How To Raise Meat Chickens 10 16

How to Raise Meat Chickens ©2009 Scott Kelland

Page 1 of 76 Free Stuff from New Terra Farm


Table of Contents
Introduction: Chickens on your small farm.....................................................................................4
Chickens fit this model................................................................................................................5
Chicken Raising Do' s and Don'ts....................................................................................................8
Getting Started...............................................................................................................................10
Planning – How many birds should you start with?..................................................................11
Chicken Raising Production Schedule...........................................................................................13
Planning subsequent batches.....................................................................................................14
Marketing – How will you sell your meat birds?...........................................................................15
Management – Where to raise your birds......................................................................................18
Production – Sources and supplies.................................................................................................20
Find a source for your day-old chicks.......................................................................................20
Get your equipment and supplies..............................................................................................21
Find a Feed Supplier..................................................................................................................23
Finding an abattoir.....................................................................................................................24
Production - Caring for your baby chicks....................................................................................25
Feeding your chicks...................................................................................................................27
Troubleshooting Your Chicks.........................................................................................................28
Getting set up in the Field..............................................................................................................30
Setting up the Movable Coop....................................................................................................30



Setting up your electric fence....................................................................................................33
Caution: follow the manufacturer directions for installing your fence charger and setting up
your fence. The fence charger produces high voltage but little amperage, but can still be
potentially dangerous. Make sure the charger is in a weather-proof location; use insulated
lead-out wire to get your ...........................................................................................................33
Moving Day for the Chicks............................................................................................................38
Production - Caring for your birds in the field...............................................................................39
Managing the birds in the field..................................................................................................39
Relocating the coop and the pen................................................................................................41
Troubleshooting your birds in the field.....................................................................................44
Production – Harvesting your birds...............................................................................................47
Loading your birds....................................................................................................................48
Chicken Economics – Costs and profits.........................................................................................50
Equipment Costs (fixed costs)...................................................................................................50
Chicks, Feed and Supplies (variable costs)..............................................................................51
Calculating your profit .............................................................................................................53
What can you sell your birds for?..............................................................................................54
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................55
Annex A – Building Stuff the New Terra Farm Way.....................................................................57
Building a simple trough feeder for your birds.........................................................................58
Building the New Terra Farm Movable Coop...........................................................................60
Building the New Terra Farm Broody Boxes............................................................................71



Introduction: Chickens on your small farm
Chickens are the perfect livestock animal for your small farm, or micro
farm, or even a big back yard! Why do I say that? Well, micro-farming
may be defined as 'the raising of livestock animals and plant crops on small
plots of land to produce a profit'.

Whether you have 5 acres, 2 acres, or a fraction of 1 acre, it is possible to
raise meat chickens successfully.

The scale of the enterprise may change but the principles remain the same:

● Organic production – introduce no harmful chemical fertilizers,
herbicides or pesticides

● Sustainable production – follow cultural practices that will maintain
or preferably improve your plot of land

● Integrated production – apply brains before brawn (or money) and
figure out the inter-relationships that benefit your garden, your
livestock, and of course yourself.



● Humane animal husbandry - raise animals in conditions they prefer.
Chickens like to scratch, pigs like to root, and if you don't frustrate
those instincts you will have happier, healthier,(and tastier!) animals.

Chickens fit this model
Raising meat chickens as a part of your micro-farm is completely congruent
with these principles. At New Terra Farm, we have been raising meat birds for
8 years, organically on pasture. The chickens have actually improved our
fields and garden, by eating bugs and weed seeds, and fertilizing the ground
with their own manure.

We have figured out a system to minimize loss and maximize returns, and one
that also reduces work for the micro-farmer. We spend about 10 minutes
twice a day looking after our birds. Once a week we move their electromesh
pen to fresh ground.

Raising chickens on pasture in movable pens integrates very well with my
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) market garden. I deliver fresh
veggies from my garden to 70 families each week. When I want to sell my
chickens, I just send out an e-mail to my veggie customers, and wait for the
orders to come in.



The New Terra Farm Movable Chicken Coop



Last week (late September as I write this) I sent out an e-mail, and
immediately got orders for 60 birds (worth about $950.)

We will show you the same techniques we use on our farm to raise and sell
meat chickens, easily and profitably. Once people taste how great your
pasture-raised chicken tastes, you will have to run to keep up with the
demand.

Lets get started!



Chicken Raising Do' s and Don'ts
Here's a quick list of basic do's and don'ts for raising meat birds quickly and
profitably. This list is based on our experience, and we strongly recommend
you follow this advice (at least until you have a few season's experience under
your belt).

DON'T use 'dual purpose' birds. If you are raising chickens for the freezer
(i.e. fryers or roasters), don't use the so-called dual-purpose birds OR
'alternate' meat birds. They grow more slowly and rarely get as large as
actual 'meat' birds. Order the meat chick recommended by your hatchery or
feed store, usually a rock-Cornish cross.

DON'T hatch your own eggs. Buy day-old meat chicks from your hatchery
or feed store, these birds are 'tried, tested and true' for producing good-sized
birds efficiently.

DO raise them on ground. This can be on pasture or in an area you will
rotate your garden into. Chickens like to scratch dirt and eat bugs and if you
don't frustrate that instinct you will have happier and healthier birds (tastier,
too!)



