APPPA Offers Cash Scholarship for Pastured Poultry Education · In addition to the APPPA Raising...

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 76

The American Pastured Poultry Producers

Association (APPPA) is offering its third annual

Jondle Memorial Scholarship, which includes $500

cash and a two-year membership in APPPA. The

scholarship will be awarded to an individual, farm, or

organization that can demonstrate an educational

need directly related to pastured poultry.

The scholarship may be used for any educational

activity related to pastured poultry, such as expenses

related to attending conferences and workshops,

trainings, youth education, or on-farm trials. Other

ideas that promote pastured poultry will also be

considered.

To apply, please send a proposal explaining how you

intend to use the scholarship. Include the history of

your farm or organization, and be sure to talk about

your current pastured poultry operation. Answer the

simple question, “How will this scholarship support

your pastured poultry educational efforts?”

Applications will be evaluated based upon how well

the educational opportunity to be funded by the

APPPA Offers Cash Scholarship for Pastured Poultry Education

ISSUE 76

July/August 2013

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Newsletter

scholarship enhances the individual‘s/group‘s

knowledge and how that knowledge will help promote

the pastured poultry industry.

Previous scholarship awards have funded community

poultry workshops, enabled individual farmers to attend

conferences, and assisted college pasture poultry

programs with supplies.

APPPA membership is not required to apply.

Apply no later than November 15th, 2013 by sending

your application to: APPPA, PO Box 85, Hughesville,

PA 17737. You may also submit your application via

email to [email protected]. The scholarship will be

awarded on or around December 15, 2013.

As a condition of the scholarship, the awardee will

provide a follow-up report for publication in the APPPA

Grit outlining how the educational opportunities

furthered their understanding of pastured poultry and

how that information is being applied on the farm.

(Continued on page 22)

this issue APPPA Scholarship P.1

President’s Corner P.2

Director’s Report P.3

Understanding Ascites P.4

Can the Molt be Profitable P.6

Turning Compost into Eggs P.18

Optimizing Website Content P.12

Pasture-Raised Poultry Clinic P.16

Feeding Microbials P.18

Turkey Consumption on Rise P.19

Community Corner P.20

APPPA member

Jonathan Coulimore

gives a feed mixing

demonstration at his

farm.

mailto:[email protected]

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 76 2

Summer is really here. The Bermuda Azores high

has been in position well ahead of schedule, thus we

have had minimal precipitation for over 6 weeks now.

It is at the point where we are in an acute drought

once again.

Our spring season had bountiful rain, which led to a

great potato harvest. The torrid heat and humidity

make the very necessary field work a challenge on a

daily basis. That said, we are still setting sweet

potatoes and are hoping to set some of our virus-free

elite cuttings in the very near future. These are

purchased from Scott Farms in Lucama, North

Carolina. This stock is derived from the

Micropropagation Lab at NC state in Raleigh, North

Carolina. At the present we are using older stock,

which will almost certainly not perform as well. We

take this chance to get in some harvest prior to the

elite stock multiplying enough to take cuttings off of it.

We plant the bulk of our sweet potatoes on raised

bed white plastic, which enhances survival rates and

allows us to gently feed the crop as we go. We have

had great success with this technique and have

obtained yields of 850 bushels per acre. Astounding

really. Hopefully we can do this again this year.

The watermelon crop is being harvested now, the

first wave being seeded varieties, both red and

yellow—exceptionally sweet and a delight to devour!

None of the above has anything to do with pastured

poultry until one realizes that the primary nutrient

source for both these summer crops is a direct result

of our poultry operation, both layers and broilers. This

light, organized manure laydown really is the key to

this success. We continue to raise broiler flocks, all

be it on a somewhat reduced scale for retail sale in

our farm shop. The huge feed cost increases in the

last year, along with increased ocean freight on the

feed, makes one “tune up” the poultry operation to

the maximum.

It is the only way to survive out here! One of the

biggest problems we continue to be ever vigilant

about is the lowly sparrow. In the event that these

little guys do get into a pen, they certainly can

decimate the food source that is supposed to be for

the broilers. Ten sparrows will eat enough feed to

dramatically increase production costs. As they say,

there is “always something!”

As I look around the events of tiny little Bermuda, I

continue to be in awe of the diversity of activities. The

last few weeks have seen the arrival of a slew of

foreign and local sports fishing boats in the annual

billfish tournaments. The annual “Marlin World Cup”

took place on the 4th of July. This is a tournament

that is fished for in time zones from Madeira to

Hawaii, and the biggest fish is the global winner. This

year’s purse was some $400K. Once again the fish

was caught in Bermuda. This year’s fish weighed 668


PO Box 85

Hughesville,

PA 17737

[email protected] | www.apppa.org | (888) 662-7772

The APPPA Grit newsletter is published six times a year.

The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

(APPPA) is a nonprofit educational and networking

organization dedicated to encouraging the production,

processing, and marketing of poultry raised on pasture.

Staff

Mike Badger, Director/Grit Editor

Board of Directors

Tom Wadson, President, 2009-2014

Michael Akey, Vice President, 2010-2015

Greg Gunthorp, Treasurer, 2009-2014

Jennie Watkins, Secretary, 2009-2014

Will Harris, 2013-2015

Jeff Mattocks, 2013-2015

Brenda Ostrom, 2009-2014

David Schafer, 2013-2015

Val Vetter and Deb Aaron, 2010-2014

Joel Salatin, board member at-large


Have you noticed that APPPA members like to share

their knowledge and educate others about pastured

poultry? You can see it in action everywhere: the

APPPAPlus mailing list for Producer Plus members,

in Grit articles, and throughout the year at

conferences and field days.

