ISSUE 79
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Newsletter January/February 2014
this issue
Breeding Pastured Broilers P.1 President’s Corner P.2 Embracing Competition P.3 Pastured Poultry at TN Tech P.10 Scholarship Awards P.12 Guide to Email Cold Calls P.14 Processing Pains P.16 Community Corner P.18 Hens on pasture at Tennessee Tech University. Act Now: PA Poultry Workshop P.22 Photo courtesy of Dennis Fennewald Corndel Closure: Tim Shell Provides His Thoughts on Breeding Pastured Broilers —Mike Badger
Have you ever heard of the Corndel Cross broiler? I breeding program and research. If you can’t find a know many of you have. The broiler was developed Corndel Cross broiler for sale these days, there are two by Tim Shell, one of the original members of APPPA. plausible reasons. The breed just didn’t perform as well His intent was to develop a broiler breed that was as needed to gain adoption. In other words, it failed in 100% pastured-based, and if you read the Raising the market place. Or nobody exhibited the same Poultry on Pasture book from APPPA you’ll passion as Tim, which caused the breed to languish encounter the Corndel breeding program and lots of with his family’s departure to China in 2003. enthusiasm about it. Articles are also found around the web, including apppa.org. The second possibility still gives the enthusiastic crowd their hope. But hope does not beget success. And while That enthusiasm often leads newcomers to knock on I may condense and only slightly sensationalize the APPPA’s door and ask these two questions, “Where types of inquiries I get on this subject, consider that the is Timothy Shell, and where can I find the Corndel?” Corndel Cross has not been available for nearly ten The answer seekers often have a heightened sense years. Yet, Tim and his chicken have achieved cult of disgust for the Cornish Cross, which is the current status. pastured poultry rock star. They read Tim’s articles and are enthralled with the possibility of cutting the After all, there are people considering developing entire Cornish Cross out of the pastured poultry industry for websites to collecting Corndel information. I don’t think a replacement breed that’s pastured, vibrant, and there’s anything wrong with that. On the contrary, I think simply non-industry. that enthusiasm is awesome; it’s that enthusiasm that prompted this article. The enthusiasm, however, often prevents people from seeing the obvious conclusion to Tim’s Corndel (Continued on page 4)
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 Once again the long term is being overlooked for immediate gain.
The new year has begun with very severe weather I was pleasantly surprised by the comments of Jim throughout North America. Record low temperatures Gerritsen of Wood Prairie farm in Maine. He came up and snow now seem to be the norm. Global weather with a very simple comparison on how the GM pollution is clearly changing. I have recently read that the can be described and how it is currently handled. It greenhouse gas situation is apparently far worse refers to someone painting a house purple, next to a than what anyone had ever thought. It seems very white house. Basically the purple spray drift covers the clear that globally most are going for the quick grab neighboring white house. The owner of the purple as opposed to thinking about the long haul. house then sues the guy in the white house for stealing his purple paint! This has to be the ultimate distortion. This of course flies in the face of sustainable farming, Pretty sad really. which I personally feel is the underpinning of APPPA. The whole GM situation is a serious threat to global All of this can become depressing on a cold dreary agriculture and food supply. The initial concepts winter's day! YES, the glass is indeed half full. seemed fairly reasonable, the goal supposedly being to feed the masses. Sadly this original concept Looking around our farm in the scenic Lukes Pond seems to have been taken over by simple greed. Valley (Eli Reiff please laugh) in supposedly sunny Bermuda, the entire place is saturated with rain. Bad news? It is in the high 60s. It could be snow! Clearly PO Box 85 challenging for field work, thus we have been able to Hughesville, complete the harvest of our latest broiler flock. We PA 17737 target a 3-4 lb. dressed weight. Once again we nailed it. I am forever thankful for my great team! [email protected] | www.apppa.org | (888) 662-7772 We now need to harvest about 300 spent layers. We The APPPA Grit newsletter is published six times a year. harvest these by gutting, removing the beaks and The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association toenails and then make them into a fresh natural dog (APPPA) is a nonprofit educational and networking food. The mix includes fresh veg, fruit, cracked eggs, organization dedicated to encouraging the production, and various natural additives. I have always believed processing, and marketing of poultry raised on pasture. that everything on this farm is saleable. It is critical that Staff we turn our trash into cash. The quality of this diet has shown excellent results. Fortunately, this product is Mike Badger, Director/Grit Editor showing huge benefits in dogs previously fed Board of Directors commercial food. The benefits are both physical and mental. The interesting thing is that the stools come out Tom Wadson, President, 2009-2014 white and are gone in 24 hours. A lot of work, but a Vice President, Vacant great rainy day project. Greg Gunthorp, Treasurer, 2009-2014
Jennie Watkins, Secretary, 2009-2014 In recent months APPPA and The Fertrell company Will Harris, 2013-2015 have conducted a series of laboratory tests on various Jeff Mattocks, 2013-2015 breeds of broilers on different feeds on separate farms. Brenda Ostrom, 2009-2014 A lot of tests on a lot of things. We now get to try and David Schafer, 2013-2015 make sense of a lot of numbers. A quick look at all of Val Vetter and Deb Aaron, 2010-2014 these numbers does not reveal any glaring conclusions. Joel Salatin, board member at-large (Continued on page 15)
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 2 Not everyone would agree with that statement. And I know there’s the same difference of opinion among many of you. EMBRACING COOPERATIVE COMPETITION
—Mike Badger Some of you view the pressure of other producers as a serious threat to your business. You’re inclined to If you had to identify your competition, who would it protect your “product and production secrets” for fear be? Is it your neighboring pastured poultry of losing your competitive edge. I find two inherent producers? Is it Tyson, Perdue, or Bell & Evans? problems with this thinking. One, your neighboring producers probably already know your secrets or can Where I’m at in north central Pennsylvania, there’s a find them out easily, if desired. The other problem is local chicken producer raising free range chicken in a that most of the producers in my area fall somewhere green house. Those chickens are cheap and around 1,000 birds a year with an outlier or two everywhere, including health food stores. I consider approaching several thousand birds (green house this producer to be the biggest competitor to the local guy not included). pastured producers because he’s locking up some prime markets with an average chicken (better than Now let’s do some math. CAFO, inferior to pastured). Americans eat approximately 80 pounds of chicken There is also a strong pastured poultry industry in the each year. The population of Lycoming County, area, and while we all compete with similar products, Pennsylvania (where I live) is approximately 117,000 we’re not really much competition for one another. people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That means county residents eat 9.4 million pounds of chicken annually. Based on a four pound carcass, we need 2.3 million chickens to satisfy the demand. The numbers obviously increase if I were to include adjacent counties. All the producers in a 50 mile radius of me could not supply the demand for my home county, let alone the counties where my “competition” resides.