DO raise them organically. The demand for fresh, healthy, natural food is
soaring. Go after the top of the market, don't fight it out at the bottom
against Tyson or Maple Leaf. Grow a better bird, get a better paycheck!

These points are fundamental in our 'chicken-raising bible', don't mess with
them!

The Movable Coop can hold 100 Birds



Getting Started
If you have read our book about starting your own successful market garden
http://www.new-terra-natural-food.com/market-garden-book.html , you know
we follow a business model that says 'planning before marketing,
marketing before management, and management before production'.

This approach helps you avoid problems by anticipating them, and helps
assure the success of your 'chicken ranch'.

Here's your Getting Started Checklist:

1. Planning: decide how many birds to start with

2. Marketing: how will you sell them, and for how much?

3. Management: where and how will you care for your birds

Lets look at each of these steps in detail.



Planning – How many birds should you start with?
If this is your first time raising meat birds, you have a few questions to
answer: Do you plan to grow a few birds just for yourself, or to also have
some for sale? One chicken a week for yourself is 52 birds in a year. Does that
sound like something you could tackle?

Do you think you could sell an equal number? 100 birds averaging 5-5 ½ lbs
will just about fill two 14-cubic foot freezers. Do you have freezer space for
that many birds, or can you deliver them all fresh? If so, you might try
raising 100 birds.

The New Terra Farm Movable Coop as presented in Annex A can
comfortably hold 100 birds; the New Terra Farm Broody Boxes we use will
each hold about 35 birds until they are ready to go into the field, so you
would need 3 broody boxes to raise 100 birds at once.

You also have to consider the pasture you have available; a suggested
maximum density is 400 birds per acre. Note that using our method you
don't need all this space at once. You move the birds with their portable
electric mesh fence and coop to fresh ground weekly.



A batch of 100 birds will be moved 5 or 6 times, requiring between 7000-9000
square feet (1/6 to 1/5 of an acre).

You can save space by rotating the chickens through pasture that will later
become your garden. The chickens can also follow pigs in 'rotation', if you are
raising pigs on pasture as well.

Remember also that, in most locations, you can raise more than one 'batch' of
birds a year. At the farm we do 2 or 3 batches of 100 birds each season; this
lets us re-use the equipment, and doesn't overwhelm our available freezer
space (see also the Chicken Raising Production Schedule in the next
section).

Running successive batches requires good planning and scheduling,
particularly when ordering your chicks and later when booking them in at the
abattoir. Hatcheries may not have birds available precisely when you want
them, and abattoirs have busy times when it make take several weeks to get
your animals in.

It's important to note that we raise birds only in the snow-free months; we
usually get our first batch of day-old chicks in April, and finish the last batch
by October. This is not only for the comfort of the birds (and the farmer!) but
also so that our electric mesh fence doesn't 'ground out' in the snow.



Chicken Raising Production Schedule
Here’s the production schedule to raise your first batch of meat birds.

1. Four weeks before chick pick up day - Contact your supplier and order
the day old chicks. Find an abattoir within a reasonable distance from your
farm.

2. Two weeks before pick up day - Gather your equipment and materials.
Begin construction of your broody boxes and Movable Coop.

3. One week before pick up day - Order your feed. Have the feed available
when the birds arrive.

4. Pick-up day - Get your birds home and in the broody boxes with chick
starter feed and water as soon as possible. (But don't panic, the new-born
birds can normally survive 24 hours without food or water.)

5. When birds are 3 weeks of age – The little birds should be fully
feathered and don't need supplementary heat; they can go out to the Movable
Coop.

6. At 6 weeks of age - Switch to chicken grower ration



7. At 8-9 weeks of age - Contact the abattoir to book your birds in.

8. At 10-12 weeks of age - Your birds are ready to go; average weight
should be between 5 and 6 lbs dressed.

Planning subsequent batches
Since the chicks spend 3 weeks in the broody boxes, and about 7-9 weeks in
the Movable Coop, here on the farm we are able to do 3 batches in a season
with just one set of equipment i.e. one Movable Coop and 3 broody boxes.

Here is a sample schedule you can use to plan your own batches of birds.

Meat Bird Batch Schedule

Pick-up day Leave broody box Go to abattoir
Batch 1 April 16 May 7 July 2
Batch 2 June 11 July 3 August 28
Batch 3 August 7 August 29 October 24

This sample schedule assumes your birds will reach the desired weight in



about 11 weeks. You will also need about 27 weeks of snow-free weather to
follow this schedule and complete 3 batches.

Marketing – How will you sell your meat birds?
One of the most important rules for the small farmer is, 'don't grow
anything you don't know how to sell!' In fact, it's better if you sell your
wares before they are grown.

That's the model we follow in Bootstrap Market Gardening; our customers
pay us in advance for delivering fresh veggies throughout the season. These
same folks buy all our chickens, too. How do I know who wants chicken? I
ask them!

You can do the same, even if you don't have your own Bootstrap Market
Garden. Tell your friends, neighbours, co-workers, church members, hockey
buddies – in short, EVERYBODY – that you will be raising delicious, organic,
free-range chickens, and if they hurry they can get on the list to get some!
Make sure to get them to ask around for you as well.

Ask how many birds they think they might want, and then you may have to



adjust your numbers for growing. CAUTION; don't take on too many at once,
if this is your first time. You can always put potential customers on a waiting
list for your next batch.