Many of our members have also published books

about various poultry related topics.

Starting on August 1, 2013, APPPA will begin to offer

member books via the APPPA website at apppa.org.

As a benefit of membership, you will be able to

receive a discount on each book by entering a

coupon code at checkout.

In addition to the APPPA Raising Poultry on Pasture

book, we will be carrying the following titles:

Feeding Pasture-Raised Poultry by Jeff Mattocks

Pastured Poultry Profits by Joel Salatin

The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural

Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for

Home and Market Growers by Harvey Ussery

Fearless Farm Finances by Jody Padgham, Paul

Dietmann, Craig Chase, and Chris Blanchard

When you order the book from APPPA, enter the

coupon code pasture at checkout to receive a

member-only discount. The coupon will change with

each issue of the APPPA Grit.

If you’re not connected to the internet and would like

to order one of these books, you may write or call

APPPA using the contact information on page 2.

Thanks for the support,

Mike Badger, APPPA Director


Ascites (aka water belly) is one of the worst

conditions to find on the evisceration line because

you usually discover the severe cases when the

yellow liquid shoots out of the abdomen.

With the unseasonably hot, cold, rainy spring

weather across the country, reports of ascites have

been widespread. Recognizing an advanced case of

water belly is fairly straight forward as the abdominal

cavity (i.e., the belly) fills up with yellow fluid. Affected

Cornish Cross broilers will sometimes appear reddish

in color.

Given enough time, ascites will kill your broilers.

Deaths tend to start cropping up after five weeks of

age, setting the stage for a race to processing day.

The most common explanation for ascites is one of

stress. Yes, that leaves the door open for a nearly

unending list of causes. For pastured producers,

letting your birds get chilled in the brooder or get

rained on and chilled when they first get on pasture

are common causes of ascites. Extreme heat can

cause problems as well, but cold and rain are more

frequent causes.

The birds that die at six, seven, or eight weeks of age

have likely experienced their stress weeks before

(maybe the first night in the brooder). There is no

cure for ascites, so prevention is the best action to

take. Keep the birds warm and dry early in their life

and cool when the outside temperatures heat up.

Identifying Ascites

According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, ascites

develops in fast growing meat chickens and affected

chickens may be cyanotic (bluish skin) with reddish

abdominal skin. Ascites slows growth, so sick birds

may be smaller; however, extreme growth can also

be a factor, so watch out for the largest birds in the

flock. Males are more likely than females to be

affected.

The Merck Veterinary Manual continues by saying

that chickens with ascites will often die on their

backs.

Underlying Causes

Canadian Consultants Limited describes ascites in

plain English as a “consequence of heart failure. The

disease is more scientifically known as pulmonary

hypertension syndrome and this disease may or may

not actually end up as ascites.”

When a broiler becomes stressed, the heart pumps

more blood. This is a problem with chickens because

the lungs are a fixed capacity and lie in the rib cage.

The Merck Veterinary Manual lists some specific

examples of what we might generally call stress.

“Predisposing factors that increase oxygen demand

(e,g., cold), reduce oxygen-carrying capacity of the


Understanding Ascites in Fast Growing Broilers Mike Badger


blood (e.g., acidosis, carbon monoxide), increase

blood volume (e.g., sodium), or interfere with blood

flow through the lung may result in flock outbreaks of

pulmonary hypertension syndrome with or without

ascites.”

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food

factsheet identifies altitude as a risk factor for

ascites, claiming that broilers above 5,900 feet above

sea level are more at risk. Merck Veterinary Manual

offers a more aggressive take and states that

altitudes of more than 3,000 feet are not satisfactory

environments for meat chickens. Both sources

suggest that slowing growth will curb mortality at

higher altitudes.

The fast growth of the meat chicken is a large

contributor to ascites, as the growth of the lungs

cannot keep up with the fast-paced growth of the

chicken. As a result the lungs can’t expand enough

to accommodate increase blood flows caused by

external stressors. The increased pressure could

acutely kill the chicken, but when instant death does

not occur, fluid forms around the heart. That fluid

then expands and fills the abdomen.

The rate of pulmonary hypertension syndrome can

be approximately 2% in broiler flocks and as high as

15-20% in roaster flocks, according to Merck. We

can presume that all the sources quoted are

speaking in the context of the commercial poultry

industry. The rate of pulmonary hypertension

syndrome and ascites of pastured poultry flocks

would be a great study.

The Canadian Poultry Consultants cites the optimal

temperature of a feathered broiler as 75° F

(24° C). This is the temperature where the bird

doesn't use energy to keep cool or warm. As

the temperature deviates from this set point,

the bird's body needs to expend energy and

consume more oxygen. Low temperatures

present the greatest risk.

Prevention

If you want to prevent ascites and pulmonary

hypertension syndrome, you control the stressors.

Here’s a summary list of items to prevent:

Keep the chickens warm and dry through all stages

of their lives. Keep the brooder bedding dry.

