Raising Broiler Chickens on Pasture
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- Raising Broiler Chickens on Pasture
In this free, one-hour workshop, Livestock Specialist Christine Hernandez discusses our Pastured Poultry Operation here at Heifer USA, including schooner design and setup, breed health and standards, as well as equipment necessary to raise happy, healthy, and profitable broiler chickens on pasture. Watch the full video to see Christine's answers to audience questions on infrastructure, equipment, and more! Check out the links below to find products we use in our schooners and resources we use to learn even more about raising pastured broilers.
🧱 INFRASTRUCTURE & EQUIPMENT 🧱
🐓 Featherman Prairie Schooner: www.featherman...
💦 Little Giant Game Bird Bowls: amzn.to/3vIW5uj
🥡 Kuhl 35 lb. Hanging Feeder: amzn.to/3zKZxYI
🍎 Organic Apple Cider Vinegar: amzn.to/3dhBas7
🌾 VersaTote Grain Cart: www.protatch.c...
📚 EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES 📚
🐓 American Pastured Poultry Producers Association: apppa.org/
👂 Pastured Poultry Talk by Mike Badger: pasturedpoultr...
📘 Pastured Poultry - Fourth Edition by Jeff Mattocks: amzn.to/3qcVnV8
📗 Pastured Poultry Profit$ by Joel Salatin: amzn.to/3wLsjGG
📕 Encyclopedia of Animal Predators: amzn.to/3j4D5E5
Subscribe to Heifer USA: bit.ly/3sGaTZC
Follow us on social media: linktr.ee/heif...
Heifer USA trains farmers, gardeners, and homesteaders in regenerative agriculture, combining sustainable horticulture and market gardening with ethical, regenerative livestock management, implementing proven methods to improve soil health. We offer virtual training through livestreams, workshops, and long-form video tutorials. Subscribe to be notified every time we publish a new video with information to improve your farm, ranch, or organic garden!
DISCLAIMER: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
![Stop Losing Money Feeding Your Chickens [Complete Guide]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_f8pdlh2yOE/mqdefault.jpg)
Beautiful content! Thanks Heifer for putting this up. Looking forward to more such informative contents from you guys. 🙌🏽😇
Thanks for your support! Stay tuned for new farming education videos every week!
@@HeiferUSA le ponen doblaje como los otros videos
@@HeiferUSAhave you seen anyone use the Yoder schooner for egg layers in Winter? I’m in Oregon with relatively mild winters but I’d like to move my birds into a structure like this for winter (Nov-Feb). I’m also considering getting a high tunnel that I can add wire to… I just don’t know what works best!!
Still good 2.5 yrs later thanks for your time and knowledge
Christine kicks A**! 💪
We're so thankful to have such a knowledgeable and experience specialist on our team!
Great video. Tons of valuable information! Thank you.
So glad you found value in our content! Thanks for your support.
I appreciate your presentation. Thank you very much
you are most welcome. thank you for watching.
Great vid thanks for this info more power
You're welcome!
Great job, kids! Cocklebur is bad. If chickens can eat it and not get sick, then I applaud them.
Thanks, Mar!
greeting from Malaysia
Hi! Thanks for watching, Albert!
@@HeiferUSA Do you have the latest video on your farm. Tq
Your videos Verry perpack give me iducation and experion. Thank. 😀👍👍
Glad you like them!
Good nice Beautiful brother👍 Greetings one hobby from Indonesia
Thanks so much! Hope you're well.
Great stuff
thank you guys for sharing your great great ideas! i really appreciate it.
Thanks for watching! Subscribe for new videos every week!
Good idea. Hope to start one here in Kenya
Go for it! Thanks for watching :)
18:38 min Turkey schooners from Yoder's Repair Shop.
Great info
Thank you! Glad it was helpful.
Very good Gro... your chicken 🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔🐔 very nice.....
Many many thanks
Will you ever sell your hats and t-shirts? They’d be terrific holiday gifts!!