You can also ask for a small deposit when you take orders; this helps makes
sure people will take the birds when they are ready, and can cover your start-
up costs for equipment.

Try to get folks to tell you how many chickens they might need over the
season. That way you can plan subsequent batches with some confidence you
can sell them.

We also give chickens away as a 'bonus' to people who buy other things from
our farm. For example, one lady bought a side of pork from us and I gave her
a nice 6-lb. roaster. Now she is a good customer for chicken as well!

Finally, if someone sends a chicken customer to you, reward them with a free
bird. You want to encourage these referrals, and everybody loves chicken!

Your birds are good in the freezer for at least six months, so you have some
time to get them all sold. Don't forget to keep enough for your own chicken
dinners!



Shameless Plug: Of course, the best way to sell your chickens is to your
own Bootstrap Market Garden customers. Copy and paste the link below
into your browser, and you will be taken to our sales page for Bootstrap
Market Gardening.

Shameless Bribe: as our way of saying 'thanks' for buying this book, you
can get our Bootstrap Market Gardening book and the free bonuses for
just $33 instead of the $47 everybody else pays. That is a savings of 30%
off the regular price.

http://www.new-terra-natural-food.com/market-gardening-book.html

Click on the 'Add to Cart' button at the bottom of the web page. then enter
this discount code to get your savings: chicken30



Management – Where to raise your birds
Now that you have some idea of how many birds you will start with, it's time
to figure out where and how you will care for them. Our New Terra Farm
Movable Coop will accommodate 100 birds, and that you will need 3 New
Terra Farm Broody Boxes to raise that many chicks. So what else do you
need?

1. A sheltered space with electricity for your broody boxes. We use
a room in one of our outbuildings for our broody boxes. It has power
for the heat lamps that keep the chicks warm, and is reasonably
weather-proof. You can use just about any building with power,
including your garage if necessary (just keep the bedding fresh!) The
broody boxes are 3 feet wide by 4 feet long, so only about 36 square
feet is needed to accommodate 3 boxes.

2. Pasture with access to power when the birds leave the broody
boxes. We use electric mesh fencing to keep our birds where we want
them, and to protect them from predators. So you need to be able to
run a line from your fence charger to the bird fencing. The electric
mesh fencing is about 160 feet long, and can form a pen of about 1600
square feet (i.e. 40' x 40' in a square configuration.) You will move the
pen 5-6 times, so you need around 7000-9000 square feet of



pasture (about 1/6 to 1/5 of an acre.)

3. A water source close to your pen. Since we raise birds in non-
winter months only, we just run a garden hose down to the meat bird
pen.

4. Something to keep your chicken feed in. You have to make sure
the feed stays dry and safe from other animals (like rats) that might
like to 'chow down'. We keep bags of feed under cover in a steel bin in
one of our barns. For day to day feeding, we bring a couple 25-kilo
(55-lb) bags of feed to the chicken pen, and keep it in a large garbage
can. The garbage can has a tight-fitting lid, and wheels to make it
easily movable.

Okay, you are set up. You know how many birds you will raise, where to
raise 'em, and how you will sell them. Now, lets look at production – getting
your birds and supplies, and caring for the birds.



Production – Sources and supplies

So, you've done your planning and preparation and you want to get started.
Here's how:

Find a source for your day-old chicks
Your local feed store should be able to help you; they often handle orders for
local hatcheries as well. Find out where your neighbour farmers order chicks
from, and get their recommendation.

Be aware that day-old chicks are often available only on certain delivery
dates, and that you may have to order weeks in advance. And remember,
order meat-bird-type chicks only, not dual-purpose or 'alternate'! The
standard is usually a Ross or Cobb broiler chick.

You will usually have the choice of order straight sexed chicks e.g. all males or
all females, or a mix of both. The roosters get bigger, but we always order the
mix. We find our customers like a range of sizes.

By the way, the hatcheries we deal with usually give us a couple extra birds in



the order to make up for losses; we usually get 4 extra chicks for every
hundred we order.

If you strike out locally, you can Google 'hatcheries' and find some sources
that way. But its best to start with a recommendation from a 'local' if you can.

Get your equipment and supplies
Now you need to buy or build the equipment to raise your birdies, and find a
feed supplier. Here's the equipment list to raise a batch of 100 birds.

● Chick waterers for the broody boxes, one gallon size – qty 3

● Chick feeders for broody boxes, two-foot size – qty 6

● Wood shaving for chick bedding – 3 cubic foot bag – qty 2

● Heat lamps for broody boxes, 150W – 250W size – qty 3

● Large waterers for the birds in the field, five-gallon size – qty 3

● Large feeders for the birds in the field – 5 gallon size – qty 4 (see also
Annex A for instructions on building your own trough feeders.)



● Electric mesh poultry netting – 1 length (about 165 ft).

● If you don't already have electric fence, you will need to buy a fence
charger, ground rods and electric fencing wire to power up your
chicken pen. See Setting up your Electric Fence for more
information.

One-gallon chick waterer and farm-built 8-foot trough



KEY POINT: try to get all this stuff the same day you order your birds. If
you wait until delivery day, the feed store may be sold out as EVERYONE is
looking for equipment on that day.

Find a Feed Supplier
You are going to need chick starter feed and chicken grower feed to raise
your birds. Good quality feed is absolutely critical to raising birds quickly and
profitably.

