Workshop attendees at Across the Creek Farms. …...birds cut up for their normal whole bird price...

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 82

ISSUE 82

July/August 2014

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Newsletter

this issue Broiler Price Survey P.1

President’s Corner P.2

Director’s Report P.3

Pastured Poultry Sustainability P.6

Homegrown by Heroes P.8

Workshop Notebook P.10

APPPA Salmonella Tests P.15

APPPA Scholarship P.19

Community Corner P.20

Keep the Grass Short P.22

Aconite P.23

Pastured Broiler Price Survey —Mike Badger

The 2014 broiler price survey saw price increases for

all markets when compared to the survey responses

for 2013.

The pricing survey is meant to draw some

conclusions about the broiler production and sales

across the country. It’s not a replacement for pricing

your products according to your production

expenses, but the survey data does provide some

competitive benchmarks and points of inspection for

your production.

For example, if you’re selling pasture-raised chicken

at $3.00/lb, you might conclude that you have room

to increase your prices. On the other hand, if your

selling price for certified organic broilers is higher

than the average of $4.68/lb., (as an example) and

you’re not able to make any money at that price,

perhaps it’s time to evaluate your production

practices. There was a survey comment that

captures this idea perfectly. The respondent said he

didn’t sell his birds because his calculated profit point

was $40/bird. No matter how you do those

calculations, the math is not going to work in your

favor.

Table 1 (page 4) shows the average price by feed

type and certification across markets. The survey

received 81 responses. However, one response was

culled because the respondent indicated a

confinement production model, i.e., no pasture, and

another response was removed because the

respondent indicated a flat rate pricing of $13 per

whole bird at the farm.

Flat rate pricing also showed up in other places

throughout the survey and it’s constructive to draw

them out because it offers an alternative, simpler

pricing model for some producers. One producer sold

through CSAs for $16.50 per bird with a minimum

order of ten, for example. Others indicated they sold

birds cut up for their normal whole bird price plus a

flat-rate surcharge (e.g., $4.25/lb + $2 for a whole

bird cut into pieces).

Value-Added Cuts

One of the best ways to increase the profit potential

of a broiler flock is to offer value-added cut-up. Table

2 shows the average prices of poultry cuts. The

whole chicken sold as a cut-up option does not

(Continued on page 4)

Workshop attendees at Across the Creek Farms.

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 82 2

It is so hot & humid here that I saw a dog chasing a

cat last week, and they were both walking.

As always, we are flat out, planting, feeding, growing,

harvesting, and keeping all the equipment rolling. We

bend them and then we mend them. It is absolutely

"Full on". If it is not hot enough already, then we keep

welding!

We spent a full day last week planting our new

Covington sweet potato stock. Want to spend some

cash real quick? Pay for the right to plant this

sensational variety (it better be!), arrange for virus

free plants out of NC State, pay the royalties, pay for

the inspections, air freight, and customs clearance.

All I know is that we ended up paying a dollar a plant

by the time they arrived at our farm. You do the math

on planting 10,000 of them.

I have the pleasure of having my son for a month—the

best egg packer ever.

As I write this both my son and oldest daughter and I

are preparing to go to Polyface for the field day and

trade show. Particularly exciting, as my daughter is

actually considering taking over my life's work of 40

years and running our farm.

In the meantime, your APPPA board is really getting it

all done. We had an exciting board meeting recently

and are pleased to welcome Grady Phelan to the

APPPA board. Grady was appointed by the board to fill

a vacant term left by Michael Akey’s resignation. The

board also voted David Schafer in as Vice President.

Thank you, David, for stepping up!

Both Jeff Mattocks of Fertrell and David Schafer of

Featherman have been running a membership drive

through their businesses. Between the two of them,

they have sponsored over 200 new APPPA members.

Incredible really. Please keep up the good work guys!

I am considering going on a cross country trip with Jeff

in September to attend field days, shows, and whatever

else the road may throw at us. My only concern is that

the last time I went to the west coast for a five-day

sailing event in August, it was all I could do to make it

back for Christmas! Jeff assures me it will not happen

again.

Hopefully, we will see a few of our members at

Polyface.

Keep the pastured poultry coming!

Sincerely,

Tom Wadson

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

Vice President, David Schafer, 2013-2015

Greg Gunthorp, Treasurer, 2009-2014

Jennie Watkins, Secretary, 2009-2014

Will Harris, 2013-2015

Jeff Mattocks, 2013-2015

Brenda Ostrom, 2009-2014

Val Vetter and Deb Aaron, 2010-2014

Grady Phelan, 2014-2015

Joel Salatin, board member at-large


“Poultry growers deserve pay raise.” The title of that

editorial in the Lancaster Farming newspaper caught

my eye. Mike Weaver, the president of the Contract

Poultry Growers Association of the Virginias argued

in his editorial that poultry companies were enjoying

record profits, but they weren’t sharing those profits

with their farmers. Obviously, this was a

conventional, indentured servant perspective on

raising poultry. Still, I couldn’t help think that he is

making the case for an alternative production

model—namely, pastured poultry.

Some of the key takeaways from the editorial include:

Contract growers often have a 15 to 20 year

payoff on their facilities even with a pay raise

from the poultry companies.

Contract growers earn five cents a pound on the

price paid by consumers.

Weaver is arguing for a two cent per pound

increase now or it will put farms out of business.

The poultry companies recover their expenses on

the first pound of a whole three pound bird. The

rest is profit that is not shared with the farmer.

The editorial obviously relies on scale of production;

it’s the only way two cents can matter, but we can

think about scale in a different way. If you scale up

your profit per bird, then you can raise less birds.

Instead of looking for pennies of income per bird on a

hundred thousand broilers, we look for a return of

dollars across a more modest amount of thousands

of birds with less up front investment.