Restrict feed, especially at high altitude. The Ontario

Ministry of Agriculture and Food recommends

restricting feed after 35 days of age. The advice to

restrict feed contradicts much of the practical advice

pastured poultry producers get, which says let the

chickens have unrestricted access to feed. But if

your chickens are dropping dead, limiting feed could

be a worthwhile troubleshooting step. Ensure you

have enough feeder space to allow all the birds to

eat at the same time so you don’t introduce

additional competition and stress from crowded

feeders.

Do not feed excessive salt. According to Jeff

Mattocks with Fertrell, sodium should be

approximately 0.20% of diet. Jeff cautions that the

causes of ascites are so diverse, worrying about salt

could be a slippery slope. However, if you have the

basics covered (warm, dry chickens), then it’s good

to have a handle on a range of causal factors so you

can troubleshoot. High levels of sodium in the water

source could also elevate the salt levels.



managing the hens through the non-productive molt.

Jeff used 84% as the rate of lay for pre-molt and 60%

post-molt. You can adjust those numbers based on

your chosen breed. If you’re only comparing the rate

of lay between the two cycles, you might be

encouraged to keep those hens longer.

However, the cost of maintaining the hens for 60

days during the molt is clearly laid out as you’re

expending labor and feed in exchange for no eggs.

In the tables, calculations are placed in parenthesis

should you want to translate this data back into a

spreadsheet.

Time to cull those hens.

Can the Molt be Profitable?

A recent conversation on the APPPAPlus discussion

group (available to Producer Plus members)

centered on the financial impact of taking your laying

flock through the molt. Jeff Mattocks, APPPA board

member and Fertrell nutritionist, published a

spreadsheet that shows the cost of producing a

dozen eggs during the initial 52 week production

period and then post molt. The spreadsheet also

showed the feed and labor costs to manage the flock

through a 60 day molt without any egg production.

I repurposed Jeff’s spreadsheet into two separate

tables, one to show production costs and one to

isolate the expense of the 60 day molt (see page 7).

The key takeaways from the charts are that post-molt

production will drop and you incur a lot of expense

52 Week Production Post-Molt Production

Organic Pullets Non-Organic

Pullets

Organic

Pullets

Non-Organic

Pullets

Pullet Cost $8.50 $6.900 $9.58 $6.98

Egg Cost per Hen: 300

eggs per hen for 52

weeks (pullet cost /

300)

$0.028 $0.020 $0.044 $0.032

Hen cost per doz

(Pullet Cost / 25 doz)

$0.34 $0.24 $0.53 $0.38

Feed per day in lbs. 0.25 0.25 0.313 0.313

Feed Cost per lb. $0.45 $0.22 $0.45 $0.22

Feed Cost per Hen $0.11 $0.06 $0.14 $0.07

Cost per 100 Hens per

Day

$11.25 $5.50 $14.09 $6.89

Cycle Avg Production 84% 84% 60% 60%

Avg Dozen per Day 7 7 5 5

Feed Cost per Doz

(100 hens cost / Avg

Doz)

$1.61 $0.79 $2.82 $1.38

Hen cost per Doz

(Pullet Cost / Egg Cost

per Hen )

$0.34 $0.24 $0.53 $0.38

Cost per Doz $1.95 $1.03 $3.34 $1.76

Cost of Egg Production

Summarized by Mike Badger


Nutritional facts provided by USDA.

Can I eat the meat?

The presence of ascites in the broiler does not necessarily

condemn the carcass. For those of us who process on-farm,

it’s basically a processor’s decision whether you keep the

chicken or not based on your judgment on the quality and

health of the rest of the bird.

If we care to follow USDA’s guidance, their position is laid out

in section 381.83 - Ascites (Abnormal Physiologic State) of the

FSIS/USDA Poultry Slaughter Inspection Training Manual “If

there is no evidence of any other disease condition and the

fluid does not interfere with inspection, the carcass may be

passed after removal of the fluid." (thank you to Sharon

Hoerich for sharing the source via the Producer Plus mailing

list.)

With the heat of summer upon us, we look toward the cool

weather of fall, but with the cold comes our next opportunity

for widespread ascites infections. Keep those chicks warm!

(Continued from page 5) 60 Day Molt

Organic

Pullets

Non-

Organic

Pullets

Feed Cost per

lb.

$0.45 $0.22

Feed Cost per

Hen

$0.08 $0.04

Cost per 100

Hens per day

$8.46 $4.14

Hours of

Labor for 60

Days

30 hrs. 30 hrs.

Hourly Labor

Wage

$15.00 $15.00

Labor Cost $450 $450

Labor Cost

per Hen

$4.50 $4.50

Cost of Molt


As chicken farmers, we

buy a lot of feed, and

the bank account feels

the pain every time we

make a purchase. As

the price of feed rises,

many producers feel

they are unable to pass

the full brunt of the

increase onto

customers, which

leaves us eating part of

the increased expense

and searching for cost-

effective alternatives.

Egg producer John

Moody in Kentucky has

been working on a

method that uses low-to

-no-cost local inputs to

help feed his flock of

250 hens. In a recent winter experiment, John

compared his production with a neighbor. While the

production methods differ between the farmers, the

numbers are encouraging. John experienced a

higher production level while using 40% less

purchased feed than his neighbor.

John used supplemental lighting during the winter to

maintain an 86% rate of lay in the flock while the

neighboring farmer did not supplement light and

experienced a 50% rate of lay. The quality of the

eggs, according to John, remained constant

throughout the winter, as well. They were always

deep orange in color.