Given this perspective, it’s easy to see that my neighbors are not competition. In reality, the biggest local producer in the area is not a real threat to me. We all have an incredible opportunity to supply chicken of a variety of types ranging from unremarkable cheap CAFO chicken to super-niche organic, non-soy, pastured.
I would submit to you that most of what we fear as competition is actually a marketing void. There is a reason that businesses employ marketers and hire marketing agencies. Marketing creates demand for a product regardless of whether or not the product is considered the “best.” Best products don’t inherently (Continued on page 17)
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 3 (Continued from page 1) Mike Badger: Your work resonates with people; At any rate, I wanted to track Tim down and get his however, as best as I can tell, no one has really perspective on the Corndel Cross. I also asked him if perpetuated your breed. Do you have any notes or he’d mind providing some advice for those who may information that you would feel comfortable passing want to pick up his work. on to me for publication?
Some of you may be inspired by Tim’s advice while Tim Shell: Our Pastured Peepers project started as others may get a ruffled feather or too. However, a response to Joel Salatin asking for a source of there is something for everyone, including breeding, chicks from pastured breeding stock. My family knew flock management, challenge feeding, and business Joel quite well. We had known and collaborated with philosophy. A couple of things are clear. Tim is still Joel in pastured poultry production since 1990 and passionate about farming and poultry. His reputation greatly enjoyed implementing his models of grazing as an expert producer and critical thinker shine and poultry on our Mother’s farm in Bath County, VA, through. If you want an honest pep talk about raising an hour’s drive from Polyface. pastured poultry and about breeding, this is a worthwhile read. Initially we used an egg mobile just like Joel but found that the perfect cleanliness required for the Tim’s responses to my questions were verbose, and eggs for high hatching rates required roll out nests so as a result, I didn’t need to ask him many questions. that the egg was removed from the bird immediately I’ve edited his responses to fit space and topic, and upon laying. The best hatching rates come from not added a few headings to help organize the topics. washing the eggs at all, so as to not wash the bloom off of the egg. These nests were nearly impossible to keep level on hills where we farmed; so we parked the shelter and learned to rotate the birds around it. This then allowed for permanent water and electrical systems and commercial feed bins. We took the best of pastured poultry and commercial poultry and combined them. We were running about 2,000 broiler breeder hens our last year and produced about 60,000 chicks that year.
The biggest surprise/let down for us all was that our chicks were not that much better, if any better, than commercial chicks. Joel’s initial thought was that as his pastured eggs were so much better than super market eggs, chicks from his eggs would be better than industry chicks. So we jumped in on that assumption and ran it for four seasons, selling most of the chicks to Joel in the beginning. In time, I was able to actually purchase a dozen industry broiler eggs and crack them out and show them to Joel. They were just as good as his. His response was, “How do they do that?” In other words, without pasture in the diet, how can they get a good egg from confinement flocks? Actually, it isn’t that difficult with a balanced ration with proper micro-nutrients even
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 4 with zero forage consumption. It turns out that to get a profitable hatching rate, industry breeder flocks Mike Badger: The biggest questions I get are in have to have much higher nutrient levels in their regards to the breeding and the feeding schedules. If rations than commercial table egg flocks require. I understand my research correctly, you're crossing a Delaware rooster and a Cornish hen, but then what The hatching rate of table eggs would be very poor happens after that? Do you cross it back? and therefore unprofitable not only because of nutrient levels but also because of age. Hatching eggs are always fresh and no older than 9 days. We Tim Shell: Anyone can go to a commercial broiler were comparing the wrong thing; no one in the breeder website such as Cobb and download the hatching industry sets old table eggs. In the production manuals with all the charts and feed beginning we thought we’d have chicks that would far recommendations related to the following free of out perform those of the industry and sales would be charge. easy, but in the end, after putting several hundred thousand chicks through the hands of pastured Restricted feed program: The first thing to growers over four years, the consensus was they comprehend is that broiler parent stock are just as were industry equivalent but no more. In the capable of gaining weight as fast as their offspring enthusiasm of the early days, everyone wanted to will. If permitted to do so, they become so overweight believe they were better, but we proved it over time in that they cannot reproduce naturally. The female’s real economics with real flocks. abdomen grows compacted with fat, limiting egg production and leading to prolapse of the rectum at Joel eventually went back to other suppliers. Then (Continued on page 6) we were left with only the novelty of having a pastured breeder flock to differentiate our product and we ourselves were losing interest, having never been interested in hyping something up to get it sold. Soon afterward, we moved to China from 2003 to 2010, and we have been in Mongolia since 2010. It was a relief to be out of the business because we felt the chicks would sell themselves if they were so much better; but they weren’t and didn’t. We had a high customer turnover rate as well, which indicated that many growers were just as happy with bigger suppliers after the first year.
There are decades of strong science behind what the commercial poultry industry does and generally a lot of ignorance and enthusiasm on the part of pastured growers. I think it’s good to work at getting as fully informed as possible, and the industry has a lot to offer. They’ve been at it a long time. So, we [the Shell family] just lay the facts out for others to benefit from whenever questions arise.