I’m reminded of a line from Milo Hastings in the

Dollar Hen where he offers some sage advice, “The

way to get money out of the chicken business is not

to put so much in.”

The analogy is self-evident and we’re seeing

Hasting’s advice illustrated in an industry publication

(Lancaster Farming) over 100 years after he

published them. And to drive home the point in 1912,

he offers this example.

“On most poultry farms they are the chief items of

expense. I know of a poultry farm near New York City

where the house cost $12.00 per hen. The owner

built this farm with a view of making money. People

also buy stock in Nevada gold mines with a view of

making money. I know another poultry farm owned

by a man named Tillinghast at Vernon, Connecticut,

where the houses cost thirty cents per hen. Mr.

Tillinghast gets more eggs per hen than the New

York man. Incidentally, he is sending his son to Yale,

and he has no other visible means of support except

his chicken farm.”

We may be struck by an urge to seek out those

indentured growers and lead them to pastured

poultry prosperity. But they’re not likely to listen until

the race to the bottom of the cheap food revolution

claims their farms.

In the meantime, let’s continue to create a strong

pastured poultry industry that is ready to help new

producers and consumers form successful and

respectful relationships.

—Mike Badger, APPPA Director


appear to follow that trend based on the averages

reported in the survey; however, only 4 of 79

responses indicated they sold chicken in this way,

with half of the responses indicating a flat rate

surcharge.

The other glaring outlier in the individual survey

results was with regard to boneless/skinless breasts.

One respondent indicated a boneless/skinless breast

selling price of $4.00 per pound with a whole bird

price of $2.50 per pound. This is an example of a

producer potentially leaving money on the table. The

average selling price for a boneless/skinless breast is

$10.43 per pound.

The cut-up pricing does not have enough data to try

to identify the price per pound by feed or certification.

However, if you compare the cut up price listed in the

table with the average price in table 1, you can

generally see the percent increase from each market.

(Continued from page 1)

Table 1: Average price per dozen by market, feed, and certification

By Feed Type By Certification

Market Avg.

Non-

GMO

Feed

Soy-

Free

Feed Conventional

Certified

Organic AWA

Organic Prac-

tices, Not Cer-

tified

On-Farm Sales $4.27 $4.18 $4.91 $3.72 $4.68 $5.55 $4.45

Farmers Markets $4.45 $4.41 $5.65 $3.73 $4.80 $6.16 $4.61

Restaurants $3.93 $3.88 4.50 $3.85 $3.63 $5.00 $3.83

Grocery Stores $4.31 $4.18 $4.33 $3.37 $5.50 n/a $3.92

Wholesale $3.94 $4.05 $4.42 $3.71 $3.50 $4.50 $4.00

Cooperatives $3.95 $3.95 $3.98 n/a n/a n/a n/a

CSA $4.43 $4.05 4.57 $3.96 $4.50 n/a $4.85

Table 2: Average Cut-Up Pricing

Cut Avg. Price /Lb.

Whole chicken, cut-up $4.09

Boneless/Skinless

Breasts

$10.43

Bone-in breasts $7.72

Dark meat quarters $5.29

White meat quarters $5.85

Wings $4.32

Hearts, livers, giblets $3.64

Ground chicken $6.33

Raw dog food $2.82

Growing Practices

Table 3 shows the individual responses to the question

about growing practices, which asked respondents to


check all the items that describe

their production in terms of feed

and certification.

The responses show the market

trends. A majority of growers are

choosing non-gmo and organic

feed at the expense of raising

certified organic broilers even

though certified organic broilers

show a premium price in many

cases.

Flock Size

The average flock size did not significantly vary by feed

type or certification with one exception. Animal Welfare

Approved respondents had an average flock size of

608 compared to a survey-wide average of 1,111 birds.

Using This Survey

The data presented provides some guidance and

enlightenment about how pastured poultry producers

price their products. It is not meant to be a definitive

guide to setting your prices. There is no substitute for

knowing your cost of production. Based on the

survey data, for example, one might conclude that

soy-free broilers represent a premium market, but if

you don’t know about the extra expense involved in

producing those birds, you may find yourself in

trouble.

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Table 3: Growing Practices

Answer Options Percent # Respons-

Non-GMO Feed 59.3% 48

Soy-Free Feed 19.8% 16

Conventional Feed 24.7% 20

Organic Feed and Practices (Not

Certified Organic, But Could Be) 39.5% 32

Certified Organic 8.6% 7

Animal Welfare Approved 7.4% 6

Other (please specify) 12.3% 10


There is a necessary economic facet to sustainable

agriculture so long as we proceed in a free-enterprise

scenario. That does not allow us, however, to

rationalize ignorance to “doing the right thing.” The

issue comes down to definitions and walking the

walk.

This is more than an academic and philosophic

quandary. The customers of pastured poultry are, by

and large, supporters of notions of sustainability.

How and whether producers merely exploit or

actually support and nurture that represents at least

an ethical dilemma, if not a part of our everyday

functionality on the farm.

I am not a regular participant in the APPPA

discussion forum, but I am a regular follower. Some

may recall I have weighed in now and again to

suggest sustainability as a rightful concern for

APPPA members. The forum is one of the best and

most useful benefits of APPPA membership. If you

do not follow the discussions, you are surely missing

some great, imbedded nuggets of useful information

regardless your own model and efforts in poultry

production. Tune in!!

Back to the message. We will never have a universal

definition of sustainability, though there is a relatively

singular source for our current trends – functional or

not.

In the 1980’s a pro-business-as-usual outcome from

the United Nations “Brundtland Commission” is the

core of where most institutions, agencies,

communities and governments reside with respect to

sustainability.

