Girlfarm / Grow For Me Sustainable Farm and Teaching Center Gallus gallus domesticus For Small Sustainable Farms Or raising chickens the sustainable way
Why Sustainable Farming Growing up with farming and ranching people Leaving the farm Living out there Things that change how you see the world Why sustainability is imperative
Tenets Of Sustainability Commitment to farming with respect for the constraints of ecological systems Commitment to sustainability, the regeneration of rural and farming communities, and the value of genetic diversity Commitment to place the farm is not a moveable unit of production, but a neighborhood presence Decisions are made with knowledge of their ecological impact Farm systems that respect the requirements of nature, farm family needs, and personal values and goals Farming goals that address the community, the environment, education and quality of life as well as profit Commitment to farming as a way of life, not simply a means of making a living Respect for the ethological needs of all livestock (i.e. the five freedoms : freedom to stretch all limbs; freedom to groom; freedom to turn around; freedom to access adequate ventilation, light, food and water; and freedom to access company of like kind) Love and respect for nature and the soil Love and respect for hard work Concern for social justice and social and ecological responsibility Reverence for all life human, animal and vegetable Humility about the place of human beings in the scheme of nature Dedication to recycling, and to conserving and improving the quality of air, water and soil
Poultry As Part Of A Whole Conventional Wisdom Doing It Differently Creating Your Market Meat / Eggs Heirloom / Heritage Breeds Raising Your flock Disease prevention Current markets
Conventional Wisdom You can t make real money raising chickens
Unconventional Wisdom Gleaning and insect control are just one of the many ways pastured chickens add to the overall farm plan
What is real Money Residual discretionary income Income Vacations Retirement Return on investment Values Break even Meaningful Life Lifestyle Choice
Differently Pros Responds to consumer expectations Less high dollar investment upfront Maintains an additional add-on to the over-all farm income Sustainable over the long haul Creates conservation balance Cons Consumers are price conscious and can be fickle Longer period to break even Requires farm labor Requires hands on care
Create Your Market Sell the good egg Sell the pasture raised chook Provide the on-farm experience that adds value Set up a dynamic between the consumer who is ready to participate and the labor required to harvest, clean coops, build 1 3 less cholesterol chicken tractors Get the certificate so you can sell to local cafes, co-op even one of these will happily take all the eggs your chooks can produce New test results show that pastured egg producers are kicking the commercial industry's derriere when it comes to vitamin D! Eggs from hens raised on pasture show 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs. RESULTS FROM OUR PREVIOUS STUDY: Eggs from hens allowed to peck on pasture are a heck of a lot better than those from chickens raised in cages! Most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. That s the conclusion we have reached following completion of the 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project. Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain: 1 4 less saturated fat 2 3 more vitamin A 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids 3 times more vitamin E 7 times more beta carotene Keep your farm CLEAN and NEAT consumers are very aware of animal conditions make your farm that alternative to factory farming transparency is everything! These amazing results come from 14 flocks around the country that range freely on pasture or are housed in moveable pens that are rotated frequently to maximize access to fresh pasture and protect the birds from predators. We had six eggs from each of the 14 pastured flocks tested by an accredited laboratory in Portland, Ore. Mother Earth News October/November 2007
Happy Healthy Chicks Our Farm purchased 50 straight run chicks to add to our flock of 50 that arrived 50 survived. No antibiotics involved - however we believe it is the hatchery, the breed, and the brooder that make all the difference!