The drop in purchased feed stands on its own merits.

Maintaining production and quality while expending

less money on inputs makes a profitable egg

business. Comparing the feed consumed, John’s

hens ate approximately 3-1/2 ounces of feed a day

while the neighbor’s hens ate six ounces. As

temperatures moderate in the spring and summer,

the expectation is that the feed consumed would drop

further.

John is using the chickens and the compost to solve

three problems. First, he has hard clay soil that is low

in organic matter. Second, the chickens need high

quality forage and space to forage. Third, John’s farm

is hilly and he doesn’t have a tractor to move portable

chicken houses.

In John’s setup, the chickens do have access to

three to four acres of hilly pasture that is adjacent to

the compost pasture, but there is one inherent

problem with chickens. If they’re left in one spot for

too long, they will negatively impact the ground.

That’s where John starts designing his systems.

By Mike Badger

Turning Compost into Eggs

Hens forage on a pasture of compost and wood at

John Moody’s farm.


Recycling Wood and Waste

John has procured a steady stream of carbon and

other organic materials to feed his compost pile. He

is able to get up to 1000 pounds of expired organic

produce year round from food establishments in the

Louisville area. His other materials include regular

shipments of coffee grounds, slab lumber, manure,

and woodchips.

The slab lumber costs $15 per 1000 pound load from

his Amish neighbor. The manure comes from a non-

organic stockyard and costs $30 in delivery charges.

The remaining inputs require John’s labor and time to

collect and apply.

For the woodchips, he is a drop-point for the local

power company when they trim trees in the area. The

woodchips provide an important role by sanitizing the

other materials via thermophilic composting by

eliminating pathogens without destroying the

beneficial microbes, says John.

According to the Open Source Ecology website

thermophilic composting is beneficial because, “all

the organisms that cause human diseases are

adapted to live around human body temperature.

Higher temperatures kill them. Compost that stays at

50°C (122°F) for 24 hours will be safe to use to grow

food. A temperature of 46°C (115°F) will kill

pathogens within a week. 62°C (143.6°F) will kill

pathogens in one hour. The bacteria that make

compost need oxygen. This can be provided by

sticking holes in the heap with pipes or sticks. Or you

can pile in coarse materials like hay when building

the compost heap, to create little pockets of air.”

To help filter manure, John piles the manure onto a

thick layer of slab wood. The slab wood decays at a

faster rate when buried under the manure and as the

wood decays, it’s inoculated with beneficial microbes,

and John notes that the fungi and microbes like

wood. Worms will also take up residence in the piles.



John draws his inspiration from hugelkulture, which is

a system of gardening with wood buried in the

ground. According to an article “hugelkulture – the

Ultimate Raised Garden Beds” (www.richsoil.com/

hugelkulture), you can build mounds up to seven feet

tall where the base is composed of wood, twigs,

woody material, and the top is covered with a couple

of inches of topsoil. As the wood decomposes it

creates pockets of air and actually helps self-till the

pile. The hugelkulture garden is very good at

retaining water, making it drought resistant – the

bigger the pile, the less water you need to add to it.

Not only does the hugelkulture recycle waste

material, it provides a rich growing environment for

areas with hard, compacted soil, typical of the clay

soil that John has on his farm.

By using the woodchips and manure, the initial

decomposition stage of the pile is cut by one-third,

allowing the important decomposer organisms to

move in quicker.

Add Produce and Mix

About once a week, John mixes produce and

woodchips into the pile. While the chickens won’t dig

(Continued from page 9) too deeply into the manure piles, they will dig holes in

the woodchips as deep as six to eight inches. John

likens the resulting woods cape to craters on Mars.

Hogs are on John’s list of enhancements because

they will naturally root and turn the piles much more

thoroughly than a chicken will.

Collecting the Dividends

Not only does the flock of hens have year round

supplemental feed from the waste produce, but the

biologically active compost piles hold an abundance

of grubs, worms, and insects upon which they can

forage. Because the piles of compost are of varying

ages of 6-12 months, there is always something of

interest to the chickens.

John also doesn’t have to worry about the compost

pasture getting beat up because of its woody, carbon-

dense materials, and he is always adding to it. As the

compost finishes, John plans to spread it onto his

pastures to help build the soil of those pastures.

Looking Ahead

After three years of experimentation, John is pleased

with his results so far, and he continues to look for

ways to use alternative feeds while maintaining

production in his market flock. Who wouldn’t be happy

with less feed, getting more eggs, and

enriching the soil?

Mike would like to thank Harvey Ussery for

providing the production numbers from his

“Reflections in Feeding” article in the August/

September 2012 issue of Backyard Poultry.

Renew Your Membership Check your subscription expiration on

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count. A hen digs a small hole in the compost pile.


Your website performs many different functions for

your farm. For example, it presents your brand in

your absence and it acts as a sales resource that you

can direct people to.

Your website can also attract new customers to you

through the search engines (Google, Yahoo!, Bing,

etc). It works like this. A person who wants to buy

local chicken goes to the search engine, types some

words, and then views the search results.

As a website owner, your goal is to be represented in

those search results. We’re going to look at some

ways that you can develop your website content so

that you have a better chance of being represented in

the search results when your potential customer does

a web search.