Somewhat like the climate change debate,

regardless of where you fall in support or denial, we

cannot collectively deny that industrial man has

functioned in rather wanton disregard of

consumerism, extraction, and exploitation. It would

be a favor and responsible duty to future generations

to clean up our act. Sustainability is a real and

serious issue.

The Brundtland Commission references sustainability

from a primarily economic angle of “sustainable

growth and development,” and the former is an

oxymoron no matter how many PhD’s you can pile

onto the authorship and continued support of that

notion. If you want to self-elucidate, do an Internet

search of one of the commission authors, Dr.

Herman E. Daly, who wrote the essay “Sustainable

Growth: An Impossibility Theorem.” His was a

cautionary, if not dissenting, observation of the

report.

Pastured Poultry and Sustainability: Is There a Connection? —Brian B. Burger


An example of the report’s pervasive use – cognizant

or not – is with an aligned organization of APPPA,

which is PASA. The Pennsylvania Association of

Sustainable Agriculture – one of the good, notable

and functional institutional pillars of their own mission

of sustainable ag (whatever that is), has chosen to

align with a simplified version of the Venn diagram of

sustainable development wherein the three pillars of

functional sustainability justify our direction. With that

philosophy, are the three pillars of economic viability,

social justice and environmental responsibility where

they must purportedly all co-exist? According to this

model, that very small space where they all converge

is the realm of sustainability.

On this, I dissent. We can rationalize otherwise, but

most of us learned before 6th grade the notion of non-

renewable resources. There are only two primary

sources to economy – the labors of man and natural

resources. Neither can withstand endless exploit,

though there is an element which denies that and a

much larger element naïve to it.

An alternative diagram of sustainability places the

pillar of economy as necessarily working within the

social sphere and both within the environmental

sphere. If the economy does not address a settled

society, it will not last. If both do not function within

very wise and functional long-term caution regarding

the pervasive requirements of a healthy and durable

environment, none of it is sustainable.

I respectfully suggest that consumer and producer

alike reflect and further investigate these concepts.

Consider your definition of sustainability.

Furthermore, I suggest that our every action on the

Venn diagram of sustainable development: at the

confluence of three constituent parts

Three concentricities of sustainability: suggesting that

both economy and society are constrained by

environmental limits

farm consider these points if we want our grandchildren

to have a chance at existing healthily, happily, freely

and maybe even practicing the noble art, science and

trade of farming.

Brian B. Burger operates New Harmony Farmstead

in Central Pennsylvania where he strives to raise

various poultry, eggs and other crops with the

“experiment” of sustainability as the paramount factor

and outcome. As a near-life-long small-scale farmer,

his academic and primary vocational past is in

environmental science and protection.


satellite property that we grow out our pasture broiler

flocks. We had nearly 45 people attend the

workshop, with some folks coming from as far away

as Long Island, New York, and California. Among a

few of the other states represented were Iowa,

Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ohio, North Carolina,

and, of course, our very own Natural State of

Arkansas. Poultry Super Nutritionist (sans cape), Jeff

Mattocks, was the featured speaker of the event, and

after enduring a long drive from Pennsylvania, Jeff

shared a lot of really valuable information; tidbits of

which we’ll cover below.

Using connections built up over the past seven years

of raising birds on pasture, my wife Carla and I were

able to get several groups to pitch in and help make

the workshop better. One of these groups is the Bob

Woodruff Foundation, which is a group that supports

groups that work with veterans. They were generous

enough to donate enough money for scholarships to

Editor’s Note: Have you ever wondered what goes on

at an APPPA workshop and wondered if you should

take the day out of your busy schedule to attend?

Spence shares an overview of his recent APPPA

field day, which we held in collaboration with several

other organizations. On page 10, workshop attendee

Kerri Leach provides her notes from the day.—MB

On June 1st, we were fortunate to host a regional

workshop for APPPA at our place, Across the Creek

Farm, located in Northwest Arkansas. I thought that

those of you who weren’t lucky enough to attend

might like a recap of what went on.

The workshop took place on 20 acres of leased land

around 10 miles from our home farm. It’s on this

Intensive Learning Workshop Covered Layers, Broilers, and Homegrown by Heroes —Terrell “Spence” Spencer, Across the Creek Farm

Spence (left) receives the Homegrown by Heroes certification from Michael O’Gorman, Executive Director, Farmer Veteran Coalition.


pay for around 22 veterans from around the country

to travel to our place and attend the workshop. Some

of these folks were fellow pastured poultry farmers

who are military veterans that I’ve been helping by

troubleshooting the poultry problems that they run

into. Others were veteran farmers or potential farmer

vets connected with a group to which I belong – the

Farmer Veteran Coalition (FVC). Michael O’Gorman,

the FVC’s founder, came out from CA to tell about

the roll out of a new certification for military veterans

who have gone into farming. Called Homegrown

Heroes, it’s available to anyone who has prior service

and would like to use it to help market their farm

products. I know of at least one pastured poultry

farmer, Yasin Muhaimin down in Baton Rouge, who

has applied and got the HGH certification for his

poultry and vegetables after learning about it at the

workshop. In addition to the military veterans in

attendance, there were around 22 other participants

of the workshop, several of them APPPA members.

The Southeastern ATTRA office provided nice

binders for the meeting full of pastured poultry

publications, and the University of Arkansas Poultry

Science Department/USDA Agricultural Research

Station helped by supplying chairs, a porta-potty and

several grad students to help with lunch and other

needs. They say it takes a village to raise a kid –

well, the same is true when you have a workshop on

a farm in the middle of the growing season!

