The animals are grazed 'intensively,' which means they are given a small area to graze and rotated to new pasture on a regular basis (sometimes days, sometimes a week, depending on forage and animal needs). This stops 'selective' grazing, and forces the animals to fully graze each area, and then allows sufficient time for the forage to recover before being grazed again. Manure also has time to decompose and does not reach a toxic level but instead is perfect for sustaining soil balances.
Animals raised in this way do not develop diseases and the meat produced by them is more nutritious as well as more tasty. Here are some pictures of my first pullet flock inspecting the new hen boxes installed on the occasion of their twenty week birthday (12/17/03). They should begin laying soon!
A big part of the Salatin model is using multiple species of animals in concert, mimicing natural patterns. Recently cows were added to the operation here at Coyote Creek Farm, so that we are now coming closer to the model. Chickens graze grasses the cows leave behind, as well as spreading cow platters and integrating them into the soil for healthier soil balances. You can see our house in the second picture.
I move both the broilers and layers each day so they have fresh pasture and sunshine (the most important part of a healthy chickens diet). Below are pictures of my in town operation, before we moved out to the farm. On the left is my first batch of broilers, which reached 6lbs. in only severn weeks; on the right are the layers (which are out here on the farm now).
This can be done in anyone's yard, since they do not scratch the grass off, and lay down fresh manure to grow more grass. There is no smell, and the chickens stay clean! Moving is easy with a small hand truck. The waterer is located under the nesting boxes.
The chicks start out in the brooder, which has a heat lamp to take momma's place. After about three weeks they are ready for pasture! [Note; I have since built a special brooder house that allows the chicks out after a week or less, weather permitting.]
Here I am at the eggmobile, built by Kim Alexander of Alexander Family Farm.
It is made from an old cotton trailer, has several teirs of laying boxes inside, a 300 gallon water tank (which waters the chickens through drip lines along the bottom), and a solar powered electric system for the movable electric fence, which keeps out 'critters' and provides for the intensive grazing of paddocks customized to the chickens' needs.
These 400 layers produce about 30 dozen eggs a day, and are moved every couple days right now. The eggmobile moves with them, as does the large feed containers (off camera). The scrub cedar and cactus are being replaced by grasses that grow naturally, and the manure is brought into the soil by dung beetles. When I was there, looking across the fence, it is easy to see the difference between sustainable practices and chemical ones.
Pastured Farming * Sustainability * Compost and Soils * Links and Books * Food * Home
