ConcernsaboutthewayMostPeopleRaiseChickens byPaulWheaton http://www.richsoil.com/chickens.jsp Afteryearsandyearsofscraping/shoveling/scrubbingchickenpoopInowhaveasystemwhereIdon't scrape/shovel/scrubanychickenpoop.Afteryearsandyearsofsellingmeat/eggsforjustahairmorethanIpaid forthefeed,I'vealmosteliminatedfeedcosts.Afteryearsandyearsofnotbeingabletotakeafewdaysaway fromthechickens,InowhaveasystemwhereIcangomorethanaweek. AtanygiventimeIthoughtwhatIwasdoingatthattimewas"thebest"onlylatertolearnofsomethingI likebetter.Now,whensomebodyasksaboutmyopiniononthewaytheyraisechickens,IfindmyselftongueͲtied. Iseetheirchickensstandinginshitallday,eatingfeedmadefromgrains(andotherthings)consideredtooawful forhumanconsumption.Thefeedisoftenmedicatedandloadedwithvitaminsandmineralsthatsomebodythinks isgoodfortheaveragechickenͲithastobebecausewhatthechickenreallywantstoeatisnotavailabletothe chicken.Ratherthansay"Ick"Iwanttopaintapictureofsomethinghealthierthatwouldbeeasytodo.WhatI havetosaycannotsqueezeintoaminute.Andthereissomuchthathastoallcometogetherjustright,that withoutascriptIdoubtIcanpullitoff.Sothisismyfeebleattemptatthatscript.Totryandexpressmyopinionon whatIthinkisabetterwaytoraisechickensinonebiggob. Tobuildafoundation,IneedtofirstexploretheotherwaysthatI'mawareoftoraisechickens.Thereare alotoftechniquesoutthere.I'vetriednearlyallofthem.I'vevisitedalotoffarmsandalotofcitycoops.I'vehad alotofpeopleaskmewhatIthinkoftheirapproach.Andusuallymyanswerisnottheanswertheywerehoping for. (Thisfeedbackiseasiertoviewonthewebsite) Hooooooodoggy!I'mwaymoreinterestingthanIthought!:)ThepointIwanttomakebysharingthisis: Thiswebpageisonebigsteamingheapofmyopinion.Thewholesite,really.Thisismyfeebleattempttopainta pictureofsomethinginmyheadusingnothingmorethantheenglishlanguageandafewpictures.Ihavetriedto carefullyqualifyeverythingasobservation,speculation,experimentationorpontification.Surelythereareother folkswithdifferentexperiencesandphilosophies.Iencourageyoutoreadtheirstufftoo.Sincewritingthisarticle, Ihavelearnedthatthepassionssurroundinghowonemightraisechickensiscomingclosetothepassionsone mighthaveaboutreligion! I'mgoingtostartoffexaminingthebaseapproaches,thencoveralotoftheotherdetails(breeds, predators,citylimitations,improvingproduction,loweringcosts,etc.)And...attheriskoffindingmobswith torchesandpitchforksbeatingonmyfrontdoor...I'malsogoingtomentionwhatIdon'tlikeaboutthesesystems. Thisdocumentisaworkinprogress.WhileIhaveconveyedwhatIthinkisthemostimportant90%thatI feelcompelledtoshare,thisdocumentisonlyabouthalfdone.Yourfeedbackisappreciated. Therootof"concern" Themomentyouputananimalinacageorbehindafence,youaretakingresponsibilityforthewelfareof thatanimal.Ifyouareapersonofconscience,thenyouwanttotreattheanimalwellͲpossiblygivingitalife betterthaniftheanimalwereonitsowninthewild.Doesthisimplythateverypersonofconsciencewhohas cagedanyanimalhasthearrogancetobelievethattheycanimproveuponnature'sdesigns? WecanattempttoprotecttheanimalsfrompredatorsͲthisiseasytowrapourheadsaround.Wecan attempttoprovidefoodthatisbetterthanwhattheywouldfindinthewild.Butwait....wecannotseemtoagree onwhatisbestforhumanstoeat,letaloneanotherspeciesthatdoesnotspeakourlanguage.Somesimpletrial