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Organic Poultry on Pasture” Six Hour Workshop by Ron and Shelia Hamilton of Armena, Alberta Canada

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Organic Poultry on Pasture” Six Hour Workshop by Ron and Shelia Hamilton of Armena, Alberta Canada American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue 27 Fall 2003 Producer Profile: Andrew Stutzman INSIDE THIS ISSUE: By Andrew Stutzman and Brian Moyer EDITOR’S BOX DIRECTOR INFORMATION Pastures Pride farm, owned and operated by David and Joy Stutzman and their children 2 FROM OUR PRESIDENT Andrew, Jenna and Trevor, is in the heart of ANNUAL MEETING Pennsylvania Dutch country. The Stutzmans 3 raise grass fed beef, pork and pastured poultry. RAISING HERITAGE They market their products at their farm, at a TURKEYS farmers' market and through a CSA. The job of 4 raising the pastured poultry is handled by 16 PRO-PLUS MEMBERS year old son Andrew. 5 TURKEYS HAVE Andrew runs two batches of broilers a year. One FEELINGS TOO! 6 from April till June and the other from July till WHEN I WAS A YOUNG September. Each batch has 300 birds. Andrew TURKEY uses a unique combination of Salatin style pens 7 and a dayrange system. Here is what Andrew PICKWICK-ZESCO shared with us about his poultry operation: butchered from 7-9 weeks of age. (My 9 customers seem to prefer smaller, 7 week INTRO TO VA I use a Salatin-style pen (10ft. x 12ft. x old broilers) I usually loose about 15 to 10 26in.), with a combination of tin roofing 20 chickens per batch of 300. A few die NEWS and chicken wire. The pens have a door from disease as chicks, some get kinky 11 that allows the chickens to go out into a hocks (crippled from fast weight gains) PP RESEARCH 12-13 40ft. x 40ft. netted pasture area. I move 3 and die eventually, some die of heart at- BACK ISSUES pens inside this netting area once a day. I tacks when they get older (too fast 14 move the net every week. All 300 chickens weight gain), and I loose about 3 to 5 to VOTE! in a batch are contained in this area. I use predators. (Because of careless mistakes, 15-16 a hanging waterer with a 15-gallon tub run- I lost about 10 chicks to our cat last RECIPE CORNER ning into it in each pen. I put one feed batch.) We collect our own feed ingredi- WORKSHOP trough in each pen, along with 4 or 5 out- ents and pay a guy to grind and mix it for 18 side in the netting area. us. It costs us about $75 for him to come INTERNET RESOURCES out and grind 4 tons of feed. The total CLASSIFIEDS The pastures I use consist of about half cost of feed last batch was $230 per ton, 20 $483 total (2.1 tons). SUPPORT ADVERTISERS! clover, and half cool season grasses 19-23 (orchard grass, perennial rye grass). We STATEMENT OF don't irrigate. Every fall we put on a mix- I use a propane fuel- powered brooder. I PURPOSE ture of lime, gypsum, sulfur, compost, and have a boxed off section in a shed (about EVENTS trace minerals. Cattle also graze and fertil- 12ft. x 8ft.) that I keep the chicks in for 3 20 ize the same pastures. My chickens are (Continued on page 9) Happy fall – I hope the season is winding down ditor’s Box well for you all. Since it is coming up on turkey time, we thought it appropriate to bring you a turkey focused edition this time. There is a huge demand for pastured turkeys among consumers– as Dan Bennett says in his article that begins on p6: “I can’t understand why any pastured poultry producer wouldn’t do it!” Since there has not yet been a lot of material written about turkeys on pasture, these arti- cles should be especially useful. Many you may notice on the way back from the mailbox that this issue has gone APPPA Grit! is published back up to 24 pages. We made a commitment to bring you at least 20 pages of useful info six times a year, but have been digging up so much good material and getting such strong six times a year at: PO Box 1024 support from APPPA advertisers that this issue you get FOUR FREE Pages! Who says Chippewa Falls WI 54729 you never get anything for free? Voice mail/phone: Speaking of advertisers, this issue we are starting up a new column: “APPPA Busi- 715-667-5501 ness Member Profile.” Our business members have been key to APPPA’s success. We Fax: 715-667-3044 want to support them back by letting you know about the fine services they offer. See my Editor: Jody Padgham interview with Chan Zuber of Pickwick-Zesco on p. 9, and look for upcoming profiles of E-mail: [email protected] your favorite pastured poultry business supporters in upcoming issues. And, how could we forget that it is election season (any tired of national politics APPPA Grit!, the