You may hear this referred to as search engine

optimization (SEO) or content marketing. Either way,

the goal is to use your website to attract new

customers—people who have never heard of you

before.

If you have a website with a contact form or email,

then you’ve gotten emails from online marketing

spammers who pitch their services with a lot of

promises. They’ll take you from obscurity to

prosperity. They often frame their pitch by saying

they looked at your website and realize you’re not

represented on search engines and they can help

you. Delete these emails.

Instead, take an hour each week to learn some basic

search engine optimization (SEO). As direct-

marketing, do-it-yourself farmers, we can get a good

return on a few hours of time by tweaking website

content.

We’re going to look at three content optimization tips,

which really are the foundation principles of SEO. Do

the basics outlined in this article, and you’ll

outperform the people who don’t know any better or

who chase the latest fads.

Can you do more to optimize your content?

Absolutely.

However, these items are timeless: understand how

your customer talks, optimize page titles, and keep

pages to one topic.

One word of caution. Do not outsource your website

content strategy and SEO to your web developer or

designer. This is a marketing problem and should be

approached with a marketing perspective. Your web

developer may give you some good tools to make

your content easier to optimize, but what I’m

proposing is not a technical solution; it’s born from

human thought.

Understand How Your Customer Talks

Look at the pages on your website that talk about

pastured poultry. What terms do you use? The

biggest mistake for businesses on the web is that

they talk in terms that their industry understands, and

that often includes the nuances of the industry. Free

range versus pasture raised would be an example

here. As APPPA members, you could probably talk

for hours about the nuanced approach to these two

terms and why one it better than the other.

How your customer talks has practical impacts for

your website. Customers will use their own language

when they do a web search (even if their language

Optimizing Website Content to Attract New Customers

Mike Badger

This is the second article in Mike’s online marketing

series. The advice here can be extrapolated to other

marketing mediums; however, it’s presented in the

context of your website.

In next month’s issue, we’ll look at how we can use

email to connect with prospects.


isn’t technically correct). If you don’t have content on

your website that speaks their language, then you

are invisible to those customers.

Using terms that are familiar to your potential

customer (i.e, website visitor) not only attracts people

who do not know about you, but it also builds a

rapport. In other words, your content earns the

visitor’s trust enough to take the next step.

To step through some of the critical thinking involved

with your content optimization, I’ll use my own farm

website as an example. I have two ecommerce

pages for my chicken offerings. One is titled, “pasture

raised chicken” and the other is titled “homesteader

chicken club.”

If I look at the past six months of website traffic in

Google Analytics (the Keyword Report), I know that I

received search engine traffic for 897 unique

keywords. If I filter the list for “pasture,” I only have

28 unique keywords.

Through my website, I do not get a lot of pastured

chicken leads calls, email, or orders. In other words,

my website is not performing well in terms of

pastured chicken sales and in terms picking up new

chicken customers. Something is not right because

there are lots of people eating local chicken where I

live.

I also can look at my Landing Page report in Google

Analytics and see that my pastured chicken page

only attracts 1% of my total site entrances. A landing

page is the page that people enter your website on.

Not everyone enters from the home page, making

SEO an important website consideration.

My task as an online marketer is to figure out what I

can do better. It’s my opinion that my web pages are



not optimized correctly. The content is off, and it

doesn’t match how my customers talk.

How does my customer (your customer) talk? To

start with, listen to them. What words do they use

to talk about your chicken?

Next you can do some keyword research. For

keyword research, I use the Google Keyword

Tool (search Google for the link). The Keyword

Tool provides monthly search estimates for a list

of keywords that you supply, and then it provides

variations on those keywords. If word stemming

is something that excites you, then you just found

hours of enjoyment.

Going back to my example, I fed the Keyword Tool a

list of keywords. The following list is my starting list,

which I derived from my knowledge of the industry

and my customers. The number represents the

estimated monthly search volume at Google:

pasture raised chicken (590)

pastured chicken (1900)

farm raised chicken (480)

buy local chicken (58)

fresh chicken (22200)

free range chicken (14800)

buy free range chicken (480)

local chicken (1900)

“Fresh chicken” and “free range chicken” have the

most volume out of these keywords. You can see

that “pasture raised chicken” does have some

searches.

I actually did this exercise when I built my website

and I made the determination to optimize for “pasture

raised chicken.” However, when I look at my keyword

report in Google Analytics, the people I’m attracting

with the “pasture raised chicken” keyword are looking

for general information. Their search terms take the

following shape: pastured chicken prices, what do

pastured chickens eat, what does pastured chicken

mean, etc.

(Continued from page 13)

These are not good searches if you’re trying to sell

chicken. And the Google Keyword Tool provides

related variations that could prove helpful. A good

exercise is to take the keyword(s) you think you’ll use

and then actually do that web search. What pages

come up in the search results. Don’t forget to add

some local search terms to your web searches.

Optimize the Page Title

After you know what terms to use, you need to apply

those terms to the web page you want to create. If I

only gave you one technical SEO tip (and I’m only

giving you one), then you should make the title and

top level heading (H1) your keyword. Then write your

web page content as you naturally would.

For example, if I change my “pastured raised

chicken” page to “fresh local chicken,” then I would

make the title and first level heading (H1) of my web

page “fresh local chicken.” The title is the single most

important SEO piece for search engines and it’s what

you see in your browser tab when you visit a page.

