lot more variables and be wary of risks. 400 chickens coming in at 1.5 lbs lighter than expected because of an improperly considered feed change takes about $3200 out of my pocket, or almost all of my profits. That's not exactly a risk I would take on without some high degree of confidence.
Groce family farm. Just want to mention that while I'm sure it might be heavier ( that depends more on just how much water it stll contains. I sprout on a very small scale currently, & it's not much at all heavier, but I barely cover it in water & soak/leave as-is, 1 or 2 days) but anyways, you won't be exactly feeding that same amount + whatever weight is added. Because, with sprouting, they will eat less of it.
I am putting netting up over head and electric fence sections inside the netting. The hawks have gotten so many of my chickens and I don't believe a dog will prevent losses from hawks. No one counts thousands of chickens everyday to see their losses.
Could be a good idea for some. We use amish teenagers, and planning ahead. Its just taken some time to figure out that pushing them into a tighter space on the last day makes the job go 3x faster.
Dijo que tiene 370 y es el espacio de 200 pies por 70 pies. Si tu mueves las gallinas cada día solo necesitan 1.5 pies al día para que el impacto en la tierra no sea demasiado y tengan suficiente espacio para caminar. El puede tener esos animales en ese espacio 25 días si quisiera pero el los mueve cada 7 días. Ojalá esto te ayude.
Problem is loss to predators, especially flying ones, in some places is possible, in others is very hard. A movable shelter wouldn't be an horrible idea.
That fall I had a couple struggling turkeys that needed a place to hang out while the bigger turkeys would have pecked them to death. The blackhead could have been a concern. But the bigger turkeys definitely would have been. In the end, these guys did recover and survive to slaughter date.
When i lived in indiana (i didn’t have chickens) but there were hawks EVERYWHERE. But there were rabbits everywhere so they didn’t bother anything other than rabbits and small birds. I’d say if you planted some rabbit food near the chickens you might entice the hawks away...
I saw a video where wire, string, etc. was strung across the top of the chicken pen with CDs suspended on the wire. This seemed to be an effective deterrent for flying predators. I have not tried this yet but will be using this approach next year. However I did utilize this idea this year for deer fencing. I didn't want to go to the expense of a solid wire fence high enough to keep deer out, and we didn't have any electric fence yet, so I took eight foot PVC pipes, wired them to the existing barbed wire fence t-posts, and then ran three strands of poly wire on top of the regular cattle fencing. I then drilled a hole in a batch of CDs, suspended them with wire and/or zip ties to the poly wire so that they would spin around the poly wire whenever the wind blew. Even when the wind was not blowing they served to let the deer know that there were three strands of wire at least eight feet high. Although this is speculation on my part the deer may also recognize the poly wire as electric since it is frequently used as electric fencing. At any rate it seemed to work. Our garden is right in the path the deer like to use to traverse our property. I had the PVC and CDs and the poly wire is very inexpensive give its versatility and quantity. Now, it wasn't very pretty but it did seem to be effective......at least this year.
Broilers raised in a chicken tractor are still a a caged animal just outdoors and not in a huge building. Open feeding is best as the diversity of insects and food is every where not just in a limited 12x12 cage.
That only works because you use Red ranger, not the Cornish cross, which fills out faster & you can process more in 24 weeks. I see you are a one operation, which is the real reason for the "Big" change. But for we farmer who have land & tractors, the mobile house are much more profitable
Scoganz I had issues with Hawks and owls. We build a 3 medium size shelters that are girls can take cover in. Basic triangle shape with white corrugated plastic added wheels to the back to move it around easier. It is almost like a chicken tractor just smaller and the girls will go in to hide but also get out of the sun. Got the idea from a pic I saw on Pinterest
Beautiful videos. You're truly giving back to the little guy. Heck with your love for regeneration, your love for humanity is inspiring.
After I move my tractor through the pasture I sprinkle daikon radish and winter rye seeds into the Pelosi the chickens leave then emulsify the Pelosi and seeds and inject them into the ground with a needle jet on the garden hose. Works great
Diego Footer. I can't tell you how much I love your videos. I'm getting everything ready for my first no-till garden next spring and I'm learning a ton from your wonderful videos.
we did a no till method this year with our garden, was by far the most fun and the most harvest we have ever had.