A good friend of mine, Cody Hopkins, who, together

with his wonderful wife Andrea Todt, runs Falling Sky

Farm in North Central Arkansas, made the trek

across the hills and hollers of the Ozarks to come

and speak to the workshop participants. They raise a

similar number of birds as us, doing over 10,000

broilers a year on pasture. Cody and I collaborate

regularly to hone our pastured poultry businesses,

and he came to speak about getting started and

building your farm. Like us, and many of you, Cody

and Andrea built their farm from the ground up.

On a pragmatic level, hearing Jeff’s presentation has

led to many of the participants tweaking their

production models. Jeff taught two sessions, one

looking at broiler production, and then one over

profitable production of pastured layers. Jeff’s

presentations, held under a shed overlooking our

flocks, were chocked full of tweaks and adjustments

for me, especially when it comes to turkeys and

laying hens. Specific take-aways were the

proportions for taking 19% broiler ration and adding

fishmeal to make a turkey starter and grower, and the

ages to switch over to straight broiler ration for

finishing the turkeys. Jeff also hit the economics of

laying hens pretty hard, and it convinced me to start

building a solar powered lighting system for our egg

mobiles. He challenged me to do a better job of

managing my layer flock. I had been planning on

scaling up on egg production, but after speaking with

Jeff, I realized my time would be better spent

focusing on adjusting my management to be more

efficient with my layers rather than just increasing

numbers.

We grilled out some chicken wings from the farm,

and after folks all had their lunch, we took a pasture

walk, looking at our pen design and watering systems

for both the hens and the broilers. One attendee, a

rotational cattle grazer from Central Arkansas, was

shocked at the level of fertility and the high quality

forages that sprouted up behind our broiler pens. He

called me up a few days after the workshop to tell me

that walking our fields and seeing the forage quality

had convinced him that he needed poultry on his

farm. His fields needed the fertility!

In a phone conversation afterwards with Cody

Hopkins, Cody remarked to me that “the level of

knowledge collected here (at the workshop) was

incredible. It’s always so hard to leave the farm to

attend workshops like these, but they’re so important

if you want to be successful in the long run. I think

that Mr. Hopkins hit the nail on the head with that

statement. There’s an proverb in the Bible that says

“Iron sharpens iron”, and that’s true with us. There’s

very little in the way of information out there for us

pastured poultry folks, so the more we can connect

and network, the better. I know having all of you out

at my farm helped sharpen me. It was an honor to

have ya’ll at our place.


Here are some of the key topics that a beginning

pastured poultry producer walked away with after

attending Spence’s pastured poultry workshop in

Arkansas. Presenters at the workshop included a

variety of expert commentary from Jeff Mattocks,

Terrell Spencer, and Cody Hopkins.

Collaboration

Spence was able to share in detail what it is like to

ramp up production very quickly, and he could not

have been as successful had he not “partnered” up

with a few other guys doing similar things. It was

great to hear the stories of how they were networking

to fill larger account orders and planning to scale up

even further.

They aren’t legal partners, but work together. Several

examples were shared of working together if you

have friends growing other species to sell together,

as well as share costs of getting to a processor if you

are using one.

Sales diversification is key—not just to who you sell

to—Farmer’s Market, CSA, restaurant, wholesale—

but products you offer or may offer as a group to

customers. Having a back up market is also

important for surplus. Even dog food can be a back

up! It was great to see how Spence is supporting his

family raising broilers. Layers are more of a loss

leader. In other parts of the country, however, it was

shared that the opposite occurs.

Spence was very up front about cost issues, water

issues, land use issues on rented land, neighbor

issues, and biosecurity. We also learned from some

of Spence’s colleagues about renting land at first so

you can still cash flow the business, as well as going

into the farm as your day job from day one, so you

are much more on top of the details and where the

money goes.

Biosecurity

Don’t be so naïve to think you can’t bring something

home from your off farm outing. Sanitize your boots

when you come back on the property and have a

separate set of chore boots. It doesn’t get much

easier than a foot bath with bleach water and a scrub

brush to clean boots.

We also talked about harvesting the entire egg

mobile at a time, as well as broiler pens and

brooders, so they can be cleaned appropriately. This

way you aren’t perpetuating illness.

Suggestions for brooder cleaning included triple

strength pine sol and powdered feed lime.

Workshop Notebook: Collaboration, Biosecurity, and Broiler and Layer Production —Kerri Leach

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Also, don’t walk directly behind your poultry pens so

you aren’t tracking their droppings, unless of course

you are inspecting dropping for signs of coccidiosis/

enteritis.

Keep Water and Chickens Cool

Use misters for hot seasons. Chickens stress at 85

degrees and heat stroke at 101 degrees. Burying the

hose, even in the grass, can help. There are many

pros and cons of various waterers as, well as running

water out to the row of pasture pens, that were

demonstrated. Some folks are fans of nipples, others

bells, and others PVC pipe with 1/3 cut out and a

float valve, so you always have a couple hours of

reserve water supply. Some felt the nipples just didn’t

supply enough water and didn’t provide a water

reserve should the watering system malfunction.

Maxi-flow is a good pressure reducer if you are

using the plassons.

To help your poultry pen not blow away in high wind,

drive a rebar stake in the two corners on the

windward side. Huge reduction in loss of pens.

Pearls in the brooder

Ohio brooder is still a great option. Peat moss is a

great bedding for many reasons, followed by pine

shavings (don’t use cedar, don’t use green wood).

Deep bedding needs to get hot enough to kill

pathogens (think thermal composting, use a

temperature probe), and turn it so it isn’t crusting.

Red lights don’t need to be on 24 hours but reduce

pecking and help them to feed. Dropping the

temperature by a degree a day can really help get

the birds ready for the outdoors quickly.

Water needs to be potable. If you can’t drink it, the

birds shouldn’t be drinking it, so pond water is not

your first choice.