I've raised and processed 40 freedom Rangers. I'm currently raising 30 cornish rock chickens. I raise them in a chicken tractor I built myself.
Awesome! We've found that Cornish Cross work best here at Heifer Ranch. Best of luck with your birds!
Chickens are delicious and healthy dishes if you are a good cook
And there are so many great ways to prepare it! Thanks for chicking out our video A S!
This is an awesome video. I have seen so many of your videos. You are so right about Christine. She is a really SUPER STAR.
How many acres of land does Heifer ranch use a year to raise 30,000 chicken on pasture land?
Thank you so much! Thanks, Aderemi! Each schooner holds about 500 birds and requires approximately three to four acres of quality pasture.
Awesome content... Thank you for the video. I'm working with 2 acres and hope to achieve similar results
beautiful content.
Thank you kindly
I love heifer farms.
Thank you, Adam!
If you are interested in coming for an extended visit check out this opportunity: www.heifer.org/usa/volunteer.html
Well done, Christine talks at exactly the right level.
What do you think of having sheep in the same field?
Isn't Christine a wonderful teacher? We're so glad to have her on our team!
Our goal is to spread animal impact across the Ranch, so we don't put two types of livestock into the same paddock unless necessary. We rotate our sheep regularly, but tend to keep them separate from the chicken schooners.
Beautiful
That's awesome! We hope you enjoy the content. You are welcome here anytime :)
good idea
Many many thanks
Hello
First of all thank you for giving us this information.🙏
If u can plz tell us , how much budget person needs to start with to raise at least 10 000 chickens?
Thanks ❤
Hello, Heifer USA officials who made this useful video for us. I'm following you from Türkiye. I think when raising meat chickens on pasture, the chickens are not left outside of schooners or chicken tractors. However, in laying hen farming, chickens can also go out into the sunlight outside of schooners or chicken tractors. Is this thought correct? If I'm thinking correctly, I would like to ask three questions based on this.
1-) How many square meters of area is required per chicken when raising broiler chickens using a schooner or chicken tractor in the pasture?
2-) In raising laying hens using a schooner or chicken tractor, how many square meters of total area is required per chicken, both inside and outside the schooner and chicken tractor?
3-) How many turkeys are there on the schooner where the turkeys are placed?
Hoping you will reply, I thank you in advance and send you my love and greetings from Türkiye.
Awesome videos by Christine Hernandez. She is a really SUPER STAR.
How many acres of land does Heifer ranch use to raise 30,000 chicken on pasture land?
Thanks, Aderemi! Each schooner holds about 500 birds and requires approximately three to four acres of quality pasture.
Grate video
thanks!
Do you have your Hatcheries vaccinate for Coccidiosis? Or anything else? Such great content...no need to review any other videos.
What was total cost of the build? How many rolls of chicken wire did you need to cover a single schooner?
plz post new structure Assembling Vedio
Good idea! We'll consider it.
Am Mary do you vaccine the chicken from day one
Would love to see that spreadsheet, if it’s available? Running my first batch of pastured broilers here at 65 degrees North.
Hi, Henri. Just sent you an email with the records log attached!
How many chickens yearly do you have to raise in other to afford to pay 2 daily labor workers?
awesome knowledge based information & discussion related to the broiler growth management issues & pasture based barn ( Schooner ) # i want to know what is the reason & benefit to raise these chickens in pasture instead of concrete house ??? 2nd after sun goes down do these chicken need light ??? 3rd if temperature increases above 80 F how U cool the air in schooner ??? 3rd when U shift the chicks in pasture at 2 weeks age what temperature do these chicks tolerate ??? 4th micro stones U provide for these chicks to move food particles from their esophagus to stomach , do they not cause erosions or lacerations in esophagus or stomach or intestine ??? 5th Chickens do love vegetables but they do not eat all kinds of grass so what is the benefit of pasture grass ?? 6 th at which weight do U slaughter these chickens ??? 7 th if the air flow is low do U provide fans inside schooner to maintain chickens body temperature ??? 8th do U debeak them while they are chicks ??? 9th do U vaccinate at the 1st day of hatching & do U use needle for vaccination or do U mix vaccine in their drinking water ???