P.S. want to move chickens without any trouble? Get a big RC kid truck, fill it with maggots or any treat they love, just let them know, and drive the RC to where you want them to be. Pro tip, have some training wheels type of thing in it so they don't tip it, they will run fast. Quick and easy. There is another electrification of the feeder that will work wonders on having them move around but I will let you both figure that one out, wayyyy less work after it.
Always so happy to see animals being treated well. Thank you
Shut up because these chickens are gentrified food that poor ppl can't afford. All these ppl "treating animals right, or growing organic" are doing so because ATM the return on the marketing for these things allows more profit. A lot more profit. This is the gentrification of food. I don't support ppl who do this as long as they are only able to sell to more upper class ppl. Healthy, sustainable and humane practices don't mean anything if you aren't feeding the Amazon wharehouse workers and Walmart wharehouse workers of the world and are only feeding their corporate office counterparts.
we do a chicken tractor and and a chicken run for our chickens. our chicken run was built to go over our garden box to have them till the boxes. perfect way to fertilize
4:43 great use of a crappy bed liner! Great interview Diego. Thank you
Koo Laid good eye. It's my favorite of the shelters too. Light, doesn't tip over, works for sheep. Kids like to play on top, and there's no rusty metal to cut me or the kids.
Thanks
So cool to see your farm as a suggestion in my playlist! I know you don’t know me, but I remember you from our sojourn days, many many moons ago, in Louisville! It’s great to see how things are growing and changing for you all. We just bought a house, and only have about 3/4 of an acre, but we are gonna start layers in the spring with EPN, and a chicshaw :) this is giving me some new things to think about though! So awesome!
Lotta exciting possibilities with 3/4 of an acre. Good luck to you!
6:51 what does he mean by there is a lot of labor by catching up the chickens we have some neighbors that help us out with that, what does he mean can someone please explain?
Looks pretty cool, especially worth the open spaces.
How are these chickens not flying over the fencing? Our fly over 6 feet fencing. DO you clip their wings?
Really appreciated thanks for the video and valuable advices. Your farm looks very beautiful 💐💐💐
Instablaster...
I loved using the poultry netting to create a larger pen for our broilers, but it ended up not working for us because the owls began picking off birds at night, and it was too much work to corral them in a pen each night, so we went to the John Suscovich tractors. Keep up the great work, Luke, and thanks for the video, Diego! I've followed the podcast for a long time! Have a great 2018 season!
We have geese with our chickens for hawk protection. We do same system shown here but do have a tractor for when it gets freezing cold out. We are in Iowa.
Bonny - did you have a LGD like a Great Pyrenees?
This guys a hero
Good to know.... I like the idea of raising the birds this way...... and fertilizing the soil.
I agree
this is the correct way of handling pasture raised chickens. Many breeders keep the chickens in mobile coops where they eat the grass but they are stuck in the coop all the time this is not pasture raised this is pasture fed. Farmers who manage chickens in mobile chicken coops use the term pasture raised only to sell the most expensive eggs or meat are true charlatans. Pasture raised you leave the hens loose in the pasture all the time with the chicken coop open only closing it at night to protect against predators, they are free to go and come back to the henhouse when they want, they eat when they want and whatever they want this is the true way of pasture raised chikens.
What are you feeding them...?
Basically what I do. However, I have 7 x 7 tents I move around. One flock has taken to roosting under my canoe. I brood them in a tent on pasture day one.
Great video fellas ❤️
im really thinking we will be raising chickens next year, using similar method- i like chicken tractors so far, but would like to persue more space and less tractor moving(daily isnt cost effective for my context). Good stuff, thank you Diego!
Arenoso Farms what worries me is predators from the sky! Hawks and owls
@@user-ix5hm6oz5c roosters or guard geese should do the trick. I'm sure the turkeys help that he has as well, though it wasn't mentioned.
Would love to try this model... very very concerned with Aerial predators.. anyone have any tips on dealing with those....