Don't skimp on the feed or to try to make do with 'scratch' feed; Chick starter
feed should have a protein content of 20-21%. Grower should have a protein
content of 18%. If your feed mix doesn't include it, you will also need chick
mineral supplement and chick grit, to help the birds digest their food. Your
feed store can help you out with that.

The number one choice for a feed supplier is a local organic grain farmer
with his own mill (that's where I get mine). Second choice is a local organic
grain mill that produces feed. The final option is certified organic feed from



one of the large feed companies. But be aware that under some certification
rules the feed from these companies may contain 5%-10% non-organic
content e.g. surplus pastry products. That's why it is my last resort.

Your local organic grower's association – e.g. Canadian Organic Growers
(COG) - can help you find a local organic grain grower.

Finding an abattoir
We strongly recommend you bring your birds to a licensed and inspected
abattoir for processing, especially if you will be selling the birds. Once you
have done a few 'batches', you might consider doing some of your own birds,
if you are planning on selling them fresh.

Ask around with your neighbours and at the feed store for an abattoir not too
far from your farm. I would consider an hour's drive about the maximum
distance, unless I had no choice.

Contact the abattoir and make sure they are licensed to process meat birds,
and that they handle small producers. You can ask about their fees as well,
and if they provide cages for you to transport the birds. Find out if they
provide other services, such as splitting or quartering the birds. Ask if they
will weigh and freeze the birds, and how much this costs.



If you are REALLY committed to the idea of processing the birds yourself,
there's a good set of instructions at this link:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/DI0701.html

Production - Caring for your baby chicks
Set up your broody boxes and put in a 3-inch layer of shavings. Put a single
layer of newspaper over the shavings to prevent the chicks from ingesting
them. This also helps the chicks find the feed easier. After a few days just
cover the newspaper with a thin layer of fresh shavings. Add fresh shavings to
the boxes at least once a week.

Run your heat lamp cord out through the hole in the broody box and secure
the lamp using a chain or a stick through the lamp hoop (see picture next
page.)

Fill one small feeder with chick starter and fill a 1-gallon waterer for each
broody box. Put the waterer on a small piece of board to help keep it level and
clean. Important: Place the feeder and waterer where they won't be directly
under the heat lamp.



Broody box with heat lamp and screened ventilation opening

Put in your chicks, 35 or so to each box. Once all the chicks are in, close the
lid and plug in your heat lamp. Make sure the lamp is on and secure from
falling on the chicks. Check the box in about an hour to make sure the chicks
are all looking lively. They should be distributed fairly evenly around the box,



and not all clustered under the heat lamp or piled up in a corner.

If the chicks are all clustered up, the box may be too cold. Close off part of
the ventilation screen, and if necessary get a bigger heat lamp i.e. replace the
150W bulb with a 250W.

The ventilation screen will usually keep the box from overheating. But be
aware that on warm days the box can overheat. In that case turn the heat
lamp off, and only turn it on at night if the nights are cooler.

Feeding your chicks
Feed your chicks with chick starter feed twice a day. Once the birds are about
2 weeks old, add a second feeder to each broody box, to make sure all the
chicks get access to the feed.

Keep the chicks on starter feed for about 6 weeks, even after they move out
of the box and into the field. 100 chicks will consume about 300-350 lbs of
chick starter in 6 weeks (see Chicken Economics.)

In our experience twice a day feeding keeps the birds growing steadily, but
usually doesn't cause them to experience problems associated with too rapid
growth (see Troubleshooting Your Chicks.)



Replace the chicks' water at each feeding. Rinse out the waterers and fill them
with fresh water. One waterer will be sufficient for each broody box until the
birds move out to the field.

Troubleshooting Your Chicks
If you keep your birds fed and watered consistently, and keep them warm,
you shouldn't have too many problems. Here are a couple of common
problems and how to deal with them.

Pasty butt. This is just what it sounds like, your little chickens' butts will be
covered in sticky white poop. This is not normally serious, if you detect and
deal with it right away. If untreated, the birds can die.

To fix 'pasty butt', get some warm water and a cloth and clean off the birds
vent (butt). Use lots of warm water and soak out the feathers well. You may
have to repeat this treatment a couple times if pasty butt reappears.

Spraddle leg. After a few days you may see some chicks that can't seem to
walk. They may flop around and be unable to stand up or walk. This is caused
by over-consumption of feed or a too-rich feed mix.



The solution is to isolate the affected chicks for about 48 hours, and remove
ALL FEED from them for that period. Make sure to provide them fresh water,
but no feed.

After 48 hours you should see them start to recover and be able to stand and
walk normally. You can then return them to the general population.

If after 48 hours they are still not walking well, start feeding them on a lower-
protein ration, i.e. a mixed-grain feed with a protein content between
11%-14%. You CAN use finely-ground scratch feed for this purpose, but
return the birds to their regular feed as soon as they can walk.



Getting set up in the Field
The first step is building your Movable Coop and moving it to the field where
you will finish your birds. Instructions for building and using the New Terra
Farm Movable Coop are in Annex A.

Setting up the Movable Coop
In the pictures on the following page we have just moved the coop to fresh
ground and set up the t-posts to hold the tarp. Notice that the coop is aligned
so that the tarp provides shade.

We set the coop in place on a level spot, making sure there no gaps at ground
level the little birds can get out through.