The title tells the search engine what the page is

about. The actual copy you use supports that title. I

A view of the keyword research as reported

by the Google Keyword Tool.


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should note that if I change my page title, I would still

talk about and use the term “pasture raised chicken”

in my content because it’s important to what I do.

The goal here is to adjust your website content so

that it attracts the most qualified visitors to your site-

those are the visitors who will sign up for your mailing

list, call you, or buy from you.

One Page, One Topic

The chances are good that you will have multiple

keyword phrases that you will want to target. Don’t

put them all on a single page. Each page should

cover exactly one topic. For example, if you create a

page in your shopping cart for “fresh local chicken,”

make “fresh local turkey” its own page. Don’t lump

them together on a page called “pastured poultry,”

unless the “pastured poultry” page is a category page

that links to the individual pages.

Blogging is a wonderful way to create a lot of content

for your website and allow you to cover a broad but

related range of subject matter in concise articles.

Those articles with your keyword rich titles and

content are indexed by Google. That attracts people

to your website.

When people get to your site via these blog articles/

website pages, the visitor needs to understand that

you have stuff you can sell them. Provide the link to

your ordering instructions or shopping cart so that

you can ask for the sale. This can be featured

sidebar links, headers, or copy.

Never assume the person reading your page knows

what you want them to do. Ask for the sale on every

page of your website, always.

Evaluate Often

I know. Who has time to do all this stuff? As if raising

chickens, turkeys, ducks and managing other farm

enterprises is not enough to take on.

Your number one marketing asset is your website. If

you’re going to outsource the website, make sure it’s

to someone who is a marketer. Otherwise, as a small

business owner, you’re on the hook to know how

your website works (SEO) and know how to evaluate

its performance (Google Analytics).

Learn More

One of the best beginning resources is the Google

Webmaster Guidelines (do a Google search). It takes

you through some of the technical and background

information for creating good websites that are useful

for your visitors and the search engines. I’ve spent

time on getting you to understand how important it is

to think critically about how the information you place

on a web page affects who comes (or doesn’t come)

to your website.

The intention is not to tell you what words to use on

your website. Rather, it’s intended to introduce you to

the thinking that goes into creating content.

Mike Badger is a recovering account executive for a

marketing agency. His clients often asked the question,

“How can I be number one on Google?”


Join the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project for

this two-day event focusing on profitable pasture-

based poultry enterprises—meat or eggs, chickens or

turkeys (or ducks, or geese, or guineas)… these

workshops will cover the gamut. APPPA Director

Mike Badger will present on day two.

You can register for either day as a standalone

workshop, or if you want to get the complete

experience (and save $20) you can register for the

full two-day event.

Registration Details

Day 1: The Biology -- $40

Day 2: Systems and Economics -- $40

Full Registration (both days) -- $60

All registration fees include lunch and resource

packets.

Event Details

Day 1-The Biology

Date: Friday, September 13, 2013

Time: 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Location: The Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary

Medicine, 200 Westboro Road, North Grafton, MA

01536

If you think fowl biology is simple—or just not that

important for a small poultry farmer to know—you'll

change your mind by the end of this workshop. This

will cover everything from nutrition to poultry health to

bird behavior to anatomy, including how each of

these is different between species and between egg-

laying or meat varieties.

Day 2-Systems and Economics

Date: Saturday, September 14, 2013

Time: 9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Location: A to-be announced farm in Eastern

Massachusetts

Pastured poultry growers often become masters of

on-the-fly farm engineering. Get a close-up look at

some tricks of the trade in this field day (on a local to-

be-announced farm), from the broad approaches of

different egg and meat production systems down to

those little details which end up saving (or costing)

you time and money. Of course, we'll also tackle that

perennial concern of anyone raising birds outdoors:

predator protection.

Along with production systems, producers and others

will share their insights on the economics of pasture-

raised poultry, from minimizing costs to maximizing

your marketing dollar.

visit http://www.nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/training/

poultryclinics.html or email [email protected]

or call 978-654-6745.

Pasture-Raised Poultry Clinics September 13-14, 2013



The American Pastured Poultry Producers'

Association (APPPA) is a nonprofit educational

and networking organization dedicated to

encouraging the production, processing, and

marketing of poultry raised on pasture.

APPPA exists to facilitate the free flow of

creative ideas. Member producers are

encouraged to consider all poultry species and

all pasturing models, assuming personal

responsibility for adapting ideas and models

presented through APPPA.

APPPA passionately embraces humane, people

-friendly, environmentally enhancing, pasture-

based production models. While we respect

the freedom of others to engage in industrial

confinement factory farming, we believe our

approach is superior.

APPPA assists both producers and consumers

to transact business with as little government

intervention as possible. APPPA does not

discriminate in membership or programs

based on the business size of producer or

consumer. Realizing that production models

must be profitable to be successful, APPPA's

interests include processing, packaging,

cooking, marketing, and any other topics

related to pastured poultry enterprises.

APPPA's world vision is to see pastured poultry

adopted as the model for environmentally,

emotionally, and economically sensible poultry

production. This vision includes decentralized

food systems, farmstead-sized processing, and

as much interaction as possible between

producer and consumer.

[Adopted by the APPPA Steering Committee,

August 26, 1997]

APPPA Statement of Purpose


Sept. 12, 2012 -- A paper recently

published in the Journal of Animal

Science helps researchers further

understand how microbials and

probiotics affect poultry health.