I don't think this system works if aerial predators are a big problem. The only solution I have would be to have a smaller pen with more shelter area for them to run under if a bird of prey swoops down.
Use net for upper side protection
Fantastic video guys. This will really help me. I'm planning on starting my chicken enterprise this year. This is the exact same setup I'm trying to go with. My property has a LOT of hedge and juniper trees so on one hand I think that avoiding chicken tractors will allow me to better utilize the forage and decent amount of shelter provided by said trees. What I do wonder about is, will the trees allow a vantage point for hawks? Will a goose with the chickens help protect from hawks?
And can I say, Diego you are a fantastic speaker and interviewer. !!!!
Its been at least 2 years how did it go?
do you have them to sleep indoor? or where do the chickens sleep at night? Thanks
They roost under the shade shelters. But really it is wherever they want to go at night within the fence. They aren't directed anywhere.
@@DiegoFooter Thanks a lot for your info. Your info will definitely help a lot of people that want to do this professionally. Thanks again - from Canada
Can chickens live in a wooded area?
at 3:28 you talk about two other systems: salatin (which i know of) and "darby" (which i haven't heard of). can someone tell me where to learn more about the "darby" system please. thx
Tom Add Diego is referring to Darby Simpson. Diego and Darby do a weekly podcast called ‘Grass Fed Life’. Darby farms just outside of Indianapolis.
On the podcast:
www.permaculturevoices.com/grassfed
72hrs of podcast! whoaw... will have to figure out how/when to listen to that...
how is his system different than salatin? the only image i could find was gmap of property :S
Do you clamp their wings as they get bigger. I am asking this because of the height of the electric fencing. What advice will you give some that opt to do this in the city.
No wing clipping.
Any current updates on this system, is bird flu affecting system, thanks for all your important information.
System has morphed over the last five years. But bird flu isn’t one of the reasons. In general good management and sunshine keep pathogens down.
How much feed to you feed compared to non pastured chickens when they can spread out more and source their own food?
When raising a slower growing breed or raising birds in a less climate controlled environment, with lots of space for exercise you’re always going to be less fed efficient. Grain is so more nutrient dense than grass or the occasional bug. Even if they get 10% of their calories from salad, the inefficiencies are overcoming that calorie count. It’s more the quality of life, vitamins and exercise that we do it for.
Love the Great Pyrenees. They are tuff dogs. Great protectors
we had great pyrenees on our farm, they were the best animals. we raised sheep and they did great protecting the flock, also great with our kids
Love the breed but there life expectancy is short. Daughter owns one but with the dog being on a farm the life expectancy does increase and these dogs were meant to be on a farm or large piece of land
Great setup. Great ideas
maybe a silly question but how loud are they in the morning. They are all roasters right?
They’re too young to crow. Ducks and geese are much louder.
What about aerial predators ?
how many Hens per square meter or square foot & for how long before they alter the flora ?
We raise males or straight run broilers, just to be clear. But there is often times around 40 sq ft per bird in there. I move the infrastructure inside the netting daily and the netting gets moved every 4-7 days. If i want less impact, i just move the infrastructure further each time. Once they get to the end of the Paddock, I take off the back fence panel and add it into the front.
I have a question:
What type of grass seed or forage you use for the chickens ? Thank you.
If anyone know what type of grass it is. Would be appreciate it :)
Whatever grows best locally is fine. There is likely a mix of local grasses and legumes in any location around the world. Beyond that the chickens don't care.
Inspiring to see you putting so much thought and love into raising these chickens. I have no land to keep chickens but im interested in their welfare. Iv noticed when i buy free range eggs on some packs its stated that the chickens have been vaccinated against salmonella, do you know if this is standard practice for all free range eggs, do i need to switch to organic ? Im in UK
Wendy Bell I'm thinking you'll need to ask the farmers providing your local eggs. I don't participate in any organic labeling, don't raise eggs, and I'm not in the UK. So I would just suggest getting to know some local producers.
Which kind of chicken coop is suitable for chiken or hen in a warm area ? Chiken coop built of clay or mud or built of wood?