We pound 6-foot steel t-posts into the ground at the two corners of the coop
where the canopy will be. Bungee cords attach the tarp to the t-posts.



T-posts in place with tarp canopy down



Setting up the New Terra Farm Movable Coop Canopy



Setting up your electric fence

Caution: follow the manufacturer directions for installing your fence charger
and setting up your fence. The fence charger produces high voltage but little
amperage, but can still be potentially dangerous. Make sure the charger is
in a weather-proof location; use insulated lead-out wire to get your

Fence charger under cover with lead-out wires



connection to the 'hot' wire.

Pay special attention to the directions regarding grounding your fence. The
fence is only as good as its ground. I use 3 ground rods on my fence,
although I have not found it necessary to buy special rods for that purpose. I
just use unpainted T-posts driven 5-6 feet into the ground and hooked
together with electric fencing wire.

Once your Movable Coop is in place, set up your electric poultry netting, and
connect it to your charger. We use plastic step-in posts or steel posts with
insulators to run electric fencing wire from our fence charger to the poultry
netting.

You can use steel or aluminum electric fencing wire, or the poly-wire available
at most farm stores. The steel wire is stronger; the poly-wire is more visible.
Visibility is important, both for people and for other animals in the field.

We put markers on our steel electric fence wire by tyeing scraps of plastic
shopping bag to it every 10 feet or so. This helps make sure our ponies don't
run into it when they are in the same field as the chickens (the farm help
appreciates it, too ;)

You can use an AC-powered (plug-in) fence charger, a DC-powered (battery)



charger or a solar charger, which basically is a battery-powered charger with a
solar panel to keep up the charge.

Whichever model you choose, buy the most powerful charger you can afford;
low-powered chargers will 'ground-out' in wet grass.

You can run electric fence wire using insulators on top of your existing fence
posts to bring the power to where your chickens are. Cheap plastic step-in
posts are all that is needed to get the wire to the electro netting.

Electromesh is a mesh made of polywire – i.e. multi-strand wire with plastic
and metal threads running through it. It comes in different heights and has
different mesh sizes. It usually has connectors at each end where you can
hook up your powered wire from your charger. The connections also let you
hook two or more lengths of fence together.

The electromesh poultry netting I use is 42” high and has a finer mesh at the
bottom to keep birds in (and bad guys out). It comes in a 165-foot length; the
step-in posts are included and attached to the polywire mesh about every 11
feet.

Electromesh fencing will stop just about any predator, provided it is
installed properly. Make sure when you install the fence (basically just push



Electromesh fencing and insulated handle to powered wire

the built-in posts into the ground) that you don't leave any gaps beneath the
fence that predators can crawl through. And if you leave the fence too long in



one area, heavy grass can grow up and short the fence out.

The powered fencing wire can connect to the electromesh fencing at either
end; we use an insulated handle, available at your farm store, so we can
unhook the netting when we want to. Note that you only hook up one end of
the fence, and do not hook the two ends of the fence together.

Electric Fence Tester



When you set up the fence, test it with a fence tester. You want to show a
minimum of 3000 volts at the electromesh fence. If you are not getting that,
check your ground rods, your connections to the charger, and make sure the
fencing wire and the electromesh fence are not grounded out.

Moving Day for the Chicks
At 3 weeks (approximately) your little birds should weigh about 1 pound and
be fully feathered. They can be moved out to the field and set up in the
Movable Coop.

Take the lamps, waterers and feeders out of the broody boxes and move box
and all to the field. Caution: the broody boxes full of damp bedding and birds
will be heavy; you will need at least 2 people to lift the boxes on and off your
truck.

Put the boxes down one at a time, near the door of your coop. Grab the birds
and put them in the coop, which should already be set up with food and water.

Important: Keep the tarp down on the coop, and keep the birds in it for
about a week, as they adjust to outdoor life. You can then let them out after



that and they will be fine. They will associate the coop with their roosting
area, and will return there readily at night.

Production - Caring for your birds in the field
Once you are all set up and the little birds are in their new home, you have to
keep them safe and steadily growing for the next 7-9 weeks. Here's how to do
that.

Managing the birds in the field
After a week, let the little birds out of the coop in the morning and let them
roam around their pen. They will be delighted to get at the fresh ground, and
will start hunting and pecking around for some treats.

We follow the same twice-a-day feeding schedule as when the birds were in
the broody boxes. However, there are three important points of distinction
about feeding the larger birds:

1. We feed the birds outside the coop in the morning, and we close the



door behind them when they come out. This helps keep the inside of
the coop a little cleaner. The attached tarp will provide shade and rain
protection for the birds.

2. In the evening, we reverse this process; we feed the birds inside the
coop. They will quickly learn to go inside after the food. Close the door
to keep them in at night, as extra protection against predators. Put the
tarp down as well.

3. Very important: you will need to check on their water more than
twice a day, especially in hot weather. We go to the coop at mid-day
and replenish their waterers with fresh water. This is critical, as
running out of water on a very hot day can kill your birds.

Feed a good quality organic chicken grower ration. 100 birds will consume in
the range of 1 ton (900 kilos) of grower in the 7-9 weeks they are in the
field. See Chicken Economics for more details about the cost of raising your
birds.

Put down enough feed at each feeding that there is still a little left when most
birds have walked away from the feeders. About once a week watch the birds
at feeding time for 10 or 15 minutes, to make sure all birds get access to the
feed. If there is excess fighting over the feed, or some birds aren't getting



any, add another feeder.