Researchers at the North

Carolina State University and

Chung Jen College of Nursing,

Health Sciences and

Management (Taiwan) conducted

a study to investigate the effects

of direct fed microbials on energy

metabolism in different tissues of

broiler chickens. The researchers

wanted to learn how consuming

microbials and probiotics could

change energy use and immune

function. Typically, direct fed

microbials and probiotics are

used to improve livestock health,

but how they actually work is not

fully understood.

These findings could have long

standing implications as

producers feel the pressure to

move away from the sub-

therapeutic use of antibiotics.

“Microbials are not a direct

replacement [for sub-therapeutic

antibiotics] but an opportunity

through a different mechanism,”

said Matthew Koci, coauthor of

the study and assistant professor

in the department of poultry

science at North Carolina State

University.

In the study, 192 one-day-old

broiler chicks were assigned to

two different diets. One of the

Feeding microbials to chickens leads to mysterious immune response

diets was a standard control

starter diet (CSD) and the other

was a CSD with direct fed

microbials (DFMD). The

researchers then injected twelve

broilers from each diet group with

sheep red blood cells at days

seven, 14 and 21. The presence

of sheep red blood cells

challenged the chicks’ immune

systems without actually causing

illness.

“We wanted to give the immune

system something to respond to

and didn’t want to change the

metabolism with a disease,” said

Koci.

Researchers measured several

parameters, including body

weight, whole-body energy

expenditure, tissue respiration

rates, and energy metabolism.

Over a 28-day period, the

researchers found no difference

in body weight or feed efficiency

between broilers fed CSD or

DFMD. While there wasn't a

difference in whole body

responses, there were other

differences. The researchers

discovered broilers fed the DFMD

had decreased tissue respiration

in the gut, increased respiration in

the thymus and increased

immune responses. There was

also an increase in ATP

consumption and changes in the

cytokines in the gut.

But Koci believes there may have

been something going on behind

the scenes. He theorizes that the

interaction between direct fed

microbial species and intestinal

cells results in a change in the

energy consumption in the small

intestine. This leads to an increase

in the amount of energy available

to the immune system. The results

of the present experiment are the

first to indicate that direct fed

microbials leads to increased

energy expenditures by the

immune system.

Through some unknown

mechanism, broilers fed the

microbial diet may have a faster,

not better, response in their

immune system. The DFMD was

not promoting growth, but under

disease stress, the bird would be

able to get back to optimal growth

in fewer days than birds not fed

microbials.

Koci cautioned that individual

producers may see different

results from microbial use in the

diet depending on the production

system. He also said that not all

body tissues were studied, so

there could be energy directed

toward other tissues that were not

accounted for.

This study is titled “Direct fed

microbial supplementation

repartitions host energy to the

immune systems.” It can be read

in full at

journalofanimalscience.org.

http://journalofanimalscience.org/




What does this mean for you, the pastured poultry

producer? In a word, opportunity.

With an industry valued at over $7 billion, you do not

need to capture a large portion of the market in order

to have a successful turkey enterprise. Currently, in

the U.S., pastured poultry producers typically think of

turkeys as a holiday special, but the research is

suggesting that there is an opportunity to create a

more robust turkey market, especially if you can

develop a market for value-added turkey parts and

cuts.

Something to think about as we gear up for

Thanksgiving.

According to an article in QSR Magazine, the Mintel

research group reported that sales of turkey, duck,

and other specialty birds grew 6.5 percent in 2012.

That put the total annual sales at $7.1 billion from $6

billion in 2008.

Approximately 84 percent of the U.S. population eats

turkeys, compared to 94 percent who claim they eat

chicken. The entire poultry industry was estimated at

$30 billion in 2012.

According to the article, approximate 38 percent of

the U.S. Consumers indicate that they have

increased their consumption of poultry products. The

low-fat nature of chicken and turkey provide an

appealing alternative to some other red meat.

Turkey Consumption on the Rise

Mike Badger


Classif ied Ads To place an ad, email [email protected] or call

(888) 662-7772.

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used chicken crates, electric hand plucker on

stand. Pickup at Springfield Farm, Sparks, MD.

Contact [email protected] for details.

Golden Nugget Pullets

Approximately 150 Golden Nugget Pullets for

sale. They are just about 4 months old. Price right

now is $13/pullet and will go up to $15 when they

start to lay. Jonathan & Ellie Coulimore 360-256-

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Donkeys

FREE: Two donkeys, 4 year old and 12 year old.

Pickup at Springfield Farm, Sparks, MD. Contact

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Electric Netting Fence Cart

Patent pending electric netting fence cart used for

retrieval, deploying and storage of electric fence

netting. Can be either used by hand or with an ATV

or utility vehicle. $479.00 each plus shipping.

Made in Pepin, Wisconsin. Details at

buvalafarm.com or contact Matt Buvala at

[email protected] or (715) 495-7927.

Pastured Poultry Pens

Patent pending design developed by Absolute

Pastured Poultry's years of experience. Contact us

at [email protected]. Details at

www.pasturepens.com or call us at (570) 788-1044.

Rebar Portable Shelter — Churt Design Manual

Now available on disc by Tom Delehanty. Mail $39 to

Pollo Real, PO Box 1429, Socorro, NM 87801. Email

[email protected].