Please mention reasons if there are?
This is really interesting and I can see it as a better option than the chicken tractor. I do have a couple of questions. John Suskovich did an analysis on the amount of feed needed to bring CornishX, heritage breed, and Rangers to slaughter weight and found the Rangers were the least efficient. Does this full pasture model change that? What are the reggulations about selling meat at a farmer's market? Don't they have to be processed at an FDA facility if they are not sold on the property?
Rangers aren’t efficient at all, compared to Cornish x, no. Renovations vary by state. Usda or state bodies do the inspection at slaughterhouses.
We do this but with tractors and donkeys because of predators.. If a coyote jumps the fence a dog would have a hard time doing anything from the outside of the fence. The birds are free to roam during the day but closed up at night in the tractors for this reason and ease of moving before letting them out in the morning.
Our dogs patrol the whole property, and can absolutely jump this fence. We have coyotes in the neighborhood. But our dogs constantly patrol all night long, barking very loudly. We just don't see any coyote pressure on our whole farm, even though they are in the area. a cattle farmer 2 miles away shot 56 one winter.
I heard $5.50 per lb and that’s when I looked at the gate. In 2024 in getting $5.30 wholesale, closer to $8-$10 a lb retail now.
What about predictors
Please I want to know how this works during the raining season .
It works great. We have done it a few different ways. But now we just don't put the birds out quite as early as one might in a chicken tractor system. They are always out onto pasture by 3.5 weeks at the latest, and they do just fine. They know how to get under the shelters when they need to.
Hi Diego - informative video. how do you manage in rainy season - with lot of flowing water. Secondly- in winter- how you protect from elements? Regards Molefe
We’re don’t raise birds in winter. In rainy weather we give them an extra week in the brooder if necessary. Then we expect they go under the shelters in the rain
How many are you setting aside to breed? Or are you purchasing chicks from breeders then raising to slaughter?
All hybrid meat chickens are bought from a hatchery.
is $5.50 per lb the wholesale or retail price for a whole processed bird? and how much does the processed bird weight?
Retail. Over 4lbs
@@DiegoFooter nice, so what's the average cost to raise the bird to 4lbs?
12ish
@@DiegoFooter if it's $12 cost, then good profit margin :)
thanks Joel Salatin
Joel doesn't even raise birds like this.
@@DiegoFooter I thought his egg mobile was basically just this but bigger, but your right he doesnt do the meat birds like that
What is the forage? How often do the chickens come back to the same ground?
Neal Cummings with few exceptions, one time per year.
Neal Cummings orchard grass mostly in this section of the pasture. Fescue dominated with an array of forbs and legumes throughout over half of the farm.
Ok thank you. I've often thought about raising chickens like this and kind of fishing for info on the subject ,as well as how they are sold ? I'm guessing since you have them processed you must sell at farmers market , I wonder how can one get in to selling to distributors, grocery stores or meat markets?
Neal Cummings I also found it hard to locate examples of systems like this when we were getting it started. On that front and the marketing front, sometimes you just gotta try things to see what will work. Only thought on selling birds wholesale in the markets I have experience in is you've got to have some real economies of scale before you can afford to start selling at wholesale prices. There can be contextually relevant exceptions to that. But it's probably true most places I know of.
This reminds me of my uncle's stories when he used to raise chickens. He'll let them forage and sleep in the forest. When he goes to call on those chickens, some of them bring back some chicks with them
Yygf
Gotta have the LGD's for this to work. No roosting allowed either? Do they sleep in their poop?
There are roosts, but I believe Luke said most don't choose to use them.
As compared with chicken tractors, the degree to which there is any sleeping or standing in poop is dramatically diminished. We can tell on butcher day, because my butcher tells me he's amazed at how few of our chickens' feet pads end up burned by standing in manure. We have almost no damage to our chicken feet from this, which makes cleaning them a breeze on processing day.
What do You to the area after the birds are moved off reseed ? A cover crop ?
Nothing, just let it regrow. They don't wipe it out to bare dirt.
In the situation of raining, what do you do?