anderrorrevealswhatfoodsarepreferredorresultin"progress,"butalotofthisinformationisbeing contested/disputedregularly. Thefirstdomesticatedchickenswerepluckedfromthejungle.Forthousandsofyears,chickenshavebeen bredtosurvivenonͲjunglesituations.Butwhentheygetloosetheyrarelysurviveanywhereontheirownbutin thejungle. "Dammit!Thechickensgotoutandwipedoutthestrawberries!"Sincechickensaredriventochoose whattoeatbasedoninstinct,itwouldseemthatthestrawberriesmayhavesuppliedsomethingthatwasnotin their"chickenfeed".Considerforamomentbeingputintoacagewhereyouronlyfoodismoldy"purinahuman chow"(everythingyourhumanneedsforgrowthandreproductionͲnowwithgroundupminerals!)andyouronly drinkisdirtywater.Andjustoutofreachofyourcageisfreshstrawberries. Thejunglecomescompletewithpolyculturefoodsallyearlong.Greens,bugs,fruits,grainsandmore. Mostlyfresh.Somethingwecannotdoallyearbecausewehavewinter.Mostchickenfeedseliminatethreeoutof fouroftheseͲleavingonlygrain.AndthatgrainisdriedgrainͲnotfresh.Sincewehavelearnedthatgrainalone makesforasicklychicken,"chickenfeed"alsocontainsdriedlegumesandavitamin/mineralmixthatcontainsthe vitaminsandmineralsthatweareawareofthatwethinkchickensneed. Iseepeoplebuildmassive,elaboratestuffforchickensthatdeprivethemoffreshfoodsorbugsevenin thesummer.Ornaturalsunlight.Orhavethemstandingintheirownpoopallday.Or,worse,thechickensare killedbypredators.Andthisisthenorm.Therefore,Iamconcernedaboutthewaymostpeopleraisechickens Sixapproachestoraisingchickens TheseareallofthemethodsI'mawareofforraisingchickens.Allofthesecanbedoneinthecityorona farm.Andlotsoffolkscomeupwithcombinationsofthese,likeusingacoopandrun,butlettingyourchickens freerangeonceinawhile. ofactory ocoopandrun ochickentractor otrulyfreerange opasturedpoultrypens opasturedpoultrypaddocks I'mastrongadvocateofthelastone:paddocks.LaterI'llgointoalotofdetailofwhyIlikepaddockssomuchmore thantheothers.But,first,IwanttomakeupsomemetricstobetterhelpmedescribewhyIlikethepaddocks approachsomuch. Chickencaremetrics I'vetriedtocomeupwithawaytorepresenttheseideasnumerically.Forcomparison.Soratherthan just"yes"or"no"I'mtryingtofindawaytoexpresshowmuchbetteronewayisoveranotherway.I'vetriedto useascalesuchthatthevalue10isbest.Thesenumbersareentirelymadeupbymeandareanumerical representationofmyopinion. Vegetationfactor:Howmuchqualityvegetationisavailabletothechicken.Thisisthestrongestdriving forcetome.IfIcangetmyfeedbillnearzero,thenIhaveincreasedmyprofitmarginbyafactorof8orso.Plus,I ampowerfullydrivenbytheideaofmyanimalseatingfromapolyculture. o0=none o10=somuchthatthechickendoesn'teatanyoftheprovidedchickenfeed. onegativevaluesrepresentfeedingtoxicplantstochickens. Bugfactor:Nearlyhalfofachicken'snaturaldietisbugs.Themorebugsachickencaneat,thelessfeedI havetobuy.AndthismightbeagoodtimetopointoutthatwhenIsee"100%vegetariandiet!"onacartonof eggs,Ithink"ourchickenssufferedtosatisfythepassionsofignoranttwits!"Ihaveyettoseeapackageofeggs withthewords"dietincludesbugsandothermeat".What'sfunnyabouttheeggcartonpicturedisrightnextto "vegetariandiet"is"certifiedhumane". o0=nobugsareavailable o10=thechickensgettheirfillwithplentyofbugstospare Poopcleaningfactor:Howmucheffortisexertedincleaningupchickenpoop