We are still interested in the whole poultry business and waiting for the right time to get something going over here.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 5 first egg, which is usually fatal. The males cannot here that we used the Fertrell Company to develop mount the hens or, if they do, they seriously damage special pastured broiler breeder feed supplements the hens. Therefore broiler breeders are kept on a and credit those balanced rations with much of our restricted feed program which keeps them healthy success in being able to match industry production and gaining weight on a schedule that compares very and hatching standards on a pastured program while much to any normal commercial egg laying breed. remaining disease free. The birds on restricted feed look and act like a normal chicken, and can even fly if their wings aren’t Lighting: Contrary to popular opinion that it is clipped! somehow cruel to force birds to lay eggs with artificial lighting, light is a comfort factor for the birds and The diet does not harm them in the least. Of course controls their laying cycle. Chickens originate from the birds have the same appetite as before, so they the jungles where day length is normally longer. If consume their daily ration in about 20 minutes and lighting were a stress factor it would decrease sincerely believe they are starving to death the rest of production when in fact it does the opposite. the day. This in turn causes them to scavenge Regardless, it is mandatory with broiler breeders vigorously and turn to cannibalism if they become which only profitably lay a maximum of 150 eggs per nutrient deprived. On pasture they will consume cycle, and that’s only with optimum management of more forage due to this hunger. feed and lighting.
This restricted feed program is standard industry The lighting program is used in close cooperation practice and must be practiced by any pastured with the feeding program to induce egg production. broiler breeder stock program. It should be noted Generally, lighting commences by creating 14 to 15 hour days (with 40% of the lighting in the AM and
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 6 60% PM) and increases to a maximum of a 17 hour supply. Otherwise, smart folks like Tom Delehanty day in 30 minute or one hour increments. As long as would still be breeding them today. day length is not decreasing there is no signal to the bird to decrease egg production. Day length is Tim Shell: The take home lesson from our years of increased 2 weeks prior to first egg, at which time work with the broiler breeders was this: The easiest feed is increased to bring the birds to peak way for us as pastured broiler producers to increase production. If lighting is not increased, there is no the hardiness of our pastured flocks is to challenge stimuli to initiate reproductive development, and the feed commercially available chicks rather than breed birds continue gaining weight rather than maturing for new ones. Contrary to popular practice, the birds sexually. won’t die if the feed trough is not full 24/7, although they of course may imagine they are dying! Alternate breeds: The Corndel Cross was an experiment closely following the line breeding After seeing broiler breeder stock grow to maturity in principles taught by Mr. Jim Lents, author of The 24 weeks on restricted feed, we realized we can Basis of Line Breeding, and was designed to limit the control the growth of pastured broilers with great genetic potential for pastured broiler weight gain to a accuracy to any target maturity date simply by 9 to 11 week finish as opposed to a 7 or 8 week challenge feeding. Anyone with any common sense finish. can see that pastured broilers are not living in optimum health; they are gluttonous to the extreme, A Delaware male was crossed with industry standard which we consider a disgrace at best and quite Cornish Rock females which gave a 14 to 16 week dangerous at worst for health in the human maturity. These males were crossed again back to population. They are sick and weak and stressed the Cornish Rock females to shorten the finish even due to their huge appetites. Just backing the feed off more. a little can change their viability greatly.
One of the key concepts of line breeding is intense There is not that much increase in feed consumption culling pressure. Only the top 5% or so are used in between growing a bird in nine weeks as opposed to subsequent matings. In the beginning, very few seven, except that there are two weeks extra labor, candidates will match the ideal type desired. We but there are benefits that balance that. The birds progressed in 4 years with two complete generations will be more active, they will get up and move around per year for a total of seven or eight generations. more instead of just sitting there all day, they will Line breeding, as per Lents, requires 14 generations forage more, and their muscle will have more tone, to achieve a pure blood type after which most of the (not necessarily tough if prepared correctly). There traits have been stabilized and culling percentages will be lower mortality and performance under drop to 15% or less. weather extremes. The birds will be capable of performing in other production models that require Our final disbursement of stock was to Tom them to range farther. They will be happier and Delehantey (of Pollo Real Farm) in New Mexico who healthier. All that is required is a little practice in kept the breed going for a few years, but no longer limiting the feed intake of the birds. has them to my knowledge. At the time of that disbursement the birds were still lacking in some One can simply add only enough feed twice a day so important points of uniformity of body conformation. that the trough is empty six hours after feeding. This Tom worked hard on that trait for several years. gives a six hour period twice a day when the bird’s digestive system can rest and work more efficiently. Mike Badger: You've confirmed much of what I suspected about the experiment being good/ educational, but not outperforming the industry
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 7 There is no need in our opinion to develop whole new which in my view would give everyone a better deal-- breeds once this information is understood. But most the birds while they live, those who grow them, and broiler growers are unaware of the dynamics of those that eat them afterwards. maintaining optimum performance and proper body condition of animals designed for rapid weight gain, Mike Badger: Your work with the Corndel has having never dealt with breeding stock. And being developed quite a following with most people ending human as we are, this level of attention to details is up at the same point: how can I get more information more than most producers will care for, so in the end, on his breed? a breed that is not capable of growing out in less than 9 weeks will have a place in the chick markets for Tim Shell: If there are those who still wish to develop pastured broilers. But it would be a shame if that their own slow maturing breeds, it should be stated were simply because growers were without the clearly that it is very doable in a short time (14 knowledge of other options. generations in 7 years) by following proper line breeding rules and starting with industry stock Mike Badger: Tim answered a very important females and an alternative male. question before I had a chance to ask it. What would your approach be like today? Cobb, has been forced to develop this very breed type for its chick markets in India due to customer Tim Shell: If I were starting back into pastured broiler preferences for more muscle tone in their meat and production today, I would use standard industry feather colors other than plain white. The truth about chicks from a quality supplier and limit feed them (on line breeding is that it is, in fact, cloning animals rations balanced by Jeff Mattocks of Fertrell) to grow out in nine weeks. I would also use the stationary netting model we developed that allows them to range more and render the extra two weeks of labor irrelevant because there is no daily moving of cages, just daily move of feeders and weekly moving of netting. It also allows for automated watering and feeding if desired.