Nothing different than what you seed. The birds go under the shelters.
I didn't hear if the sheep were grazed first, then after three days the fowl. Isn't this needed for fly control & spreading the dung? Also, isn't alfalfa best at bringing up minerals? It re-mineralizes without needing rock dust.
Our sheep move across the landscape 10x faster than chickens. So we usually start them behind sheep. But the sheep nearly lap them around the farm. Fly control with sheep manure isn't as big of a concern as with cow, from my experience.
When I said remineralization, I was talking about the macronutrients as well as other nutrients. It probably wasn't the ideal term. But I was just saying there is need in this part of the farm for fertility to be transported there because of the hay and crop removal of the past. Chicken feed turned into manure achieves that goal quite well.
What is CFA
Are they organic
Okay hear me out a great way to move the chickens for moving cells or processing grab a couple friends and get a huge length of bright colored cloth and spread out and encircle the birds 9/10 times they’ll run away from the cloth
Dogs are the answer to predators, even the hawks. We use Kangals, and they are right in with the chickens.
Zach Galifianakis yours or a wild one? Just curious
This is really interesting! Does he raise chickens all year or just spring/summer/fall? Wondering how they stay warm
Spring/summer/fall like most pastured poultry folks in this biome. The last batch (finishing in coldest weather) gets to have chicken tractor access to the end. All the others have no walls after 4 weeks.
Groce Family Farm thank you!
they have little coats they wear............
Meat Birds, even the freedom Rangers tend to be cold hardy due to how fast they put on weight.
Hello. Which breed of this chicken. Please tell me?
Freedom ranger
I don't know who I would sell to. Of all the videos I've watch and research no one really talks a good deal about the market side and how and who to sell to. Could someone give me some insight on this?
Listen to some of the podcast episodes. This comes up a lot.
@@DiegoFooter I was butball that is available Is apple.
Awesome video sir. Thank you so much!
How do you keep away the hawks?
T'eni B'egi L'oju Igi Ti R'uwe we've employed a variety of strategies for aerial predators. Narrow paddock shape can discourage dive bombing by hawks. Also taller weeds at certain times, in some paddocks, can discourage them some too. The dog deters them some. And they do run under the shelters when they see danger. Usually it's only weaklings that get caught.
Can you pasture raise on non grass? I live in northern Nevada (desert) Can chickens forage, I mean I’m sure there are bugs and yummys here too right? I couldn’t find any chickens farms in nv
Sure. You could supplement greenery with fodder.
There will be a lot less for them to feed on if it's bare earth. The idea of the pasture isn't just the plants the hens graze on, but the amount of bugs & critters that are underneath. The interesting part about co-grazing with livestock is that the poultry remove some of the parasites, reducing the need to treat the livestock with wormers.
.. the sound is really good even when you are walking .. is this just standard sound recording with a gopro ?
I missed the sea schells ,like Cokkel and Mussel schells It is so very good for the Chicken.
Very good ideas!!
I like your chicken net (white with white posts), mind giving us a link to where to get it?
Annie Gaddis Google premier 1 fencing. They have the best portable electro netting, hands down.
good job 👍
Ty
Not much wind break.
Too many hawks here in Virginia for this to work.
Get a guard goose
Also, you could limit the distance between the mobile house and fence. This way it makes it uncomfortable for Ariel predators to land. "Richard Perkins" shared the concept with me in his pastured broiler system. That being said Ridgedale Farms is in Sweeden but he does indeed have Ariel predator threats
@@jackclark4356 bald eagles will take a goose.
@@jackclark4356 because a guard dog doenst make a lot of work, feeds himself and pays the bills for the doctor. cmon, its often not worth the costs to raise chicken in small scale, because people give shit about organic, free range chickens and buy the cheapest of the cheapest from big scale operations. then you want to protect by dog? would like to know how many broilers or hens you have to keep, just to get the costs for the dog.
i like the system of chickentractors. if you dont overcrowed them, its much better then losses to dogs/birds and a lot other predators. also they dont run in their own poop and the ground gets time to recover.
What brand is this mesh?
Premier 1
winter, snow and cold, what will happen to them?