o0=fixedcoop o10=noeffort Poophygienefactor: o0=everymomentofeverydaythechickenisstandingonpoopybitsandbreathinginamonia o10=thechickenisneverstandingonpoopandtheairisasfreshasitcanget Workfactor o0=about4hoursperweekfor25birds o10=about2minutesperweekfor25birds Naturalhabitatfactor o0=factoryfarms o10=completelylooseinajungle Confinementfactor o0=factoryfarms o10=trulyfreerange Foodcostfactor o0=factoryfarms o10=thechickensdonoteatpurchasedfood Factoryfarm Layerspackedintosmallcages,meatbirdsinhugewarehouses.Poopandstinkeverywhere.Nonatural sun.Thesocalled"freerange"birdsaregivenapatchofgrass,butitseemssoalientothem,theychoosetonot takeadvantageofitͲtheywouldratherhangoutbythefeeder. Thefollowingpicsaresogross,theyareintentionallyleftsmall.Afterall,thisisn'treallywhatthisarticleis about,butitispresentedasareference.Youcanclickononyofthepicturestogetafullsizepic.Iwouldliketo thankfarmsanctuary.orgforfreelysharingtheseimages. FactoryfarmlayersFactoryfarmlayers PoopFactoryfarmmeatchickensMore Vegetationfactor:0 Bugfactor:0 Poopcleaningfactor:0 Poophygienefactor:0 Workfactor:2ͲIimaginethatsystemsareoptimizedtokeepthelevelofworklow Naturalhabitatfactor:0 Confinementfactor:0 Foodcostfactor:0 (Somecutevideosshowingfactoryfarmissues.Therearesomeinaccuracies,but,it'sstillfuntowatch.) Coopandrun ExactlyonenonͲportablechickencoopandexactlyonenonͲportablechickenrun.Probablythemost commonwaytokeepchickens.Thisis,nodoubt,ahugestepaboveandbeyondwhatthefactoriesdo.An excellentfirststep.AndwhileIembracethistechniqueassomethingthatcanbe"prettygood"Ihopetoimpress uponyoubytheendofthearticlesomethingIthinkisbetter. Iwishtoexpressthatweallhavetostartsomewhere.Itisbettertohavesomethinglikeeverybodyelse thefirsttimeandlearnbyit,thantoshootforperfectionthefirsttimeandneverhavechickens.Coopandrunis howIdiditasakid.ItwashowIdiditwhenIfirstkeptchickensasanadult.Ithinkthatwheneversomebodyfirst hasthethoughtofkeepingchickens,thisiswhattheyimagine, Thisismyrenditionofatypicalcoopandruninthecity.Althoughitisusuallythesameforfolksona farm.Thepointofthisimageisthepartthatisbrown.Thatdesignatesanareawherestuffdoesn'tgrowanymore. Formostcoop/runsIhaveseen,theentireruniswithoutvegetation. Vegetationfactor:0to7ͲIhaveseencoopsandrunsthatweretoosmall,soeveryspec ofvegetationwasutterlygone.Sothevegetationfactorwouldbethesamefora factoryfarm:zero.AlthoughIhaveneverseenit,Icanimagineachickenrunloaded withplentyofvarietyofplantsedibletochickens.Butwithouttheelementofpaddock shift(moreonpaddockshiftlater),thevegetationcannotdonearlyaswell. Bugfactor:1to3ͲWithareallysmallrun,thechickenswillwipeoutallofthebugsand thentheyonlygetthosebugsthathappentocomethroughthefence.Withareallybig run,thesamethinghappens,butabiggerfencemeansmorebugswillfindtheirwayin. Poopcleaningfactor:0to1ͲYoucanmakeitalittleeasieronyourselfifyoucanpilelotsandlotsofstraw orsawdustinthecoop.Maybethelowerlayerswilleventuallycompostandyou'llhavelessmucktomuckout (somefolksdothiscomposttrickwiththeideathatitwillwarmthecoopinthewinterͲitworks,butIhave concernsaboutittoo).Still...somedayyouhavetogetallofthatpoopoutofthere.Whatanawfuljob.Iwould thinkthatalotofpeoplewouldswitchtothepaddocksystemforthisonereasonalone!Iftherunistoosmall,you