The feeders and waterers will get pooped on (even chickens raised the New
Terra Farm way are not that bright ;) Spray the feeders and waters clean with
your hose at each feeding. Clean and disinfect the equipment between
batches. We use a big tub of warm water and soap and bleach to do the job.

Relocating the coop and the pen
You will need to move the coop within the pen about once a week; you will
need to move the entire pen and coop about every other week. You might
have to move them more frequently as the birds get bigger.

It's easiest to move the coop in the morning when you are feeding the birds.
Set up the bird feeders and waterers out of the path of where you want to
move the coop.



Moving the coop with a hand-truck

Let the birds out of the coop and they will go to the feed. Close the door, and
pull out the t-posts. Move the coop to its new position using a hand-truck -



this is a two-wheeled dolly commonly used for moving heavy items, generally
available at hardware stores

Re-install the t-posts and secure the tarp. The whole process takes about 10
minutes.

To clarify the timing for moving the coop and the pen . . . when the little
birds first go out, they don't 'use up' the fresh ground as fast as when they
are larger. So I find it sufficient to just pull the coop to a new spot within the
pen for the first move (inside the coop gets 'poopy' quicker because the birds
are confined at night).

Next move I would relocate the entire pen and coop to new ground. So, it
would go something like this: week 1 - move coop week 2 - move pen and
coop week 3 - move coop week 4 - move pen and coop.

As the birds get larger, say after 4-5 weeks in the field, I usually move both
the pen and the coop weekly, as the larger birds will scratch up and
fertilize the area pretty thoroughly in a week.

To some extent you have to be guided by observation as well. Keep an eye on
how much poop is accumulating and the condition of the pasture within the
pen. Move the birds before they scratch it down to bare dirt, or before the



poop get packed down so you can't see grass.

Troubleshooting your birds in the field
Most problems associated with raising chickens are avoided just by raising
then on pasture and making sure they have access to clean, fresh water and
nutritious feed.

Regularly moving them to fresh ground avoids the build-up of disease and
parasites. The birds rarely peck each other because they can peck in the dirt.
Pecking and scratching in the dirt provides the birds exercise and minerals, as
well as extra protein from the bugs they find.

We have never vaccinated our birds, or de-beaked our birds, or used a
chemical de-wormer. Yet we still manage to regularly raise more than 95% of
our chicks to slaughter weight.

There are a couple problems you might face. Sometimes a couple birds just
don't seem to grow as fast as the others, and they get 'pecked on' by the
other birds, especially at feeding time. You can try to isolate them at feeding
time, perhaps feeding them in the coop when all the other birds are out. They
may eventually get big enough to compete with the others.



You may have a bird that get slightly injured, perhaps in a fall from the coop
(yes, some birds will fly up on the coop). If their mobility is not too seriously
impaired, you can set them up for a couple days with their own waterer close
by and a handful or two of feed. Keep them under the tarp or put them in a
'hospital' – a small covered box to isolate them, and see if they will recover.

And you may occasionally have a bird that gets 'spraddle leg' even in the
field. Isolate the bird and give only fresh water for 48 hours.

A more serious threat is very hot and humid weather. A neighbour lost 75
nearly full-grown birds one day when the temperature hit about 90F (33C) on
a very humid day.

The tarp on the portable chicken coop will provide shade. Make sure the coop
is aligned so that the sun is kept out at the hottest part of the day. You might
also have to spray the coop and the birds with water on the hottest days.

Don't spray the birds directly; turn the hose into the air over the birds, with
the spray nozzle set on 'mist' setting. Spray water for 5 or 10 minutes. This
will bring the temperature down in the immediate area by 20F degrees or so.

We also use a special 'misting' hose we bought at the feed store. This 10-foot
length of hose has special misting emitters that put out a very fine spray. It



only uses about a gallon an hour.

The misting hose attaches to a garden hose. You can then attach the misting
hose to your coop to provide a continuous cooling mist for the birds in
extreme weather.

Here's a important lesson we have learned: the chickens really aren't all
that bright, but when we do have problems with them, it's usually our fault,
not theirs. For example, I was in a hurry one day and left a half-full bucket
of water in the chicken pen; sure enough a little bird got in and drowned. So
take your time, and take care when dealing with any of your farm animals.



Production – Harvesting your birds
Around 10-12 weeks of age, your birds should achieve an average dress
weight of 5-6 lbs. Some will be bigger and some smaller; our birds usually
range from 4.5 lbs to 7.5 lbs, but most will be in the middle of the range.
Varying weights is okay; different customers like different sizes of birds.

If you followed our production schedule you will already have contacted
your abattoir to book your birds in. The abattoirs we use provide cages to
transport the birds; we pick them up the night before we ship the birds. Tell
the abattoir how many birds you are bringing and they will put out the right
number of cages for you to pick up.

If your abattoir doesn't provide cages, you can make a cage to fit the back of
your pick-up. This is a LOT more work, and the birds probably will have to be
put in cages at the abattoir anyway.

You can occasionally buy cages at a farm auction; if you get this chance, grab
them; having your own cages simplifies the transport process.

The abattoir will also tell you not to feed the birds the day before transport;
just give them water only.



