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Pastured Poultry Profits

I have been reading Pastured Poultry Profits by Joel Salatin who runs Polyface Farm. We could not get this book through inter-library loan but fortunately it was someone’s birthday. This book is a must read for anyone interested in a unique system of poultry production.

We are trying to implement Joel Salatin’s system of “perennial prairie polyculture” on our property in Kamloops. As I stated in another blog, we are fortunate to have over an acre of land in the City of Kamloops and thus can have chickens on our property. I believe it would be a very good thing for the City of Kamloops to allow all single family zoned properties this same right. Unfortunately, this is not the case at the moment. If you are wanting backyard chickens contact the Kamloops Urban Hen Movement and work to change this bylaw or you may have to consider civil disobedience.

We have been running the Cornish Cross breed, which is known for its incredible feed to meat conversion ratio. They go from the egg to the freezer in eight weeks. Watching these chicks is a lesson in sloth and gluttony. The chicks gorge on feed, then fall over and pass-out until the next session of gorging. My sister Christine has been horrified watching these selectively bred birds do what comes natural to them. The trick with these birds, when it comes to pasturing, is to make it easy for the birds to get to the pasture. The birds do not like walking much.

Joel Salatin has designed a system of “chicken tractors”, which are small pens that are moved daily to new pasture. This solves the walking problem for the birds. The farmer does the moving and the birds do the eating. The fresh pasture provides diversity of forage and a variety of insect life which makes for very healthy birds with incredible flavor. With daily movement of the pens there is no smell and the birds are not living in their excrement like what is typical for industrially raised chickens. With fresh air, a clean environment, and good food these birds do not need to be given medicated feed just to survive.

In Kamloops we have what Joel Salatin called “brittle” grasslands. The area will produce well if irrigated but some of his methods will not work here. So far, moving the chicken tractors to new pasture has worked on our property. We don’t have what I would consider good pasture and I would like to lease pasture in the area if we were to do more birds.

We will be producing enough birds to have chicken dinner, twice a week, all winter long. Slaughtering day is not a fun experience but at a store price of $20 to $25 for an organic bird, I can find a way to do it. These birds done with Joel Salatin’s method are considered “beyond organic pastured chicken”, and are another product not available through the industrial food system.

We are in week four of our production cycle. I will keep you posted regarding outcomes of our research in using Joel Salatin’s methods in Kamloops.

Update September 7, 2009: For an update please go to the posting called Slaughtering Chickens dated September 7, 2009. We lost one turkey within the first few days and one chicken about a week ago. I found it breast up in the hoophouse. Cornish Cross chickens are prone to heart attacks. We had under 2% death rate. A hoophouse, also known as a gobbledygo, is another Joel Salatin method of chicken rearing. It is used during winter and in areas where pasture is limited. It requires a deep litter to fix nitrogen and not loose it to the air. This system worked well for us.

AgriCULTURE Week - April 27 to May 3, 2009

I received an email from One Hill Productions about an upcoming event listed on Sound Kamloops. One Hill Productions also has a wonderful directory of services for Kamloops at Access Kamloops. If you want to know what is happening in Kamloops bookmark these pages.

The Kamloops Urban Hen Movement is having a week long event! It’s got movies, lectures and workshops. Go to Omelettes for Everyone for the schedule.

Continue reading AgriCULTURE Week - April 27 to May 3, 2009…

Seedy Saturday Gardening Event

Seedy Saturday is an event sponsored by Friends of the New Victory Garden and Master Gardeners. There will be a seed exchange and gardening workshops. Bring your saved seeds or leftover packaged seeds. If you do not have any seeds, don’t worry. There are plenty available for everyone!

Date: Saturday, March, 21, 2009
Where: Kamloops Heritage House, 100 Lorne St, Kamloops
Time: 11:30am to 4:00pm
Cost: free, but a donation to the Kamloops Food Bank is greatly appreciated
Contact: Fawn Knox: 250.579.5768

Kamloops 1st Annual 100 Mile Style Food Fair

I just got an email from a member at the Kamloops Urban Hen Movement about an upcoming event in Kamloops. It is sponsored by the Aboriginal Agricultural Education Society of British Columbia. There will be a tradeshow and workshop. The tradeshow will feature local farmers, processors, and other local food groups. There will be a change to purchase some local grassfed beef for lunch.

Some highlights of the workshop are:
Dr John Church from Thompson Rivers University will speak on: Producing the Best Beef
Master Gardeners will speak on: How to Start your First Garden
Ellen Duncan, a dietitian from the Q’wentsin Health Society, will speak on: Healing our Food

Date: Thursday, March 26, 2009
Where: The Henry Grube Center
Time: 10:00am to 6:00pm
Cost: admission by donation

Homegrown Revolution

This YouTube short video is called Homegrown Revolution. It was forwarded to me by a member of the Kamloops Urban Hen Movement. Watch their website for more information about an upcoming showing of the full length film.

If you’re hungry for more, watch The Meatrix, a spoof on the hit film The Matrix. Just give me an oink if you like it.