Please make a vedio how to take profit from broiler Chiken in all season's, Vedio made in three part
How to take profit in summer
How to take profit in winter
How to take profit in rain
That's a great suggestion! Thanks for the idea!
Do you think I could do 600 by myself?
I know this is an older video and you might’ve covered it. I might’ve missed it, but do you all restrict feed at night?
Hey Strope Farms! We don't!. Only before they head to processing.
How many death mortality usually before processing? And how many months you keep them before processing?
Great questions! Our pastured chickens go to processing after 50 days (around 7 weeks). Mortality rates fluctuate with the seasons - in rainy season, we may see increased deaths related to flooding; in the summer, we may see more heat-related deaths. In general, though, our mortality rates stays around 3% of the total flock.
Sorry if this has been asked already, but is heifer farms a commercial model or direct to consumer?
Direct to consumer as part of grass roots farmers cooperative
I am thinking about open my own farm?
Cool! You can do it! You might find this video we made on starting a farm helpful: ua-cam.com/video/b3So3oIsnxg/v-deo.html
What are some tips for finding buyers of the final product?
Great question, Monica! definitely start with friends and family then you can pursue farmers markets, online shops, and local business outlets.
is it possible to Share complte iron structure Details
we don't have them. we purchased these from a company.
may i know where is joint's it is use full for me.thank you for quick reply. thanks for your reply
Can you please share the schooner design?
hi walid. check out prairiechooners.com
Thanks for sharing this great videos and tips. Could i get a copy of daily log template please. Thanks
Hi Itus! You can download it here along with several other great resources we put together: bit.ly/3EEorKO
How often do you move the chicken tractor?
We move our chicken schooners every day, rain or shine!
How do you control pests and predators.
Livestock Guardian Dogs
THANKS HEIFER... do you have branch in tanzania?
Hi collman. Thank you for stopping by our channel. You can learn more about Heifer International's work in Tanzania here: www.heifer.org/about-us/where-we-work/tanzania.html
Could you set traps around the schooner, kill the predators, and feed them to your pigs?
We don't tend to have many issues with predators. Our livestock guardian dogs do a great job of warding off any potential threats.
Is it possible to clean? Is it possible to protect from contamination due to rodents, ants and insects?
We move it every single day to fresh grass, which keeps it very clean.
How often do you move your pens ?
We move our schooners every morning, rain or shine!
Hi
hellooooo
How $ do you get per bird?
Hi Glenn! All our products are sold through the Grass Roots Farmers Cooperative online, you can check out their website for pricing information. Thanks for watching!
at what age can they go on pasture, broilers at 5 wk on pasture is a bit last minute, where are they from day 1-7
Hi Pete! Welcome to the channel. You can learn about the entire process we go through for raising chickens on pasture from day one in this video ua-cam.com/video/oPUhpFREdTg/v-deo.html
How do you keep snakes rats out and other predators?? Thanks
livestock guardian dogs
Tell me about profits 3000 birds
Working on that info for you!
Christine, do you ever run cattle ahead of the chickens Thanks
Hi Darrel, we rotate our chickens to whatever pasture they are needed on most, and usually keep the cows out of those pastures while they have chickens in them. However, those same pastures will have cattle on them the following season usually.
What is the mortality rate compared to conventional poultry grower? Can this be feasible in Africa and economically profitable?
I wonder what happens during heavy rain season in Africa.
Hi Columba! We don't know the conventional poultry mortality rates, but ours are very low. Contact a local grower in your area to see what might be working best! Check out the UA-cam channel FarmUP He is in africa and doing a great job!
How do you deal with the rats that are attracted by the chicken feed?Daksi from South Africa
1. There aren't very many rats in our pastures, if any. 2. The chickens and the livestock guardian dogs do a good job of keeping any unwanted rodents and predators away in the pastures.