I fed the birds in portable feeders which were out in the paddock, and slid them along to a new spot once a day. They were just half pvc pipe on pvc runners. But this spread the manure around the paddock evenly, created no hot spots, forced the birds to range, kept 50% of the droppings in the field, extended the life of the bedding, and caused the grass to respond with even, lush growth.
The birds would maximize their forage intake to satisfy their hunger twice a day and still have the same conformation of breast the customer is accustomed to with slightly more tone to the muscle.
I am only suggesting slight changes to key variables in the overall program of pastured broiler production,
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 8 genetically speaking. It just takes 14 generations Tim Shell: Much credit for my work goes to Jim instead of one and modern farmers don’t want to wait Lents of Anxiety 4th Herfords for mentoring me in that long. All that the genetic engineering industry these breeding secrets, to Shelly Wenger of wants to do with cloning can be done by any Westdale Hatchery for hatching and shipping my common farmer with the proper knowledge, chicks and teaching me about hatching eggs and commitment and patience. Every farmer has his chick quality, to Jeff Mattocks of Fertrell for teaching prize chicken or cow that he wishes he had a me the intricacies of ration balancing first hand, and hundred of, and by line breeding he can have as to Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, Inc. for providing many as he wants for as long as he wants. With the initial market guarantee for our chick sales and proper culling there is no limit to the duration of the the encouragement to get our program launched. It program. has truly been a pleasure to know and follow these men in their work. It is truly amazing how ignorant the American agricultural community has become of the true Most of all, I am blessed immeasurably by my secrets of livestock breeding. Most agriculture Heavenly Father, the inventor of the chicken, in all schools, sadly enough, still ridicule line breeding. that He is teaching me about His marvelous poultry in this process and am glad to freely share with others Mike Badger: Basically, a core take away from your what He has freely given to me. After farming for 30 previous research is that it still basically comes down years in three countries, I can’t stop admiring and to management. Good management can make an enjoying these amazing, incredible birds that help industry bird work. For those who poorly manage the feed our world today. Three cheers for APPPA! Cornish Cross (i.e., health and mortality problems), it's doubtful they will have the management skills required to breed their own broiler.
Tim Shell: Yes, it's all about management by staying aware of daily details and promptly adjusting that which is out of order. I forced myself to spend 20 min/day/bird group sitting on my upturned feed bucket observing the flock. Anything that is out of order will make itself evident. Then I refused to allow myself to eat, relax or do anything until those adjustments were completed. Those are the most critical and necessary moments of the day without which my entire operation could not have prospered.
That time is just sitting and observing, not feeding or water or anything else. People who throw in the feed and rush back to their other life can never make it work. You have to be devoted to observation with poultry in order to catch their stress points and correct them before they affect their performance. I'm also a strong believer in creating dual environments. The outdoor and indoor, and let the birds choose where they want to spend their time.
Mike Badger: Some final thoughts from Tim...
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 9 Pastured Poultry Education at Tennessee Tech University
—Dennis Fennewald, Assistant Profession, Tennessee Tech University
Editor’s Note: The Tennessee Tech University We have purchased lots of building material, heat Poultry Program was one of the recipients of lamps, feeders, waterers, water tanks, nest boxes, APPPA’s 2012 scholarship program. electric netting and egg cartons.
I want to thank you again for the gift from APPPA and In the three semesters I have taught, approximately want to send an update on the Poultry Program at 100 students (freshman to seniors) have been ex- TENNESSEE Tech University. First, I would like to posed to poultry. Students have been involved in give a little background to make it easier to see why raising layers, mixing feed, moving electric netting, this program is a logical step for TENNESSEE agri- and collecting eggs. In addition, they have raised culture. TENNESSEE Tech currently operates two chicks using the new GQF incubators and hatchers. farms. One farm is two miles from Tech and contains Students have built four 10’ x 12’ PVC hoop houses, 100 cows, 15 sows, 8 wool sheep (left over from the four 10’ x 12’ cattle panel hoop houses, an 8’ x 16’ show days) and 35 Dorper hair sheep. The sheep eggmobile, and converted a 20’ x 40’ greenhouse are guarded by a donkey. The farm also supports into a 40’ x 60’ gutter-connect greenhouse/chicken itself by producing soybeans and corn. There are house. several greenhouses operated by the horticulture department. The second farm is located about 20 Next spring, we will start a broiler project! There is a miles from campus with 450 commercial cows. This small, family-owned processing plant located 30 is easily one of the largest farms under the control of miles south of Cookeville. This plant has been open a university, especially east of the Mississippi. The for a few months and has been very busy. We plan diversity and size of these enterprises offer Tech stu- to raise ~400 broilers to research different methods dents hands-on experience in labs and as employees of production. of the farm. We are always interested in hiring ener- getic students to work on these farms.
My goal is to build the number one poultry program in Tennessee and an ongoing pasture poultry enterprise for students to “learn, earn and serve.” Students will learn proper animal husbandry, earn money operating the enterprise, and serve the community by communicating via field days and workshops. This will make them more valuable in their intern- ships, foster an entrepreneurial spirit and expose them to poultry.
We used the gift from APPPA to help fund the poultry program. Other donations include a Bright transportation coop, two GQF incubators and a GQF hatcher, A hoop house at Tennessee Tech University. Photo provided by Dennis Fennewald. three zip-tie domes and chicks (layers).