They will have been processed by that time.
RATHER than feed grain with 12 % protien and 18% bioavailability........... try sprouting barley with 28% protien and 82% bioavailibility........... seems to me that to feed barley seed grains to be a waste with the above numbers.................I raise lots of chickens but not commercially and the birds love the barley. John
Our non GMO chicken feed is 21% protein, and I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 18% bioavailability. I don't think that our chickens are pooping out 82% of the nutrients in their feed. But more to the point, we've tried soaking and sprouting whole grains as a supplement on this scale. And even as a supplement it is very hard to get over some of the logistical hurdles when you try to scale the systems. As a full ration, the unanswered questions only increase. I'll give you a few examples:
Temperature variations: There isn't really any place on our farm where temps don't vary dramatically on our farm. Sprouting grains in a set system need variables to be consistent, or it needs more scarce time and energy invested.
Weight: where we have consistent running water and the ability to keep it under cover and control more variables, we end up 1000 feet away from where the chickens eat the grain. Transporting wet and/or sprouted grain becomes a bit more complex and back breaking.
Scale: 700 lbs per day of dry grain fed to omnivores is already a logistical hurdle. If you moisten it, that weight might triple. What containers are you using to transport it?
Amino acid/vitamin profile: will the sprouted grains actually increase nutrition, flavor, feed conversion, etc, or will they be missing something that is present in a complete feed? I'm not sure. But I know this works, and the work is manageable. There are too many questions about switching over in full to different feeds. And I may again try to supplement with sprouting again. But when you scale something and plan on paying your mortgage with it you have to consider a lot more variables and be wary of risks. 400 chickens coming in at 1.5 lbs lighter than expected because of an improperly considered feed change takes about $3200 out of my pocket, or almost all of my profits. That's not exactly a risk I would take on without some high degree of confidence.
Groce Family Farm sprouting or fermenting feed is a great practice to implement if at all possible
Groce family farm. Just want to mention that while I'm sure it might be heavier ( that depends more on just how much water it stll contains. I sprout on a very small scale currently, & it's not much at all heavier, but I barely cover it in water & soak/leave as-is, 1 or 2 days) but anyways, you won't be exactly feeding that same amount + whatever weight is added. Because, with sprouting, they will eat less of it.
diego, your last two click links lead to 'sorry not there' pages. the amazon and the support content link.
Thanks for the heads up, fixed mine. I can't seem to figure out the Amazon one. It should work even if it says it is broke.
how do you keep natural predators (snakes, fox and wolves) away from chickens?
Satheesh Kumar dogs and electric fences have worked for us.
Try also to plant the kamomila all around your poultry
@@yolak416 what's is that? I couldn't find it
@@ayileenenga9670 camomile, one would assume. research further first - dog/ electric fence/ moveable tractor are the ways to go for most locations.
@@puremusicdaz thanks for clarifying it
I am putting netting up over head and electric fence sections inside the netting. The hawks have gotten so many of my chickens and I don't believe a dog will prevent losses from hawks. No one counts thousands of chickens everyday to see their losses.
I believe dogs are the most important and effective deterrent we have, even for aerial predators. and I would never try this without them.
it's funny, I've been doing it this way for years.
Success or fail?
Seems like training a couple of herding dogs might work,lol, worth the try in rounding the chickens up.🐔🐕
Could be a good idea for some. We use amish teenagers, and planning ahead. Its just taken some time to figure out that pushing them into a tighter space on the last day makes the job go 3x faster.
Hola amigo, Saludos desde México, disculpa, ¿Cuántas gallinas tienen ahí? Y ¿Cuánto espacio es para las gallinas en m2?
Saludos, excelentes vídeos.
Dijo que tiene 370 y es el espacio de 200 pies por 70 pies. Si tu mueves las gallinas cada día solo necesitan 1.5 pies al día para que el impacto en la tierra no sea demasiado y tengan suficiente espacio para caminar. El puede tener esos animales en ese espacio 25 días si quisiera pero el los mueve cada 7 días. Ojalá esto te ayude.
Hawks?