How many days does it take for the chicken to become two pounds?
Hi Neaz! To see a complete video on how we raise chickens on pasture every step of the way watch this! ua-cam.com/video/oPUhpFREdTg/v-deo.html
Breed- Noilers, broilers and then turkeys
Number of birds- 100
Let me know please during pasture raising, do we need same vaccination schedule as we follow the during the control shed?
Awesome video! Do you use the same feed from hatch to harvest? About how many pounds of feed do you use per batch?
Thanks for watching! For a complete breakdown on our pastured poultry operation from start to finish check out our video "Raising 20,000 chickens on pasture COMPLETE" ua-cam.com/video/oPUhpFREdTg/v-deo.html
I got a big question million-dollar question I know it's cheap to get all the birds but how much does it cost to feed the birds for their lifetime.$20,000 birds that's what I'm buying right now it would be nice to know how much it cost to feed them
hey great questions. we are working on gathering more financial data to share with our viewers as we speak. stay tuned.
How can you control the heating system in snowy winter & what would be the room temperature levels please?
Hi Neaz, we don't raise poultry in the winter. Our season is generally from late Feb to late Nov.
How can I build a poultry shade in New York State ? Who will advise me please?
Hello. Can I just ask how big your land is?
Heifer Ranch sits on 1,200 acres in Perryville, Arkansas. Thanks for asking!
how long do you keep a batch in a schooner? And the feed do you give commercial feed or homemade?
Hi Andre! You can learn about our entire process in this video: ua-cam.com/video/oPUhpFREdTg/v-deo.html
could we get a link to download the broiler record sheet you described. Thanks
Yes, we'd love to share! Please email us at heiferusa@heifer.org and we'll be happy to send it your way.
Hi, I am Ameda A commercial farms developer and poultry raising technician from Kenya in East Africa.
Can layers breeds perform well on pasture raising like broiler breeds does?
Also how can I come to your farm for voluntary internship and to raise my experience in flock management.
Hi David! Yes! Generally pastured layers is the same as pastured broilers (moving every day or every couple days to a new spot on pasture) but with a different type of housing that includes nests - called an ‘egg mobile’. From what I’ve seen on pastured layers, a lot of the time they are day ranged with poultry netting or free ranged with access to the egg mobile. There are many different designs of structures used. You can learn more about our residential volunteer program here: www.heifer.org/usa/volunteer.html
Why did you settle on the schooner style vs. Joel Salatin’s model?
I’d guess it’s down to the scale of the operation. 30,000 birds a year in batches of 3,200, that would take a lot of Saladin style tractors compared to six schooners.
Gulsum is correct. It really is due to our scale.
How old to this Chiken
The information is in the video!
it's 1/2" cable
Are they eating organic? And can I volunteer for free on your ranch? I'm canadian
Hi Hokiss! Yes we have a residential volunteer program. You can learn more and apply here: www.heifer.org/usa/volunteer.html
And you can watch this livestream we did to see and learn a little more about what life is like at Heifer Ranch: ua-cam.com/video/kTu7NuOQq1Q/v-deo.html
GD, Christine is so fine, omg!
Broilrs
Is there company that takes the chickens to slaughter.
hmm in what region/area?
Those chickens all look sick. they all need some sun
Likely you see them panting in the heat.
Please what do mean by raising chickens on pasture
When we say "raising chickens on pasture," we mean raising our chickens in semi-open outdoor buildings called chicken schooners. These structures allow our chickens to eat grass, bugs, plants, and anything else they can find on the floor, or the pasture where the schooner is located. Instead of being raised in crowded, dirty barns, our chickens are raised on grass.
This method leaves the chicken manure in the pasture, which makes our soil healthier and improves the pasture. It also means our chickens are usually happier, healthier, and easier to raise!
Anyone interested in poultry farming in Virginia should check out the Blackbird Cooperative!
Where would you sales all the 30,000 chickens at once? Who would be the costumes?