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 10 American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 11 APPPA Awards $1,000 for Pastured Poultry Education in 2014
The 2013 APPPA scholarship saw a nearly 400% I have more recently been involved in developing a increase in proposals. The topics were diverse and co-op in my area to develop a mobile-processing unit competitive. Several people proposed technological for poultry and purchasing organic feed from local projects while many sought funds to attend farmers so that we can mix our own for our flocks. conferences. Still others pitched workshops and We hope to have our co-op and mobile unit up and other educational efforts. running in about 18 months, which will save all of us transporting our birds 4hrs to the only state licensed The APPPA scholarship selection team decided to processor in southern Idaho. Since I sell primarily to award two $500 scholarships in 2013. Selections restaurants and a local organic grocery, I am were made at the regularly schedule board of required to have my birds processed by a state directors meeting on December 19, 2013. The licensed facility. awarded funds will support pastured poultry workshops in Idaho and New York. APPPA’s core I would like to use the scholarship to give a workshop mission is education and networking, and the winning on mixing feed, general chicken health, best proposals embodied that mission. practices, and to help all of the south/central Idaho poultry producers raise healthy, profitable pastured Excerpts of both proposals are included for review. poultry. None of us have raised poultry for very These programs will take place in 2014, and, as a many years, and, as far as I know, I am the only one condition of receiving the award, each awardee will who belongs to APPPA. All of the new poultry provide a report to be published in the APPPA Grit. producers I know here are struggling with various aspects of raising and marketing poultry, and I think we would all benefit very much from a one-day Award #1 APPPA member Katherine Noble, Hailey, workshop. As far as I am aware, no one has held Idaho any poultry workshops in Idaho, and our University I have a 10-acre, soon-to-become organic farm in system does not have a poultry division, so we are south-central Idaho at 5500’ elevation. I have raised basically out here inventing it as we go! Turken broilers and Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red layers for 2 years, and I have belonged to APPPA for 1 year. I have found APPPA to be (Continued on page 13) extremely helpful in reminding me of some of the things I have forgotten about chickens since helping my grandmother many years ago and in extending my understanding of the science and art of raising these delightful birds. I have been very grateful for the blog and have learned a tremendous amount by listening to the conversations. The publications on pricing, feed and processing costs have been extremely helpful to me in trying to establish a market for my birds and eggs at a fair and profitable price.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 12 Award #2 Nancy Glazier,Cornell University day. This also provides a networking opportunity for Cooperative Extension, Pen Yan, New York beginners to meet and get to know those with I am requesting $500 through the Jondle Memorial experience. Scholarship to conduct a pastured poultry workshop for beginning farms. As Cornell Cooperative Speakers will include regional pastured poultry Extension’s small farms specialist for a 10-county producers: Bob Ott, Hermann Weber, Fred Forsburg, region, I have the opportunity to work with these Marla Parsons, and myself. Location will be at the farmers who are eager for basic information to get Riga Town Hall, Monroe County, a fairly central started in an enterprise. Many have small acreage on location. which they wish to raise animals as a part-time business. Nearby urban and suburban areas provide Stay tuned for details of the 2014 scholarship. an ample customer base. The missing piece for these beginners is education. One of my chief tasks as an educator is to provide workshops for those learning about farming.
The best means of learning is to hear first-hand from experienced farmers. With a combination of marketing and production education, participants can learn the basics of pastured poultry production in one
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 13 Concise Guide to Email Cold Calls —Mike Badger
If you want to grow your business, you need to reach Ask for the sale. new customers. I’ve never been very good at cold That’s why you’re bothering the person in the first calls, but I have been successful using email to get place. Tell the recipient what you want them to do. new business. Never, ever, cc/bcc recipients Communicating via email presents a special Ever. Personal emails do not have multiple challenge in that it requires writing skills—basics recipients. Obvious broadcast emails are easy to such as punctuation, reasonable spelling accuracy, ignore. and comprehension. In addition, it’s harder to write a short, concise message than it is to ramble on, but In an APPPA context, I’ve used this type of brief wins the day with email prospecting. prospecting to recruit workshop attendees. In my business, I’ve used this approach to build a mobile If you understand these basic contexts, you have the processing business. When Christie and I wanted to understanding to succeed with email prospecting. sell chicken to restaurants, this approach found chefs willing to buy from us and increased our seasonal It’s important to note that this guide may be production by over 500%. presented in the context of email, but there’s no reason it wouldn’t apply to a postcard, a phone call, Here’s a sample email we used to recruit chefs. or a chance personal encounter with an interesting Some of the information has been
Build a list of targeted, relevant prospects Although I realize that you have pastured poultry If you want to sell chicken to chefs, CSA’s, and direct suppliers already, I wanted to reach out and offer you -to-consumer, you need a message for each group. one more resource, should you find yourself in need.
Write a concise message with contact information Many thanks for all that you do to promote locally Remember, you’re sending an unsolicited email to grown and raised products! someone you hope to do business with. Be respectful of their time, make your pitch, and thank the person. It’s a short message that was sent directly from my Provide links to detailed information and a telephone wife, Christie, to chefs she selected. It demonstrates number. If you hit a person with a serious need to our offer and our familiarity with the chef; we ask for buy what you’re offering, they’re just as likely to call the sale. The email signature includes additional you. contact information, which isn’t shown. Create a personalized template Nobody bought chicken based on the email alone. Personalize the email by including something specific They responded and Christie closed the deal on the about that person, if relevant. The template portion is phone. But at that point, the contact is no longer a the offer you’re making, and is typically more boiler cold call but a well-qualified lead. plate information.
Happy prospecting.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 14 (Continued from page 2) local agriculture. Log on to tunein.com. Go to North America, and Bermuda then comes up. It is on radio We have a very talented Board with great insight. We station FM 89. I would like to think it will improve your are looking forward to great conclusions. day.