Gibson Ridge Egg Washer

Sink-top unit scrubs eggs with hot water and brush at

a rate of 28 eggs per minute. Suitable for a 3,000

layer flock. Made in U.S.A. of as much U.S. materials

as possible. $1,875 plus shipping.

Gibsonridgefarms.com or (740) 698-3330 (Ohio).

Calendar of Events September 13-14, 2013: Pasture-Raised Poultry

Clinics with the New Entry Sustainable Farming

Project. Mike Badger, APPPA Director, will be a guest

speaker on September 14. For more information, visit

http://www.nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu/training/

poultryclinics.html or email [email protected]

or call 978-654-6745.

September 20-22, 2013: David Schafer and Joel

Salatin will provide a poultry processing

demonstration at the Mother Earth News Fair in

Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. Don’t forget to visit the

APPPA booth.

October 12-13, 2013: Schafer and Salatin will provide

a poultry processing demonstration at the Mother

Earth News Fair in Lawrence, Kansas. Don’t forget to

visit the APPPA booth.

News

States Join CIS Program

North Dakota and Wisconsin joins Ohio in the

Cooperative Interstate Shipment Programs (CIS),

which allows selected state-inspected poultry

processors to ship across state lines. According to the

USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the

participating states operate state inspection programs

that are at least equal to the federal requirements.

Ohio was the first state to get a poultry processing

facility licensed under the CIS program (as APPPA

reported in the Issue 74 Producer Profile of Dan

Masters).

Don’t Forget to Renew Your APPPA Membership



In May 2013, Hermann Weber hosted an on-

farm workshop that featured a post-mortem

examination. In the photo to the right, Jarra

Jagne, DVM, shows attendees how to

euthanize a chicken by dislocating its neck.

Hold the legs, tail, and wings together, if

possible. If you’re right handed, put the bird

on the right side of your hip. Place the neck

between the thumb and forefinger of your

right hand. Then pull away on the head until

you dislocate the spine at the base of the

neck.

The bird will flap its wings as it dies. Dr.

Jagne, cautions that guys tend to use too

much force to pull the head and tend to pull

the head right off, which causes blood to

spreay everywhere.

The photo below shows developing eggs as

seen in the post-mortem. Notice the round

worm to the right of the eggs. Now that is

something you don’t want to see in your

hens.


APPPA is a nonprofit educational and networking

organization dedicated to encouraging the

production, processing, and marketing of poultry

raised on pasture. APPPA encourages people to

exchange information, techniques, innovations, and

advice. To learn more about APPPA, visit

www.apppa.org or call Mike Badger, APPPA Director

at 888-662-7772.

The scholarship honors the lives of Scott and Marilyn

Jondle who took to farming as a second career. Scott

was a dedicated APPPA member and board

treasurer who was well known for his thoughtfulness,

sense of humor, and generosity. They were both

passionate about not only learning about food and

farming, but also about sharing their knowledge with

others.


pounds. The second biggest fish was also caught

here, and it came in at 641 pounds; it was a skinny

fish that should have weighed much more. The

good news is that both fish were fully used. I must

say that it seems a bit selfish to take these beautiful

creatures.

Last week also saw the North American Optimus

dinghy championships. Basically the best junior

sailors in the world meet in full-on competition. The

future top sailors in the world compete at the

windward mark as I feed sheep.

Today marks the opening of the “Island Games,” a

mini Olympic games contested by small islands

from around the world. It is the first time they have

been held here.

So as we prepare for the fall broiler, layer, and

turkey flocks, the field cropping continues. Soon

time to plant fall vegetables.

My thoughts go out to the many areas in North

America who have experienced severe weather. So

fellow APPPA members, please keep up the good

work.

Your board continues to work hard at various

conferences, workshops, and behind the scenes.

I truly hope that we can all have a successful year

and continue to enjoy health and happiness.

Sincerely,

Tom Wadson, APPPA President.


http://www.apppa.org/


Join or Renew APPPA Membership (Please print clearly. Return form to APPPA at the address below.)

Producer Information

Name _________________________________

Farm __________________________________

Address ________________________________

City, State, Zip __________________________

Phone _________________________________

Email Address ___________________________

Website ________________________________

List Pastured Poultry Products:

Membership Information

Membership (select one)

□ Producer—$40 / $70 (2yr)

□ Producer Plus—$60 / $105 (2yr)

Includes online benefits

□ Business—$200

Pastured Poultry Book

Raising Poultry on Pasture

$34.50 each (shipping included)

# of Copies ____

APPPA, PO Box 85, Hughesville, PA 17737-0085

Total Enclosed: __________

Check if renewal □

If the number printed above your address is #76 or earlier, renew by mailing the form

on page 23 or renew online at www.apppa.org.

APPPA PO Box 85

Hughesville, PA 17737

PRSRT STD

U S POSTAGE PAID

Eau Claire, WI

Permit #203

178 Lowry Rd, New Holland, PA 17557

717-354-5950 | Fax: 717-354-0728

www.jmhatchery.com |

[email protected]

Specializing in hatching guinea keets, bantam silkie chicks, Muscovy ducks, and Khaki Campbell ducks.

To order ducks, please contact Fifth Day Farm, Inc.

717-445-6255. To order

Guinea keets or silkies, contact JM Hatchery.

Call for our free color brochure.

tel:717%20445%206255

APPPA Offers Cash Scholarship for Pastured Poultry Education · In addition to the APPPA Raising...

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