Hello...very good content...I am an engineer myself but thinking about starting a chicken farm...these videos you have created have been a great boost for confidence...Please keep up the good work...:)
Quick few questions: Do you raise the egg-laying chickens separately? Do chickens in the tractor lay eggs? What do you do with roosters if you get chicks from some other poultry/farm(Learnt from some older videos of yours that you get chicks and then raise them, wasn;t sure if that's from your own farm or not)?
We're so glad you found our videos informative and enjoyable!
We currently don't raise laying hens at Heifer Ranch - only broiler chickens, which are harvested for meat. We order chicks from an external hatchery, and we receive both male and female chicks. Hens typically don't start laying eggs until they're 6 months old, and our chickens are processed when they're 7-8 weeks old, so we've never had an issue with egg-laying in the schooner. Great questions!
thank you for your sharing us about farmer life. I could learn and got a lot of experience with this content. My chicken will learn to live on pasture. I'm waiting for your next video. Thank you.
We're so glad to help! Be sure to subscribe to our channel to be notified every time we post a new video!
please tell me how much it will cost to set up like this
As usual, you didn't disappoint. Thanks for the great content.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Nice video, thanks. Sorry if I missed it, but how much do you profit per chicken in this system? I'm looking at doing a somewhat scaled down version of this and I'm curious about the cost/profit ratio.
Great question! Our profit margins are a bit different because of the infrastructure required to sustain our large production scale, but the average profit for other farmers in our co-op (using similar methods and equipment) is about $3.00-$3.50 per bird.
I watch your official video and enjoy the video very much
We're so glad to hear it!
Great content. I have never farmed a day in my life but this content really gets me thinking about doing something. Can you tell me if I understood correctly and clarify something for me?
- 9 batches of 3200.
- New Batches started every 4-5 weeks.
- Each Batch would occupy 6 Schooners
In other answers to comments you said each schooner would need 3- 4 acres. So each batch needs 18-24 acres. So since you do 9 batches does that mean you cover 162-216 acres or can you go back over some acres through out the year with later batches?
How large is your brooder building and does it fit 3200 chicks at once? Does it have a concrete floor under all the wood chips or is it dirt?
You did understand correctly! We generally avoid going back over areas we've already crossed during the same season, but occasionally we will, if necessary. Generally, we let our pastures rest between batches of chickens, so waste products can break down and the forage can grow back for the next batch that comes along.
Our brooder is 30' by 100' with a concrete floor, and it can comfortably fit all 3200 chicks! Great questions!
@@HeiferUSA Awesome! Thanks for answering all my Q's. Oh wow, yah 3200 chicks for 3000 sq seem way plenty based on the other info I was able to glean. What would you say is the min space for chicks? Is there a certain formula one can use like the formula for 1.5 sq per chicken in a prarie schooner?
Great video! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for watching! We're glad you enjoyed it!
I’m from Sacramento
Awesome! Thanks for watching
Where is the water source?
We installed a water line in to the middle of the pasture and run very long garden hoses from there.
I wonder if you can get large enough tarps with an outer reflective radiant barrier to reflect the radiation away so it doesn't heat the inside.
That's a great idea!
Thanks for being so generous with your time and knowledge.
Any time
This one how much
not sure what you are asking.
Hi I live close to Bakerfield California I never seen something like that I would like to give a try, any suggestions?
check with your local area farmers!
Thanks I asked the question b4 watching full video
you bet
hi,,great video,,,,very imformative,,,,,is it possible to get a copy of the record sheet
yeah! download it here: bit.ly/3wHJ32s
Who do you purchase your Ross 308s chick's from. How many pounds of feed does each chicken eat from day1 to processing
We source from Keith Smith Co in central Arkansas. Each chicken consumes approximately 2.8 lbs feed per lb of carcass weight. So 2.8 x 4.50 = 12.6 lbs per bird
Please tell me , thickess of roofing sheet?
From india
Greetings! used billboard tarps come in a variety of weights and thickness. Ours are usually around 9oz and thickness ranges from 11 to 17 mil.