Your Board is very excited about our upcoming As we go into this new year, I wish all our members a diversified poultry pre track and annual general happy, healthy, and prosperous 2014. Your APPPA meeting at PASA. Pease try and attend if you can. Board continues to work hard for YOU! All the best The APPPA general meeting is on the Thursday to each and every one of you. evening. Sincerely, Tom Wadson. I notice the increased availability of no corn, no soy layer rations. We are using them now. Many are Editor’s Note. The analysis Tom references is currently hoping for a similar broiler ration. The results seem being compiled and written up. I expect to publish it in very good so far. We are very encouraged by March. Jeff will have isoflavone analysis of three broiler consumer comments, most of which are heard at our breeds reared on three farms using two feed formulations farm store. The fact that we are much closer to non (soy and non-soy rations). APPPA sponsored nutritional GM is very satisfying. analysis of six broiler carcasses from the feeding trial. We’ll publish omega 3/6 analysis, in addition to vitamins A, B, D,
E and cholesterol for both feed groups. Think you can We used to feed organic feed, but I must say the predict the results? Now would be a bad time to let your pricing simply made it impossible to continue from an membership expire.—MB economic standpoint. The fact that they always seemed to be loaded with mycotoxins was a huge worry. I am now seeing a huge improvement in flock performance, 30%! Bear in mind that we have to add about $175 in freight per ton of feed. DDOTSONOTSON FFARMARM
Another annoying thing is that quite often it appears ANDAND FFEEDEED that a lot of poultry products seem to be dumped on our offshore market. Worse than that is the fact that Distributors of Fertrell these products are marketed here as fresh. Every Poultry Nutri-Balancer bird that comes into Bermuda is at least partially frozen as the container temperature settings are 32 and the complete line of degrees at the highest. Better not say too much as Fertrell Products. then the purveyors will then cut me off!
As I look back on almost 40 years of farming, there Fertrell have certainly been many changes and current economic conditions seem to add to a demand for Also Available : cheap food. I say "You get what you pay for!” I also say that if this business was easy, everyone would Certified Organic Hay be doing it. Dotson Farm and Feed
2929 N. 9th Street Rd. I happen to do a weekly radio broadcast on a local Lafayette, IN 47904 radio station. I do this at 8:45 am eastern time on Friday mornings. It is live streamed on the internet. It Ph 765-742-5111 cell 765-404-9826 is usually fairly amusing and sums up the week in Fax 765-429-5601
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 15 Processing Pains and Opportunities —Mike Badger
Processing, like predation and regulations is a 1. Proper layout, which means a compact footprint universal pain point for small-scale pastured poultry 2. Match equipment to scale: crates = chickens per producers. We all cope with the pain as best we can day/8, scalder = plucker capacity, kill station = 2x and implement systems that work for our aptitude, scalder capacity attitude, and scale. Failure to sufficiently solve the 3. Rotary kill station processing problem will put you out of business. 4. Rotary scalder 5. Evisceration shackles At the end of the 2013 growing season, Jesse from 6. 30-second evisceration—requires practice Appenzell Farm started a conversation on the Producer Plus list by saying, “I've been frustrated Terrell Spencer from Arkansas recommends with how much work and man hours go into inspected processing. Spence’s reply highlights the processing per chicken on my farm,” and “the topic of opportunities available with scaling up. “I pay a how to increase efficiency with processing has been processor to process for me. USDA. Cost is 3.00/ on my mind.” Here’s some of the responses to whole bird and 5.00/cut-up. This particular processor Jesse’s common question. started doing poultry this year because I had built up to a volume that he was willing to take a risk on (300- My own personal reaction is that people need to 400/wk).” practice and efficiency takes repetition and volume. Happy Processing. Drawing on Lean manufacturing principles, Toni Rowe, of Pennsylvania, recommends: “Draw a diagram of your process first (called a "Spaghetti Diagram" because of the spaghetti lines showing the path of the product/operator) - look for waste, eliminate waste, setup appropriate sized buffers, and re-evaluate.”
Greg Gunthorp, offers this advice. “I think one of the best analogies to look at slaughter and processing is the weak link in chains. You have to be able to identify the spots in your process that determine final output and then identify the requirements that lead up to that end result. I think if we research this topic we'll find a very steep L shaped cost curve. A person has to be really careful that "premiums" for pastured poultry aren't ate up in small scale processing and distribution. It's a very scale driven business. It's a very capital, management, and labor intensive business.”
David Schafer of Featherman Equipment provides his perspective. “Studying the most successful operations I could find, I have come up with six key points, five of which are found in all of them.”