Problem is loss to predators, especially flying ones, in some places is possible, in others is very hard. A movable shelter wouldn't be an horrible idea.
Who is this Greg guy that broods his own chickens? I'm looking to do the same but haven't really seen any farms that do it
Greg Burns @ Natures Image Farm.
I think at this point in the video I was talking about how he's brooding (first 2 weeks after mail order delivery) on pasture, as opposed to indoors.
We do this in Africa my grand parents does this
I notice that he has some turkeys in there, does that not cause issues with black-head disease?
That fall I had a couple struggling turkeys that needed a place to hang out while the bigger turkeys would have pecked them to death. The blackhead could have been a concern. But the bigger turkeys definitely would have been. In the end, these guys did recover and survive to slaughter date.
One concern I have is hawks.
Where they have fisheries they use wires that go across the tanks to keep the hawks from diving. Is this even feasible for land?
When i lived in indiana (i didn’t have chickens) but there were hawks EVERYWHERE. But there were rabbits everywhere so they didn’t bother anything other than rabbits and small birds. I’d say if you planted some rabbit food near the chickens you might entice the hawks away...
Every time we have had a open chicken pen the Hawks always rob us blind. Them and the Owls.
hawks are a pest, owls seem to be even worse around here
I saw a video where wire, string, etc. was strung across the top of the chicken pen with CDs suspended on the wire. This seemed to be an effective deterrent for flying predators. I have not tried this yet but will be using this approach next year. However I did utilize this idea this year for deer fencing. I didn't want to go to the expense of a solid wire fence high enough to keep deer out, and we didn't have any electric fence yet, so I took eight foot PVC pipes, wired them to the existing barbed wire fence t-posts, and then ran three strands of poly wire on top of the regular cattle fencing. I then drilled a hole in a batch of CDs, suspended them with wire and/or zip ties to the poly wire so that they would spin around the poly wire whenever the wind blew. Even when the wind was not blowing they served to let the deer know that there were three strands of wire at least eight feet high. Although this is speculation on my part the deer may also recognize the poly wire as electric since it is frequently used as electric fencing. At any rate it seemed to work. Our garden is right in the path the deer like to use to traverse our property. I had the PVC and CDs and the poly wire is very inexpensive give its versatility and quantity. Now, it wasn't very pretty but it did seem to be effective......at least this year.
Easy to catch chickens while it is still dark.
So these are meat only birds, right? Otherwise, weather stress would severely impact laying volume.
D&T Floyd that's right. meat birds only.
And the fox says...murdertime!
Catch ur chickens at night in the dark, it's so much easier ;)
Catch 2,000 chickens every night?
Kenny Rider he does 2000 a year not at once
Broilers raised in a chicken tractor are still a a caged animal just outdoors and not in a huge building. Open feeding is best as the diversity of insects and food is every where not just in a limited 12x12 cage.
That only works because you use Red ranger, not the Cornish cross, which fills out faster & you can process more in 24 weeks.
I see you are a one operation, which is the real reason for the "Big" change. But for we farmer who have land & tractors, the mobile house are much more profitable
Luke has tested several varieties on his farm including the Cornish Cross in this system.
Diego check out a go-to camera system straps to your forehead.
wow
Predators paradise
I have such a problem with hawks and my chickens this would never work.
Scoganz I had issues with Hawks and owls. We build a 3 medium size shelters that are girls can take cover in. Basic triangle shape with white corrugated plastic added wheels to the back to move it around easier. It is almost like a chicken tractor just smaller and the girls will go in to hide but also get out of the sun. Got the idea from a pic I saw on Pinterest
Provide shelter for them to hide under 🤙
Richard Perkins was doing something similar: ua-cam.com/video/erQn8vDK5Wo/v-deo.html
- Jeff
look like they are very counted bird.
seems like almost too much running around creating a really lean bird, hard to believe not more losses being in the open at night
Love your videos, but Holy Camera Shadow Batman! :)
Chicken hawk buffet....😬
But they have no where to go when it raíns? I can see you waking up after a rain and everything is dead... But this is just your second year!
There are portable shelters they can go under.