What is a Cage-Free Egg? The Meaning of Free-Range, Cage-Free, and other Egg Labels Are the hens really better off in these new conditions? There is no doubt that they are better off. BUT the images that the terms "cage-free" and "free-range" bring to mind to most people are pretty far from the reality of most chickens, whether laying hens or those used for meat. Who regulates these labels? There is very little actual regulation, but there are some definitions published by the USDA which are called "Trade Descriptions". Although they are voluntary, apparently most poultry farms conform to these standards. What is a cage-free egg? This simply means that the hens are not kept in cages, though there are no regulations to govern care beyond that. What is a free-range egg? Free-range chickens are (according to voluntary regulations) supposed to have "access to the outdoors" however, by many reports, the care of many of these hens is structured so that they are very unlikely to go outside. The doors are not opened until the hens are of an age where they are likely to keep doing what they are used to doing, and when the (usually small) doors are opened, they usually don't go outside. What are organic eggs? There are regulations to govern what can be called organic. The chickens must be fed organic feed (grown without commercial fertilizers or pesticides), and not given hormones or antibiotics. This has nothing to do with how the animals are kept, however. What is "humanely-raised"? Humane Farm Animal Care, has a certification process, which includes no cages, and hens having at least 1.5 square feet of floor space. Free-range hens must have outside access, and doors to the outside "must allow more than one hen at a time to exit". De-beaking is allowed, but some of the more barbaric practices common to traditionally-raised hens (such as "forced moulting" where hens nearly at the end of their laying are deprived to food, water, and light for days to weeks to produce one more bout of egg-laying) are not. What are "pastured" or "pasture-raised" hens? According to the USDA Trade Descriptions, "birds are raised outdoors using movable enclosures located on grass and fed an organic diet (without hormones or non-organic additives) and/or raised without antibiotics (drugs that are intended to prevent or treat animal illnesses)". The advantage to pasture-raised eggs is that the hens are able to eat a wide variety of the natural food of chickens -- greens, grubs, etc. Not only do many people find these eggs to be much tastier, but there is accumulating evidence that the eggs from these hens have better nutritional profiles less cholesterol, less fat but more healthy Omega-3 fat, and more of other nutrients such as Vitamin A, lutein, vitamin E, and beta-carotene. What about "Omega-3 eggs"? Eating out in the pasture is not the only way for eggs to get more Omega-3 fats in them some hens are fed flax seed, which also dramatically increases the amount of omega-3 fat in the yolks of the eggs.
Meat and Eggs Laws Heirloom / Heritage Breeds Raising Your flock Current markets
NEVADA The Law. The agency responsible for inspections in Nevada is the State Board of Health. 25 It is illegal to sell uninspected poultry products in Nevada. The federal exemptions for small-scale producers and processors do not apply in Nevada. Individuals who want to process and sell poultry must have a state permit. The permitting process requires their facilities to be inspected by the state Board of Health, and there must be an inspector present when birds are processed. Owner/operators of poultry processing facilities may be tested and certified as an inspector for their own processing facility. Agency Contact. Those wishing additional information concerning poultry inspection in the state of Nevada should contact: Laws For Broilers CALIFORNIA California law specifically exempts from inspection all poultry meat which is derived from poultry which is slaughtered, dressed, and sold on the premises where it is produced for purposes other than resale, if the entire poultry meat output of the producer of such poultry is so sold. 3 Therefore, those producers whose entire poultry business consists of slaughtering, dressing and selling poultry products on their farm are exempt from inspection requirements so long as they sell to individuals who are not going to resell the poultry product. The California law is among the few laws to have been challenged on constitutional grounds but the challenge was unsuccessful. The law creating the exemption for on farm processing is still in place. 4 Agency Contact. California Department of Food and Agriculture 1220 N. Street, Suite 409 Nevada State Board of Health Sacramento, CA 95814 916-654-0433 916-654-0403 (fax) 1179 Fairview Dr. Carson City, NV 89701 775-687-6353 775-687-5197 (fax) Nevada Department of Agriculture 350 Capitol Hill Avenue Reno, NV 89502 775-688-1182 775-688-1178 (fax) HACCP University of Nevada 5895 Clean Water Way Reno, NV 89502 702-857-3663 702-857-3666 (fax) 25 NEV. HACCP Department of Agriculture 1220 N Street Room A-125 Sacramento, CA 94814 916-654-0504 916-654-2608 (fax) 1 CAL.