If you can smell ammonia, your management has

already damaged poultry lungs, likely permanently.

Raw apple cider vinegar is great, but it will create a

biofilm in your watering system. If you are fond of

vinegar in the water, just use plain old vinegar.

In commercial systems, day 7 and 10 are treated

with high dose citric acid followed by probiotic to

address potential coccidiosis/necrotic enteritis.

Feed

Feed should not be ground into dust, as dust kills

birds per Jeff Mattocks.

Feed should be ground ideally weekly, otherwise

every other week. You lose a lot of what you are

paying for as far as nutrients being oxidized when

you are feeding 30-60 day old feed.

Fresh feed can knock a week off grow out time. The

feed at your local farm store may be 6 months old

and has potentially carcinogenic preservatives in it.



Ask your mill for calculated feed values.

If they give you the head tilt like you are

crazy, walk away.

You have to give them the right size grit.

That gizzard needs the right size or they

pass through. Grit sized #1 for chicks,

#2 for broilers, #3 for layers, and #4 for

turkey. It is cheap and worth it. If you

aren’t feeding grit, they will eat your

driveway if they have access to it. That is

not great, as the limestone (if that is what

you have locally) will wear down smooth

in the gizzard. It probably won’t cause all

sorts of health problems, but it will reduce

feed efficiency. They need nice sharp

rocks – granite or quartzite.

Space your feeders so everybody can eat at one

time. If not, you will always have more runts than

you expected.

When feeding broilers, never have an empty

feeder. A 10% residual keeps birds from scratching

and attacking you and each other. Birds with cuts

get condemned at an inspected processing plant.

PVC pipe feeders can be used for feed and water.

Hanging feeders and waterers can be adjusted on

a chain as the birds grow so they aren’t soiling or

sorting the feed – keep it at back height. Fifty

pound range feeders also work well if you can only

get out to the birds to check them once a day. Plan

for a five percent residual in the feeder for turkeys.

Layer Pearls

Remember that layer feed needs to drop in protein

weeks 12-15. Also, they need to ramp up on

calcium at first or they will have kidney stones.

Layers need adequate water – going without water

for 24 hours (frozen or empty) can take 24 days off

your production. Ideally, that water is 70-80

degrees. Flush the waterer out to get to cool water.


Peck outs or “blow outs” result in being pecked

where the egg just came out, likely by another hen

who sees into the nest box or is trying to share the

nest box. It ruins the laying hen. Nest boxes need

covering, like old rubber roofing or other curtain

materials. Nest boxes with dividers allow them all to

feel like they have their own little corner of the world

to privately lay their egg. Placing the boxes on the

north or west wall helps them to have the darkest

place to lay.

Starting pullets can be a great business and they are

in demand. Start December 1st and ready to lay end

of March. This allows you to do off season brooding.

Using heritage breeds to lay is very hard to make

profitable. They eat 50% more feed per day, so if you

are raising 100 layers, you are looking at having to

charge $8-9/dozen to make it profitable! It is also not

profitable to go through a molt, as it is very hard to

break even on the reduced productivity found after

that molt. Feeding sprouts in winter can help keep

the color up in your yolks. Gibson egg washers are

great if you are scaling up.

Laying ducks have the productivity of some efficient

chickens and some attendees are selling for $8-10/

An egg mobile at Across the Creek Farm.


doz. Nesting pads and galvanized nesting boxes are

really a lifesaver for clean eggs. LED Christmas lights

on the perimeter of your egg mobile can help

stimulate laying off season.

Dust bath bin: peat moss (screened with ¼” welded

wire), wood ash, diatomaceous earth, elemental

sulfur. Build a box or use an old 55g drum cut down.

Keep it out of the rain. They will thank you for it!

Tricks for Treating Common Problems:

Riboflavin deficiency (e.g., curly toes) can be treated

with vitamin B complex for 48 hours at 7-10 days of

life.

Rickets can be treated with feeding whole milk with

feed.

Coccidiosis/necrotic enteritis: Feeding whole milk

(what they can drink in 1 hour) can help the mucus of

the digestive tract be more resilient when it comes to

coccidian and necrotic enteritis. You can use copper

sulfate at one ounce per five gallons of water for a

maximum of three days followed by yogurt if you

caught it late. Lime your chicken yard frequently and

remove/replace bedding. Use powdered feed lime.

Coryza can be treated with 1 200 IU vitamin E

capsule in bell waterer if you note it in the first 24

hours.

Vinegar can help with ascites at a rate of 100:1

dropped down to 200:1. If you have acidic water to

start, use hydrogen peroxide instead. Hydrogen

peroxide is good for nitrates, pseudomonas, city

water, and oxygenates the water. You can use a

Dosatron injector in your water lines then.

Green muscle comes from too much wing exercise in

double breasted meat birds. It is more likely to be

seen when you go over four pounds carcass weight.

Turkey pearls

You can’t make a soy free turkey starter, but you can

make a finisher. Turkeys are bigger in drier years,

(Continued from page 12) perhaps because the grasshoppers are more

plentiful.

Heritage breeds cost twice as much to finish, but cost

less to finish than heritage chickens per pound.

Turkey meat doesn’t get tough like a chicken, so you

can butcher at the size your customers want, no

matter the time it takes to get there.

Blackhead may be able to be helped with cayenne

pepper (rumor has it that cayenne in feed keeps mice

away, as unlike poultry, they can taste it). Blackhead

is found more in the South and on the East coast.

Turkeys brooded with chickens learn from the

chickens. If you have no chickens, you will be

teaching them yourself to eat, drink, and dust bathe.

They learn quickly, and no, they don’t drown looking

up at the rain.

APPPA thanks Kerri for her thorough report!