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 16 (Continued from page 3) That presents an interesting question. If you could give your neighbor a production tip that helped win in the marketplace. If the best products gained improve the neighbor’s carcass size, would you do it? the most market share, then there wouldn’t be a conventional chicken industry and Microsoft wouldn’t That question embodies the mission of APPPA. Our be the dominant PC operating system (it’d be Linux). Producer Plus members discuss ways to be more efficient producers all the time. The APPPA Grit I recently exchanged some emails with iconic constantly publishes practical production, marketing, pastured broiler breeder Tim Shell who said that and business insights gleaned from producers across learning and mastering production practices is a the world; shared for the benefit of all. If you believe relatively simple thing that anyone can do. Sales and the APPPA community is valuable, then you should marketing was much harder, and basically, the turn the same favor onto your neighboring producers marketers often stood a better chance of succeeding and learn to collaborate more and fear less. at their pastured poultry businesses. Making what we do more profitable through Tim’s perspective perfectly framed the competition collaboration with our peers doesn’t put us at concerns I hear so much about. Instead of standing competitive odds. Instead, that cooperative off against our neighbors, we should be collaborating competition builds our businesses and our industry. to improve. After all, we can all benefit from iterative production efficiencies, which in turn will make our Good luck this year! existing sales more profitable.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 17 contact Matt Buvala at [email protected] or (715) 495-7927. Pastured Poultry Pens Producer Marketplace Patent pending design developed by Absolute To place an ad, email [email protected] or call (888) Pastured Poultry's years of experience. Contact us at 662-7772. [email protected]. Details at Move to Wisconsin www.pasturepens.com or call us at (570) 788-1044. 5 acre farm just west of Milwaukee with: 3800 SF Rebar Portable Shelter — Churt Design Manual home built in 2003, 40x60 block outbuilding with 20 Now available on disc by Tom Delehanty. Mail $39 to foot clear inside, 40'x90' hoop house w/ water and Pollo Real, PO Box 1429, Socorro, NM 87801. Email electric, 2 acres of woods. $700,000.00. Established [email protected]. market for new grower/farmer wannabe. [email protected] or 262-524-8263. Gibson Ridge Egg Washer Sink-top unit scrubs eggs with hot water and brush at Experience wanted a rate of 28 eggs per minute. Suitable for a 3,000 Newcomer to pastured poultry wants to intern some layer flock. Made in U.S.A. of as much U.S. materials in chicken/waterfowl operation to gain practical as possible. $1,875 plus shipping. experience in western Pennsylvania to eastern Ohio. Gibsonridgefarms.com or (740) 698-3330 (Ohio). Call 412-628-8096. Processing Equipment Rentals Wooden Chicken Crates Locate or list processing equipment rentals at the Brand new wooden chicken and turkey crates. Solid Featherman website: featherman.net or call (660) floor to protect pullet feet. Chicken crates for $42. 684-6035 for more information. Call Mike at (570) 584-2309 or email [email protected]. Pennsylvania. Rehoboth MINIBARN D.I.Y. Plans for a 4-bird barn-shaped chicken tractor. Plucker and Scalder Features retracting wheels and open bottom for easy Too large for my space! Had to replace. grass pasturing and lawn fertilization, easy access Ashley SP 30 plucker auto door opener. Retail nest boxes. Detailed step-by-step manual complete $6,900.00 Thermostat controlled Pickwick scalder with materials list with sku #s from a national home and older model dunker included. store. Preview and Order as immediate download Asking $4,200 for all. 208.512.2268 online at: www.rehobothinnovations.com or call 804- [email protected]. 244-1044 to order hard copy. Price: $18 for download Mobile Processing Unit $25 for hardcopy
For more information, pictures, and price, call 208.512.2268 or email [email protected]. Calendar of Events February 5-8, 2014: Join APPPA at the Pennsylvania Electric Netting Fence Cart Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) Patent pending electric netting fence cart used for Farming for the Future Conference in State College, retrieval, deploying and storage of electric fence Pennsylvania. For details visit http://pasafarming.org netting. Can be either used by hand or with an ATV or call (814) 349-9840. or utility vehicle. $479.00 each plus shipping. Made in Pepin, Wisconsin. Details at buvalafarm.com or February 27-March 1, 2014: Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) Organic
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 18 (Continued from page 18) and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES). MOSES is marking the occasion with contests, Farming Conference in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Visit awards, historical exhibits and an anniversary www.mosesorganic.org or call (715) 778-5775. celebration on Friday evening during the conference.
May 17, 2014: Pastured Poultry Workshop in Attica, Registration is available online at mosesorganic.org/ New York. Speakers to be announced. Contact conference, by mail, or through the mobile app. See Hermann Weber for registration and more the MOSES website (mosesorganic.org) or call (715) information at (585) 591-0795. 778-5775 for more information.
Industry News West Virginia Dept. of Ag Considering Changes to On-Farm Processing Limits Registration opens for country’s largest organic According to the West Virginia Food & Farm farming conference Coalition, small-scale pastured poultry producers in SPRING VALLEY, WI–Registration is open now for West Virginia are able to process up to 1,000 birds the 25th MOSES Organic Farming Conference, under the exemptions provided by the federal Food which takes place February 27 through March 1 at Safety Inspection Services (FSIS) poultry processing the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. regulation. The state’s poultry inspection program does not recognize the FSIS 20,000 bird exemption. This is the 25th anniversary of the MOSES Farms producing more than 1,000 birds must use an Conference, which is put on by the Midwest Organic (Continued on page 20)
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 19 (Industry News continued from page 19) The report highlights the opposing views on responsibility for bacteria by indicating that inspected processor; however, the state has no consumers should expect their chicken to have inspected processors. bacteria, and that safe handling and cooking is the best way to protect your health from those bacteria. In 2013, the West Virginia Department of Then speaking in the context of the Foster Farms Agriculture proposed a rule change that would recall, a Center for Disease Control (CDC) make it legal for state poultry producers to process representative says that blaming the sickened people up to 20,000 birds on-farm in accordance with the for unsafe handling “doesn’t ring true.” The CDC FSIS P.L. 90-492 processing exemptions. If attributes contaminated chicken with more deaths approved by the legislature, West Virginia than any other commodity based on a study from producers could take advantage of the increased 1998 to 2008. limits as early as 2014. Nevertheless the study concludes that personal Source: West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition, (304) 460- responsibility and diligence to ensure proper handling 4869, www.wvhub.org . on the part of the consumer is the primary prevention method. In addition, Consumer Reports recommends Consumers Reports Concludes 97% of that consumers should select chicken raised without Purchased Chicken Breast Contaminated unnecessary antibiotics because “that’s good for your Consumer Reports analyzed 316 chicken breasts health and preserves the effectiveness of antibiotics.” from samples purchased throughout the United States. The study tested for salmonella, The full report can be found in the December 2013 issue of campylobacter, staphylococcus, E. coli and Consumer Reports or online at consumerreports.org. enterococcus, and klebsiella. Study Finds Salmonella and Campylobacter in
