And how are we improving the Chick Brooder at Good Soil Farm?
At Good Soil Farm, we raise our chickens on pasture. That’s what makes them pastured poultry. To “count” as pastured poultry, the birds must be raised on pasture for AT LEAST 51% of their lives. Chickens raised for meat have a relatively short life–just 8 weeks here at Good Soil Farm–but we make sure those 8 weeks are the best life possible! If you want to learn more about the benefits of pastured poultry, you can read more here.
The “chicken year” for us starts in December or January when we order our chicks for the coming year. This year we ordered 5 batches of chicks and the first batch is scheduled to arrive in the mail the second week of March.
When they arrive, they will be 3 days old AT MOST! They are tiny, fuzzy little things then and need lots of protection–from the cold, from drafts, and yes, from predators. So, they need to be in a Chick Brooder.
There are many different ways of making a chick brooder, and we’ve had all different kinds over the years! From our very first: a large livestock water trough in the hallway of the house we rented on South Seton Avenue, to our chicken tractors outfitted with a propane heater, to a retired chicken tractor with cement pavers as the floor.
The basic requirements for chicks are the same as for all animals: food, water, and shelter. In the case of chicks, the shelter needs to keep them at 95 degrees Fahrenheit. We have used electric heaters, propane heaters, and light bulb heaters. There are TONS of options out there!
Last year, it became apparent that the brooder set-up we have been using was insufficient. And since we are now raising more chickens than ever before (we are raising 800 meat birds!), we need a bigger, better brooder space.
Stephen and Raphael attended a regional event of the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association at Chapel Ford Farm in Gettysburg, which also happens to be the USDA butcher facility where we take out meat birds for processing. Stephen was super impressed with Farmer Alex Bates’s chick brooder–set up in a shipping container–and so we decided to imitate his!
Our shipping container arrived this past Tuesday. Our next step is to level it, which we plan to do on Saturday with my dad’s help. Then we will cut an opening in it (with the help of a CSA member!) where we can install a ventilation fan (which we were given by Donna Demmon when her restaurant The Shamrock was closed).
After we have that finished, we will cover the floor with pine shavings as bedding for the chicks, set up waterers, feeders, and heaters. At the recommendation of one of our pastured poultry mentors, Mike Badger, we are going to be using infrared heaters for this new brooder.
We will keep you posted with how it goes!
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Related Blog Posts:
Moving Chickens on Pasture
What’s NOT in the Chicken Feed
Learn More About Pastured Poultry
What’s So Great About Pastured Poultry?
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