Raising Poultry on Pasture by Jody Padgham ($34.50)

Feeding Pasture-Raised Poultry by Jeff Mattocks ($15.95)

Pasture Poultry Profit$ by Joel Salatin ($30)

Fearless Farm Finances by Jody Padgham et al. ($24.95)

Small Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery ($39.95)

5 Disc DVD Set on Diversifying Poultry with turkeys, ducks, and guineas ($35)

Order online a apppa.org or mail a check to PO

Box 85, Hughesville, PA 17337. All prices in-

clude shipping.


DDOTSONOTSON FFARMARM

ANDAND FFEEDEED Distributors of Fertrell

Poultry Nutri-Balancer and the complete line of

Fertrell Products.

Also Available :

Certified Organic Hay Dotson Farm and Feed

2929 N. 9th Street Rd.

Lafayette, IN 47904

Ph 765-742-5111 cell 765-404-9826

Fax 765-429-5601

Fertrell

In the fall of 2013, in conjunction with Fertrell’s soy/

no-soy feeding trial, APPPA sponsored the

salmonella testing of six boneless (skin-on) breasts

from the Dickinson College Farm group of 69

processed broilers. One sample came from each of

six breed and feed combinations (each of the three

breeds were divided into two feeding groups).

Sample Collection

The breast samples were collected, bagged, and iced

prior to entering the chill tank. The broilers were

batched through the processing line according to

their breed/feed combination, so that not all samples

for the salmonella tests were pulled at the same time.

The broilers in the trial were processed by Mike and

Christie Badger on their open-air mobile processing

unit (MPU). After killing and bleeding, the broilers

were scalded at 147 degrees Fahrenheit for one

minute and defeathered using a mechanical plucker

and rubber fingers with a cool water rinse. After

plucking, the birds were prepped by removing feet, oil

glands, and loosening the windpipe and crop. The

birds were then passed to the evisceration station

where they were hand eviscerated. Finally, a bird

from the batch was selected for sampling and the

boneless breasts with the skin-on was removed.

After the breasts were removed from the carcass,

they were bagged, labeled and placed in a cooler for

delivery to the laboratory. The birds did not

commingle in the chill tank, primarily to keep control

of the samples.

The broilers ate a feed ration that was mixed from

non-genetically modified inputs using transitional

organic corn and roasted soybeans. An overview of


Salmonella Testing on a Mobile Processing Unit —Mike Badger


the feeding trial and the feed ration is available in

Issue 81 of tAPPPA Grit.

While the emphasis in salmonella control is usually in

processing interventions, feed may be an important

factor. There was a study published in the April 2013

issue of Current Microbiology titled “The effect of

glyphosate on potential pathogens and beneficial

members of poultry microbiota in vitro” (See APPPA

Grit Issue 80 for the abstract). This study suggests a

link between glysophate, which is commonly used in

conventional crop production, and the destruction of

beneficial gut bacteria that inhibit the growth of

salmonella and campylobacter. As a result, the

pathogens proliferate.

Test Results

The test results (using test AOAC-RI #960801 by

BioProfile Testing Laboratory) showed that all six

(Continued from page 15) skin-samples tested negative for salmonella, and one

meat sample out of six tested positive for salmonella.

The positive result came from a Barred Silver Cross

breast sample from the non-soy group. This bird was

processed in the second half of the entire group of

birds at Dickinson College Farm. Three carcasses

were sampled prior to the positive sample, and one

carcass was sampled after the no-soy Barred Silver

Cross. All of them were negative.

The laboratory provided the following explanation of

the salmonella results. “The first step we do is

determine if there is a countable range of colony

forming units (CFUs) in the sample. Countable means

more than 10 cfu/g. If there is not (which none of

these samples were countable), then we go to the

next step, which is to determine if there are any CFUs,

even if it is less than 10. We can’t get an accurate

number if it is less than 10, but we can use an ELISA

test to determine if there are any at all.”

Having a “low” CFU count is of little consolation if you

happen to be dealing with a USDA performance

standard, which dictates any presence of the

pathogen is a positive result and therefore bad.

Salmonella performance standards currently state

poultry plants can get 5 positive results out of 51

samples, which the USDA translates as a 80% chance

that the plant is operating at a 7.5% rate.

According to a baseline report of raw chicken parts in

2012 (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/shared/PDF/

Baseline_Data_Raw_Chicken_Parts.pdf), USDA

found that approximately 24% of the raw chicken parts

processed by poultry plants contains salmonella, and

did not find a significant difference between parts with

or without the skin.

Perspective

One set of tests does not validate a process, but the

results do provide an idea of where there may be

some areas to focus on improving, such as rinsing

hands, knifes, and tables often. The results, however

are better than the industry’s performance on



salmonella contamination among poultry parts as

recorded in the 2012 baseline report.

If anything, what this very small test set proved is that

on-farm processed poultry is not inherently

dangerous even when using equipment and methods

actively disparaged by academic researchers.

Mechanical pluckers with rubber fingers and static

water scalders being two examples.

The other big challenge we have with the salmonella

as a pathogen debate is that there is over 2,500

salmonella serotypes; however the Center for

Disease Control (CDC) reports that most human

illnesses are caused by less than 100 serotypes.

Current federal performance standards for processes

neither distinguishes the serotypes, nor answers the

question about how much salmonella is required to

cause a problem.

(Continued from page 16) A criticism of USDA’s focus on post chill salmonella

testing is that while the USDA claims success at

reducing salmonella levels at the point of processing,

there is not a clear decline in the rate of salmonella

illness among humans. In a response published in

the Federal Register to revised salmonella

performance standards, the USDA refutes this notion

with a simple argument of ambiguity. The CDC data

doesn’t report which food caused the illness, so the

USDA rationalizes that a reduction in human illness

from salmonella infected poultry could actually be

negated by an increase from another food source.