Loading your birds
Here's the sequence to get your birds loaded and ready for transport:

1 – start early in the morning; we are usually in the field to load the birds just
as dawn is breaking. The birds are quieter and easier to handle if it is still
dark. It's also a good idea to start early to get to the abattoir early; there is
usually a line-up on kill day.

2 – bring the cages right to the door of the coop; the birds are still locked
inside from the night before.

3 – one person goes inside the coop to catch the birds, then hands them off to
another person outside the coop to put them in the cages. Check the latches
on the cages; sometimes the latches don't work well. Stack these cages on
the bottom, to keep the chickens in.

4 – fill about 4 cages, then stack the cages in your truck one at a time

5 – keep filling cages and stacking them until done

6 – secure your cages to make sure they can' t shift around.

7 – and it's off to the abattoir!



At the abattoir they will ask you for your name and how many birds you are
bringing. Tell them you how you want the birds prepared – e.g. as whole
roasters, or split, or quartered. Tell them if you want the birds weighed, and
frozen (if they offer these services.) Note there is usually a charge for each
of these extra services.

They tell you when to come back to pick up your birds; be courteous and be
on time for the pick up, the abattoir is a very busy place and you don't
want to annoy the men carrying very large knives ;)



Chicken Economics – Costs and profits
Here's a breakdown of what it will cost to raise 100 meat birds the New Terra
Farm way. These are estimates only for planning purposes, and based on
recent prices in my area. You may be able to reduce some of these costs by a
little ingenuity and 'scrounging'.

Equipment Costs (fixed costs)
Movable Coop $150

Broody boxes $75

Lamps, feeders, waterers, etc $175

Electric poultry netting $150

Fence charger, wire, ground posts $250

Total equipment costs $800

The Movable Coop, the broody boxes, the fence charger and fencing and some



of the other equipment will last for several years if you take care of them.
Assuming a 5-year amortization yields a per-year fixed cost of about
$160.

If you do more than one batch a year using the same equipment, your fixed
cost per batch will be lower i.e. 3 batches a year yields a per-batch fixed cost
of about $53.

Chicks, Feed and Supplies (variable costs)

This is an estimate of the cost of feed and bedding for each batch of 100 meat
birds. Again these are estimates only, based on our experience in raising
meat birds over the last 8 years. Your costs may vary, especially feed
consumption.

Feed consumption can be affected by the quality of the feed, the nutrition
available from the pasture the birds are on, and even the weather e.g. when
we have cool, wet summers, we notice that our birds eat more but weigh out
a bit less than when the summers are warm.



Here's the feed and supplies you will need to raise 100 meat birds to an
average dress weight between 5 lbs. and 6 lbs.

Variable Costs

100 meat chicks $100

Wood shavings for bedding $ 10

Organic chick starter feed 300 lbs $105

Organic chicken grower feed 2000 lbs $550

Processing at abattoir ($2.75 per bird) $262 *

Total variable costs $1,027

*assumes you successfully get 95% of your birds to the abattoir.



Calculating your profit
Here's where you figure out what you will sell your birds for to make a profit.
First, let's figure out a 'per-pound' cost.

Assumptions: 1 - you ended up with 95 marketable birds from your batch
of 100 chicks; 2 - the average weight of your birds is 5.5 lbs.; 3 – you plan
on 3 batches a year, and a 5-year amortization for your equipment.

Here's the math:

Total fixed costs per 95 birds $ 53

Total variable costs per 95 birds $1,027

Total cost per 95 birds $1,080

Total weight of birds (95 x 5.5 lbs) 522.5 lbs

Total cost per lb $2.07/lb

So, 'all in' your birds cost you $2.07 a pound to raise.



What can you sell your birds for?
I currently sell my organic free-range birds for $3.50/lb, and I easily sell all I
raise (200-300 birds a year). Using the numbers above means I make a
profit of around 70% on my birds. I recommend you plan on a profit margin
in this range, to give you some 'cushion' if things don't go exactly as planned
(see BIG Caution below.)

To put it another way, my total cost per batch (amortizing the cost of
equipment over 5 years) is $1,080. My gross sales on 95 birds is $1,828.
So each batch of birds nets me around $748.

If you look at the fixed costs to start up this business, you can see that the
first batch just about pays for all your equipment!

BIG Caution: the above calculation demonstrate the potential if all goes
well. Sometimes it doesn't; you may lose more birds, especially in the
beginning when you are learning. Your birds may not gain weight as fast.

All these can affect your net profit. DO NOT bet the farm by starting out
trying to raise a thousand birds! Start small, with one coop and learn as you
go. After 8 years I am pretty confident I could raise and sell a thousand birds
a season, with a couple more coops. But don't take on too much your first



time.

Conclusion
Raising meat chickens is a great side-line business for a small farm If you
follow the basic guidelines in this book, ANYBODY can do a batch of 100 birds
with pretty good success.

This would be a great 'summer job' for your kids by the way, especially if they
are too young to work off the farm. They can learn that caring for animals
requires regular attention, and also learn where the food they eat really
comes from.

This enterprise can be scaled up to raise a thousand birds or even more; just
add enough coops and broody boxes, and have enough land. But should you
do this?

I don't want to dissuade you from trying to make a living on your small farm.
However, if you are contemplating this, be aware that the change in scale will
give you a few challenges:

1 – Logistics. It's not hard to find storage for feed for 100 birds. Storing
grain for 1,000 birds might be trickier. And transporting 1,000 birds to the



abattoir will be difficult to do in a pickup, even if you do batches of 200 at a
time.