Laws For Shell Eggs Nevada California Producers certificate Follow US shell Egg Standards and grading requirements Follow US Shell Egg Standards and grading requirements May not use the word farm fresh if over thirty days old Temperature/sanitary handling requirements Grade shall be not lower than B for on farm sales
Heirloom/Heritage Chickens Sussex Wyandottes Dominique Dark Cornish Jersey Giant Delaware Americana Orpington
Americana, Sussex, and Cochin
The Brooder Must be draft free Bedding should be hay or straw not shavings or hulls Must have warm lamp (red lamps prevent picking keep temps 90-95 degrees for the first week drop 5 degrees each week until you reach 70 degrees. Chicks that crowd around the bulb are too cold chicks that stay at the edge of the brooder are too hot. 18 is a good height for the lamp. Pasty butt you are the one to determine survival clean it! Additives to the water if you must :Poultry Enzyme Solution PB-20 or we use ground up alfalfa meal and cranberry meal, chamomile tincture. Must have fresh water always! Dipping beaks upon arrival is imperative. Food should be a healthy organic or naturally grown chick starter with appropriate chick grit
The Coop The Chicken Tractor The Pasture
The Coop Room to roost Room to nest Safety from predators Access to fresh water Access to feed Room to scratch and dust Consider the light in winter Consider the draft Consider the ease of mucking Consider the ease of collecting eggs
Photos courtesy Oakwood Farm Chicken Coop/ Backyardchickens.com
THE CHICKEN TRACTOR Design limited only by your imagination Provides safety while the chickens are allowed fresh pasture, insects, and plenty of sunshine Excellent weeders/rototillers if left in one spot for a few days Joe Salatin of PolyFace Farms Egg mobile Photo courtesy of Polyfacefarms, Inc. No chicken poo clean up and free Fertilizer! Even better they clean up the bugs as they move through your pasture!
Check out the wheels!
The Pasture
Although pastured poultry is a high-labor enterprise, especially for small-scale startups, the participants and their customers were happy with the final product and believe pastured poultry enterprises help build community. Team up with another farmer or other pastured poultry producers in the area - sharing brooding and processing facilities, marketing together, and buying inputs together reduces costs considerably. One field pen has about $100-150 worth of lumber, chicken wire, screws, and tin. Other materials include chicken waterer and feeders. Processing equipment can be expensive. However it is a piece of equipment that can be shared in fact, if each farmer were to participate in one small part of our sustainable model every month there would be a different farm harvesting the chickens. Limited resource farmers need value-added agricultural enterprises that will allow them to start small and gradually build an operation as needed, without incurring substantial debt. Pastured poultry Is a sustainable livestock production system that integrates well with other farm enterprises and can help keep more family farmers on their land. Has the potential to provide jobs in rural areas and aid in community development through added income and youth involvement. Indirect benefits Profits may not be high initially. There are other indirect reasons for raising pastured poultry, such as improving pasture fertility, increasing farm diversity, family work ethics, community involvement and improving lifestyles. Farmers may simply want to raise chickens for home use, family and friends. As experience and production increase, profits increase as
Health management in organic and/or natural poultry production is primarily based on disease prevention through implementation of a bio security plan. While implementation of a cost-effective bio security plan is very important, it is also critical to have a plan in place to react to any health crisis that may occur. There are three parts to an overall health management plan 1. A bio security plan which is key to reducing the risk of health problems on your farm. 2. It is important to monitor the health of the flock since early detection of a problem is key to reducing the economic impact of any health problem experienced. a. Everyone working with your flock should know what clinical signs to look out for. b. A specific time should be set aside daily to just stand still and observe your flock. Once the flock has settled down, birds that are only mildly ill may be seen. When things quiet down in the barn, abnormal respiratory sounds, called a snick can be heard. The sounds may have a variety of characteristics such as a high-pitched squeak, a sudden chuck sound, like a cough, or a gurgling or rattling sound. c. It is important to keep good records of daily activities and observations, feed and water consumption, production (egg production or growth rate), and mortality 3. You should have in place a reaction plan in the case of a health problem. You need to know what to do prior to the problem occurring so that the time lag between detection and reaction to the problem is kept to a minimum. a. This includes first diagnosing problem you can not decide what to do if you do not know what the problem is. It is good to have a list of things to check including the proper functioning of the feed, water, heating and ventilation systems. b. The second step is correcting the problem whether that is a management change or treating a disease.
The Current Market Great Basin Co-op On Farm Sales Farm Stands CSA Farmers Markets Local restaurants Pooled sales with other farmers