The few APPPA members who are brave enough to

operate federally inspected plants know the

challenges of coping with salmonella standards. For

those of us who sell exempt poultry in direct markets,

we should accept the fact that salmonella and other

pathogens are a potential bureaucratic billy club that

will be front and center in the upcoming poultry

modernization act. Stay tuned to the pathogen

debate.


Join the American Pastured Poultry Producers

Association (APPPA) and Jonathan Coulimore for an

intensive learning workshop on pastured turkey

production. Recent research shows that turkey

consumption is a growing segment of the specialty

poultry industry, which totaled $7.1 billion in sales in

2012.

In this workshop, you'll learn how turkeys, pastured

broilers, and cracked eggs merge into a successful

enterprise. Jonathan has been raising turkeys for

many years and dresses his flock of 16 week old

hens out between 17 and 27 pounds. If you want to

know how he does it, register for this event.

Workshop topics

An overview of pastured turkey production, focusing

on broad breasted white turkeys.

Hands-on turkey processing lead by Jonathan

Coulimore. Attendees will have the opportunity to gain

hands-on processing experience from slaughter to

evisceration to chilling.

Jeff Mattocks will lead a pastured poultry health and

nutrition presentation to help producers maximize the

health of their turkeys and their profits.

There will be ample time for networking and

questions.

See http://www.apppa.org/blog/24242 for more information

or call 888-662-7772 for more information.

Pastured Turkey Workshop in Washington


As a condition of the scholarship, the awardee will

provide a follow-up report for publication in the AP-

PPA Grit outlining how the educational opportunities

furthered their understanding of pastured poultry and

how that information is being applied on the farm.

APPPA is a nonprofit educational and networking

organization dedicated to encouraging the produc-

tion, 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 American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

(APPPA) is now accepting applications for its annual

$500 scholarship/gift. The scholarship will be awarded

to an individual, farm, or organization that can demon-

strate an educational need directly related to pastured

poultry.

The scholarship may be used for any educational ac-

tivity related to pastured poultry, such as expenses

related to attending conferences and workshops, train-

ings, 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 ef-

forts?” Applications will be evaluated based upon

how well the educational opportunity to be funded by

the scholarship enhances the individuals/groups

knowledge and how that knowledge will help promote

the pastured poultry industry.

We want proposals that indicate you know APPPA’s

mission and that you have a plan to maximize the

scholarship award. Effort matters.

Previous scholarship awards have funded community

poultry workshops, enabled individual farmers to at-

tend conferences, and assisted college pasture poultry

programs with supplies. APPPA membership is not

required to apply.

Apply no later than October 15, 2014, 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, 2014.

APPPA Offers $500 Cash Award


Producer Marketplace To place an ad, email [email protected] or call 888-

662-7772.

Farm in Georgia

Monroe, Walton County, Georgia 9.073 acres

pastured poultry farm with move-in condition house.

All acreage fenced with security gate entry. Plenty of

grass/pasture with some wooded areas in back.

Includes 12 x 24 foot chicken house, a brooder

house, garden shed, 12 x 28 foot work shop, and

organic garden. House is spacious with 3 bedrooms,

3 baths, eat-in kitchen with breakfast bar, dining

room, mud room used for feed and equipment

storage, huge walk-in pantry, separate laundry room,

and two car side entry garage. There is also an

office/library with beautiful built-in bookcases. Oak

floors in the main living area, dining room & kitchen.

Has well, septic and clear termite certification. Asking

$353,900. Call Cyndy Carroll at 215-368-2347 or

[email protected] for more details.

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. Contact buvalafarm.com,

[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]. (570) 788-1044.

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).

Rehoboth MINIBARN

D.I.Y. Plans for a 4-bird barn-shaped chicken tractor.

Features retracting wheels and open bottom for easy

grass pasturing and lawn fertilization, easy access

nest boxes. Detailed step-by-step manual complete

with materials list with sku #s from a national home

store. Preview and Order as immediate download

online at: www.rehobothinnovations.com or call 804-

244-1044 to order hard copy. Price: $18 for

download, $25 for hardcopy.

Calendar of Events September 18, 2014: Poultry workshop in Twin Falls,

Idaho. Pre-registration is $25 or $35 at the door. Call

208-734-9590. Topics include poultry health and

nutrition, coop care, and breed selection. This

workshop made possible by a scholarship from

APPPA.

September 20, 2014: Turkey production at Jonathan

Coulimore’s farm in Vancouver, Washington.

Register online at http://www.apppa.org/blog/24242

or call APPPA for more information.

http://www.rehobothinnovations.com


After graduating college, he went to apprentice at

Polyface in the fall of 2008. That summer he met his

wife, Erin, (summer intern at Polyface), and they

married in March 2010.

After a year at Polyface, Grady returned home to

Oklahoma to farm alongside his father, mother, and

new bride. While he worked full-time off the farm at

various jobs, Erin and Grady began to build a direct

market farming business where they marketed raw

milk, pastured poultry (meat and eggs), grass-fed

lamb and beef, and pastured pork. In 2011, they

experienced the worst drought in recent history and

after a wildfire burned 75% of their grass in

September, they de-stocked, liquidated their

business, and moved to Virginia to manage a farm

for Polyface.

When they returned to Polyface, they managed a

herd of 300 cattle, 100 pigs, and 1700 laying hens.

They also produced and processed 5500 broilers and


Industry News

APPPA Restructures Memberships

Our first change is that our print only newsletter

(former Basic membership) has been reduced to $30/

year.

