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Pastured Poultry
25
items Chickens and turkeys thrive living outdoors eating bugs and grass and just plain running around. Learn what it takes to raise these feathered foul. Our family has been doing this for 28 years so I can share with you some tips for the trade!
Sections
3
Cornish Cross Meat Birds
Pastured Laying Hens
Washing eggs
Cornish Cross Meat Birds
Chicken for supper is delicious, especially if you raise it yourself! This breed of meat bird is what our farm has raised and sold for years.
We've been raising chicks for 28 years. Its funny because they actually come in the mail! ( at least ours do). There is nothing quite like raising your own food, whether it be eggs or meat. You know where it comes from, what the animal was fed and t...
Baby Chicks - Chickens for Sale
When you receive your meat chicks you need to keep them warm. It is essential. Since we raise 100-200 at a time, we need a bigger brooder hood like this. You'll need a propane tank to fuel it.
Brooder Heaters & Lamps For Sale - Farmer Boy
When we started raising chickens this is the book we used as our guide. We've tweaked the way we do things now, but this is a very good book to get someone started farming chickens.
Pastured Poultry Profits by Joel Salatin
We have a small building that we use to brooder our baby chicks but most people dont. Here are a few ideas to help you set up a brooder that works for you.
The Ultimate Guide to Setting Up a Chick Brooder
Shavings are a must when bedding your new chicks. We use the bigger flaked chips. It is absorbent and comfortable for your new little friends.
Shavings at Tractor Supply Co.
Simple paper plates are what we use to encourage our new chicks to eat. We spread them all around the brooder and sprinkle chick starter ( feed) on them so they have no problem finding their food.
Paper Plates - Walmart.com
We feed our animals non gmo grain. We feed our chicks non gmo chick starter 21 percent protein.
Nature Smart Chick Starter Grower Feed - Nutrena Feeds
These heat lamps are needed to keep your chicks warm. They also can double as a regular light in your chick area if you use a regular bulb.
Heat Lamps For Chicks at Tractor Supply Co.
We love these fencers. They are made well, they are lightweight, portable and deliver a strong shock. They will keep your meat birds where they need to be.
Electric Fence Energizers - Premier1Supplies
These lightweight, portable battery operated fencers are very useful when pasturing your birds. Very effective.
Electric Fence Energizers - Premier1Supplies
This portable, movable fence is perfect for posturing your meat birds. The fence is strong, lightweight and easy to move. A must have when rotating your birds.
Electric Fence and Netting for Poultry - Premier1Supplies
We add sugar to our chick's water when we first let them out of their boxes. It gives them an extra boost!
Great Value Sugar in Sugar - Walmart.com
Pastured Laying Hens
We raise laying hens on our farm. In the winter months they are in a building eating non gmo grains. From May to November however, we pasture them. We rotate to new grass every week or two. They still need the non gmo grain, but they sure do love t...
We get out poultry netting from Premier. It is good solid, lightweight, portable fence. Perfect for keeping the hens in and the predators out....you do need a fencer however.
Electric Fence and Netting for Poultry - Premier1Supplies
We find these lightweight, portable fencers are key to the success of protecting our pastured birds safe from predators. It gives a nice jolt. Also, this shock keeps our birds in. Helpful. No chasing to catch them!
Electric Fence Energizers - Premier1Supplies
There are many kinds of nesting boxes to choose from. They all work well. If you can find some that have a removable bottom, that helps keep the nesting area, and eggs clean!
Poultry Nesting Boxes at Tractor Supply Co.
Premier offers a battery powered portable electric fencer that works very well. It delivers a strong shock, is lightweight and portable.
Electric Fence Energizers - Premier1Supplies
We acmake chicken feeders out of long packs pipe cut in half lengthwise. Add wooden feet to two pieces of pvc pipe bolted together and you have a handy, portable chicken feeder.
PVC Pipe - The Home Depot
We use these type of containers to water our birds. We fill them then flip them upside down into a plastic dish made from a cut off barrel top.
Legacy Food Storage Emergency Water Container 15
Well, when you have eggs, you'll definitely need egg cartons to put them in!
Egg Cartons at Tractor Supply Co.
Its easier to collect eggs when you have an egg basket to put them into. We like the wire ones.
Barn & Stable Center - Poultry - Egg Collecting - CountryMax
If you want your hens to lay eggs with firm shells they will need this important calcium supplement. We just put it in a low container in their pen and they eat it as they need it.
Coastal Oyster Shell, 50lbs. - CountryMax
Washing eggs
Even though it's good to have an unwashed egg...because the " bloom" keeps bacteria out, we wash our eggs to sell at local farmer's markets. Here are some ideas to help with getting your eggs clean.
We've tried different ways to clean our eggs, Dawn dish soap seems to work the best.
Dawn Dish Soap in Dawn - Walmart.com
This is what I use to wash my eggs in. It is a good size and works very well.
Dishpan Tub - Walmart
After washing your eggs and they are dry, we put them in cardboard egg cartons to keep them from cracking.
Egg Cartons at Tractor Supply Co.
After cartoning our eggs we put them into these 15 dozen eggs boxes. These make it much easier to handle the eggs when we bring them to our farmer's market.
Egg Shipping Boxes & Cases, Corrugated Cardboard