newsletter, is yet?). Lucky for us, it is the time to elect three APPPA Board members– a breath of fresh included as a benefit of membership in APPPA. (Continued on page 18) Membership rates are $30 per year. To join APPPA, send check or money order made out APPPA DIRECTORS - Contact Information to APPPA in the amount of $30 Dan Bennett (Board Sec/Treas) to: APPPA, 3647 Kingman Rd, Ottawa KS 66067 c/o Jody Padgham (785) 242-6240, [email protected] PO Box 1024 Chippewa Falls WI 54729 Jenny Drake 69 Cowan Valley Lane, Hickman TN, 38567 Information provided in this (615)683-4291, [email protected] newsletter is believed to be Anne Fanatico accurate but readers assume all (ATTRA Resource Center), PO Box 3657, Fayetteville AR 72702-3657 responsibility for actions based (501)442-9824, [email protected] on this information. Kip Glass 2169 N Farm Road 71, Bois D'Arc MO 65612-2305 Classified ads for members are $5 per issue, up to 25 words, 25-50 (417) 732-4122, [email protected] words $10. Nonmembers add $5. Jeff Mattocks Display advertising per issue is $20 (The Fertrell Company), PO Box 265, Bainbridge PA 17502-0265 business card size, $35 for a quarter (800)347-1566, [email protected] page. For more information on advertising in the GRIT, please Jim McLaughlin (Board President) contact us. 242 Dan Main Rd, Norwich NY 13815 (607) 334-2833, [email protected] APPPA DIRECTORS Thru Brian Moyer Anne Fanatico, AR '03 96 Noll Lane, Fleetwood PA 19522-8846 Jeff Mattocks, PA '03 (610) 944-9349, [email protected] Jim McLaughlin, NY ‘03 Charles and Laura Ritch Dan Bennett, KS ‘04 298 Goose Pond Rd, Hartselle AL 35640 Charles-Laura Ritch, AL ‘04 Aaron Silverman, OR ‘04 (256) 751-0987, [email protected] Jenny Drake, TN ‘05 Aaron Silverman Kip Glass, MO ‘05 88741 Torrence Rd, Noti OR 97461-9703 Brian Moyer, PA ‘05 (541) 935-7952, [email protected] American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue #27 Page 2 From Our President After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet Food for thought (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAI- WAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA) he got in his Joe Doe started the day early having set his alarm car (! MADE IN GERMANY) and continued his clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 a.m. While his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals KONG). He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI- (MADE IN BRAZIL) poured himself a glass of wine LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGA- (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV (MADE PORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA). IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in.....AMERICA..... APPPA Annual Meeting At the 2004 PASA Conference The APPPA annual membership meeting will be held at this year’s PASA* conference. Throughout the con- ference, APPPA members will lead several workshop sessions. A sneak preview: (titles may change) Dan Bennett on Raising Turkeys on Pasture Jim McLaughlin on Introduction to Pastured Poultry Kip Glass on Day Range and Moveable Pen Comparison Ann Fanatico on Genetics for Pastured Poultry Systems and Ann Fanatico and Charles Ritch on On-Farm Broiler Processing Techniques APPPA will have a “poultry room” set up at the conference, where on-going conversations and facilitated discussions will be held. We would like to invite all APPPA members to bring photo displays, posters, bro- chures or other materials to share with other members in our APPPA “poultry room. “ We will bring you more information on that opportunity next issue. APPPA members will be able to register for the conference at the PASA member price! Look for conference program details in the next issue of GRIT and session titles on the PASA website at www.pasafarming.org. *Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Conference (PASA) The 13th annual “Farming for the Future Conference” will be held February 5, 6, and 7, 2004. This year’s theme is “Pathways to Prosperity: The New Face of Agriculture”, and keynote addresses will be deliv- ered by Paul Hawken, author of 'Natural Capitalism' and The Ecology of Commerce, and Anuradha Mittal, Co-Director of Food First. In addition to nationally recognized speakers, the conference will feature over 50 workshops, a 45-vendor 'Sustainable Trade Show and Marketplace', meals featuring sustainably, organically, and regionally raised food, the Sustainable Ag Leadership Award Banquet & live entertainment, ‘Future Farmers’ youth and teen programs, and a scholarship program for young and beginning farmers.
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