The Producer Plus membership will remain at $60

per year for the printed APPPA Grit newsletter and

online discussion list-serve. Producer Plus members

can opt for an electronic version of the APPPA Grit

instead of a printed edition for $50 per year. The

Producer Plus membership will continue to focus on

producers who pasture poultry as a farm-based

enterprise.

The new Family Producer membership will offer a

separate online discussion list serve and electronic

newsletter that focuses on family poultry production

at a backyard and homestead scale. The emphasis is

on pastured production for families who want to

produce all their poultry needs but are not producing

for profit. Membership will be $25 per year and will be

available in coming months.

APPPA Board Welcomes Grady Phelan

At the June 30, 2014, board meeting, the APPPA

board of directors voted to appoint Grady Phelan to

the seat vacated by the resignation of Michael Akey.

Grady will continue to serve the balance of Michael’s

term, which expires in 2015.

Grady is currently the Farm Manager for Cobb Creek

Farm in Hillsboro, Texas. Cobb Creek Farm is

owned by Cody Smith. Cody is a Pharo Cattle

Company Cooperator and brought Grady on board to

jump start pastured poultry and direct marketing as of

June 1, 2014.

Grady grew up on a ranch in southwest Oklahoma,

where his father ran stocker steers and a commercial

hair sheep flock. For as long as Grady can

remember, his dad has practiced holistic

management, and as an avid reader, he exposed

Grady to many holistically minded authors and

farmers. Joel Salatin was one of Grady’s favorite

authors.


Keep the Grass Short —Mike Badger

600 turkeys each year. After 2 seasons at Polyface,

the couple returned to Oklahoma in December

2013, where Grady taught Chemistry at Ponca City

High School until June 1, when they moved to

Hillsboro and began their Cobb Creek Farm

adventure.

Cobb Creek Farm will feature pastured poultry and

run an inspected poultry processing facility, one of

only two small scale facilities in the state. They are

also developing a commercial composting facility

that will feed laying hens without the additional

expense of bought grain. Currently they have a

new flock of Delaware chicks that will be certified by

the Sustainable Poultry Network as breeding stock.

Next year they will be selling day old chicks and

started pullets. The goal is to breed a better

chicken for use on pasture systems.

Pastured poultry and education are very important

to Grady, and he hopes to continue to do both

together. Grady looks forward to helping APPPA in

any way he can.

Poultry Industry Experiences Chick Shortage

For producers raising Cornish Cross, this may be of

passing interest. The chicken industry is short on

breeders, which is causing a shortage of birds for

growers. According to meatingplace.com, poultry

companies cut back production in 2011 amid high

corn prices, which pushed some growers to retire or

go out of business.

At the same time the conventional industry was

cutting back production, Aviagen was making

changes to the male Ross breeding stock, which,

according to the Reuters report, accounts for as

much as 25% of the nation's chicken supply. Some

companies experienced a low hatch rate with the

new genetics.

The short-term cost cutting combined with the

genetic problems means a chick shortfall that won’t

recover until the spring of 2015.


Sometime last year, I realized that my birds were

dirtier than they should be on processing day despite

being pastured. I also noticed the grass where I

pastured my birds was matted down with a nice

covering of manure, and it took an extraordinary

amount of time to recover.

Then I rediscovered pasture height. One day I was

browsing through my copy of Pastured Poultry Profit$

and read Joel Salatin’s description of the ideal

pasture length.

Joel recommended a pasture length of just one to

three inches, and mine had been running more in the

five to seven inch range. As a result, when the birds

poop, the manure sits on top of the grass because

the pen move lays grass down flat. The birds actually

walk on the bent over grass.

The bent over pasture prevents the manure from

falling down through the grass and onto the ground.

With the manure sitting on top of the grass, the birds

get extra dirty. The manure mat burns down the

grass and extends the regrowth time. And to state the

obvious, if we’re allowing our chickens to move

around on a mat of poop, even for 12 or 24 hours,

we’re inviting disease problems into our flock.

As soon as I started managing my pasture length, my

birds got cleaner and the grazed grass recovered

quicker.

There are other reasons to keep a short pasture,

such as predator control. Joel also talks about this in

Pastured Poultry Profit$. Tall grass is awesome cover

for ground predators. And if the tall grass brings the

coyote, fox, raccoon, possum, or other critters right

by your pen full of succulent four week old birds,

you’re inviting trouble to your doorstep.


Renew Membership (Renew at apppa.org or return this form with your

check.)

Producer Information (if different)

Name _____________________________

Farm _____________________________

Address ___________________________

City, State, Zip ______________________

Phone ____________________________

Email Address ______________________

Membership Level

Producer Plus with online benefits:

□ w/ printed newsletter—$60/yr or $105/2yrs

□ w/ electronic newsletter—$50/yr or $95/2yrs

□ Print Only Newsletter—$30/yr (REDUCED!)

Have something to advertise? Contact us about a business membership.

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

Aconite is sometimes referred to as aconitum. It can be

used to treat symptoms of anxiety, trembling, fast

breathing, loss of appetite, excessive thirst, diarrhea,

emaciation, coughing, sneezing, and Coccidiosis.

As a preventive treatment it can be administered to the

flock immediately following stressful situations, such as

shipping or severe weather.

Dissolve a 30c pellet into water. Alternatively, the aco-

nite can be dissolved in water and applied to the flock

by way of misting them lightly, which may be helpful if

the birds are not drinking.

Sources: APPPAPlus listserve emails from Susan

Beal, DVM, and “Remedies for Health Problems of the

Organic Laying Flock” edited by Karma E. Glos.

Homeopathic Toolbox: Aconite —Mike Badger

If the number printed above your address is #82 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

Workshop attendees at Across the Creek Farms. …...birds cut up for their normal whole bird price...

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Transcript of Workshop attendees at Across the Creek Farms. …...birds cut up for their normal whole bird price...