Of the samples, 252 were conventionally raised, 40 Processing Waste were labeled with no antibiotics, and 24 were A study by University of Georgia (Trimble et al, 2013 organic. The major brands tested include Perdue, Poultry Science 92:3060-3066) studied the Pilgrim’s, Sanderson Farms, and Tyson. The report prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter in the shows no difference between the production soil and compost as a result of on-farm chicken method (conventional, antibiotic free, or organic) or processing. Samples were collected from the soil (42 the brand. samples), compost (39 samples), and waste water (46 samples) across four pastured poultry farms. The Key findings include: primary objective of the research was to collect data 97% of the sampled breasts contained as a stepping stone to further research. The further bacteria deemed harmful research, according to the study’s authors, is to improve the processing waste disposal on small farms More than half the samples contained fecal in order to control pathogens. matter (enterococcus and E. coli)
Contamination by bacteria: Enterococcus: The four farms have not been identified by the study 79.8%, E. coli: 65.2%, Campylobacter: 43%, but produce approximately 1,000 broilers a year. The klebsiella pneumonia: 13.6%, salmonella: samples from each farm were composited for analysis 10.8%, staphylococcus: 9.2% to form a total of three compost samples, three soil Multidrug-resistant bacterium was found in samples, and two wastewater samples. No control 49.7% of the samples and 11.5% percent samples were taken to measure the bacteria level of compost or soil. tested positive for more than two multi-drug
bacterium
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 20 The study acknowledges that Salmonella and Campylobacter can survive in a compost pile The following table shows the results by breed. All including vegetable based compost. However, the broilers were 10 weeks old at processing. Due to a authors do not discuss the composting methods used small sample size, results for each breed and feed by each farm. type were averaged across all three farms. All broilers, however ate the same feed and were Results from the abstract: Salmonella prevalence pastured. and concentration (mean log10 MPN per sample weight or volume) in soil [60%, 0.97 (95% CI: 0.66 to 1.27)], compost [64%, 0.95 (95% CI: 0.66 to 1.24)], Boneless Breast Sample Weight (lbs.) and wastewater [48%, 1.29 (95% CI: 0.87 to 1.71)] Cornish Cross, Non-Soy 0.923 were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Although Campylobacter prevalence was not significantly Cornish Cross, Soy 1.163 different by sample type (64.3, 64.3, and 45.7% in Noll 22, Non-Soy 0.493 soil, compost, and PWW, respectively), the Noll 22, Soy 0.499 concentration (mean log10 cfu) of this pathogen was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in wastewater [2.19 Barred Silver Cross, Non Soy 0.450 (95% CI: 0.36 to 3.03)] samples compared with soil Barred Silver Cross, Soy 0.440 [3.08 (95% CI: 2.23 to 3.94)], and compost [3.83 (95% CI: 2.71 to 4.95)]. The data suggests that Cornish Cross fed a soy- Study can be found online: http://ps.fass.org/ based ration provides the better boneless breast content/92/11/3060. efficiency.
Boneless Breast Yields from Broiler Carcasses Mike Badger, APPPA director and mobile chicken processor, collected 23 boneless breast samples from three breeds on three farms throughout Pennsylvania. The sample also measures the breast yield variances between soy and non-soy feed rations. The breast samples were originally cut for various nutritional and isoflavone analysis that will be published soon.
The sample sizes, while small, provide some suggestive insights on breeds and feed relative to boneless breast yields. The Cornish Cross showed the biggest difference by feed type with soy-fed broilers having an average breast size of 1.16 pounds while the Cornish fed non-soy rations were 0.923 pounds.
Otherwise, the Barred Silver Cross and Noll 22 breeds performed similarly on soy and non-soy feed with regard to the measured boneless breast sizes. Otherwise, these alternate breeds produced boneless breasts half the size of the Cornish Cross.
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 21 Diversified Poultry Workshop at PASA
When: February 6, 2014
Where: Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) Farming for the Future Conference in State College, Pennsylvania
More Information: pasafarming.org or (814) 349- 9856
Poultry production offers a viable option for farmers, either as a sole enterprise, but more often as part of their diversified farm. The size and scope of production can vary greatly, as can the season in which the poultry is raised on each farm.
Join this varied group of experienced poultry producers for a day in which they share their knowledge and experience in raising classes of poultry other than broilers and laying hens. These grass-based, pastured livestock (both feathered and hooved) farmers have diversified their successful farm operations through raising turkeys (both New DVD Series Coming heritage and commercial), ducks, geese and guinea APPPA will be filming a Diversified Poultry hens. workshop at the PASA conference. The event will be turned into a multi-DVD set and made available This day is geared for the experienced poultry for purchase. producer who is interested in acquiring the knowledge needed for diversification to include At the time of publication, the price per DVD has not turkeys, guineas and waterfowl. yet been set. You can reserve your copy by contacting APPPA.
Diversifying Poultry Pre-track Topics Presenter
Duck Production Greg Gunthorp Special Nutritional & Health Needs & Considerations for Jeff Mattocks Waterfowl, Turkeys & Guineas
Broad Breasted White Turkey Production Tom Wadson Heritage Turkey Production Val Vetter & Deb Aaron Guinea Hens Will Harris The Future of Diversified Poultry Mike Badger
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 22 Join or Renew APPPA Membership Check if renewal □ (Please print clearly. Return form to APPPA at the address below.)
Producer Information Name ______Membership Information Membership (select one) Farm ______□ Producer—$40 / $70 (2yr)
□ Producer Plus—$60 / $105 (2yr) Address ______Includes online benefits □ Business—$200 City, State, Zip ______
Phone ______Pastured Poultry Book Raising Poultry on Pasture Email Address ______$34.50 each (shipping included) # of Copies ____ Website ______
List Pastured Poultry Products: Total Enclosed: ______
APPPA, PO Box 85, Hughesville, PA 17737-0085
American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 79 23 APPPA PRSRT STD PO Box 85 U S POSTAGE PAID Hughesville, PA 17737 Eau Claire, WI Permit #203
If the number printed above your address is #79 or earlier, renew by mailing the form on page 23 or renew online at www.apppa.org.
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178 Lowry Rd, New Holland, PA 17557 717-354-5950 | Fax: 717-354-0728 www.jmhatchery.com | [email protected]