2 – Legislation. Most provinces in Canada place some sort of limit on the
number of birds you are allowed to raise without 'quota' i.e. licensing from the
provincial poultry marketing board. In Ontario, the limit is 300 birds.

Buying quota is expensive, and generally has a very high 'minimum' number
of birds e.g. 5,000 or more. This pretty much takes it out of the realm of the
small farm.

3 – Lifestyle. Don't forget the principles we discussed in the beginning,
concerning organic, sustainable, and integrated animal husbandry. How many
birds can your little farm hold before you start straying into monoculture and
'factory farming'?

To put it another way, how much of your life energy do you want to spend
looking after chickens? One of the joys of a small farm is the variety of things
you can raise. I would much rather spend an hour looking after 8 different
things than 8 hours looking at chickens!

- 30 -



Annex A – Building Stuff the New Terra Farm Way

This section will show you how to quickly and cheaply build the equipment we
use to raise chickens the New Terra Farm way. You may have seen this little
aphorism in the New Terra Farm website:

I am not a fast carpenter, and I am not a slow carpenter – I am a
'half-fast' carpenter!

This means I consider function before form, and I try to avoid complicated
joinery and complex construction methods. I also build things in such a way
that there is some 'flexibility'. Some folks might call this 'room for error'; I
prefer the phrase 'allowing for creativity!'

So take all these instructions with a grain of salt; the dimensions can be
adjusted to suit yourself in most cases, within the limits of providing
appropriate space for your birds. For example, the 8ft x12ft Movable Coop
could easily be built smaller e.g. 8ft x 8ft. It would just hold fewer birds.

So feel free to exercise your creativity when it comes to dimensions, or
construction materials. If some aspect of the construction really matters I'll
try to point it out.



Building a simple trough feeder for your birds
Its easy to build cheap trough-type feeders for the birds in the field. Allow
3-4 inches of feeder space per bird, counting both sides of the feeder. 100
birds therefore need about 16 feet of trough at a minimum (2 eight-footers,
or 4 four-footers).

Its better to err on the side of more rather than less feeder space. I use 3
eight-foot feeders for my batch of 100 birds. Here's how to build one.

I use rough-cut 1”x10” spruce lumber in 10-foot lengths to build my troughs,
because it's available locally and cheap. You can use whatever lumber you
have available. CAUTION: DO NOT USE PRESSURE-TREATED WOOD, IT
IS TOXIC TO YOUR BIRDS.

You can also use 1”x5” lumber and skip the step of ripping the 10” boards.

1 – Mark your 1x10 at 5 ½”. Rip-cut the 1”x10”, lengthwise at the mark. You
now have a 5 1/2”-wide piece and a 4 1/2”-wide piece; these will form the
trough.

2 – Cut both pieces to 8 feet long



3 – Cut the 5 ½ “ wide remaining 2-foot piece into two 12” pieces to make the
ends of the trough

4 – Screw the two trough pieces together, screwing through the wide piece
into the narrower piece to make a V-shaped trough that is 5 1/2” high on
each side.

5 – Screw the 12-inch end pieces onto the trough to form the ends.

6 – Screw an 8-foot piece of 2x2 to the top of the the trough ends to form a
handle, and to keep the birds from getting in the trough.

Note that this trough is fairly high, make sure all your birds can reach in. You
can build a lower version out of 1x8 or 1x6, following the same directions and
adjusting the rip cut appropriately.

Making three of these for your batch of birds will cost you about $25-$30 if
you have to buy all new wood; might cost you nothing if you can 'recycle' the
necessary materials.



Building the New Terra Farm Movable Coop
This coop is easy to build, strong, and easy to move by one person with a hand-
truck. Again feel free to adjust the list of materials to suit what you may have on
hand. If you have to buy everything new, this coop will cost around $150.

List of materials for the Movable Coop



Step 1 – Build the base frame. Cut each 2x6x8 to 93 inches long. Build a
rectangular frame by screwing the 93” short side base frame pieces between the 12'
long side pieces. Mitre cut each end of 16-inch pieces of 2 x 6 at 45 degrees to form
corner braces. Assemble frame using 3” wood screws .

Note that the corners will be covered by reinforcing plywood gussets in Step 5.

8ft

12 ft


Step 2 – Cut plywood window-end wall. Cut a 4x8 sheet of 1/2” plywood as
show to form one end wall. Cut an opening about 1 ft x 2 ft for a window. This
window will be re-attached with hinges and a latch.

2' 2'

CUT OUT WINDOW

6” 6”



Movable Coop window end view



Step 3 – Cut plywood door-end wall. Cut a 4x8 sheet of 1/2” plywood as show to
form other end wall. Cut an opening about 3 ft x 3 ft for a door. This door will be re-
attached with hinges and a latch.

2' 2'

CU
TO
F
OF

FF
T
CU

CUT OUT DOOR

6” 6”



Movable Coop door end view showing top rails



Step 4 – Attach end walls to base frame. Using the 2” wood screws, attach each
end wall to the base frame. Attach the plywood about ½-inch up from the bottom
edge of the frame; the plywood will last longer if it is not in direct contact with the
ground.

Step 5 – Cover the corner braces. Cut small plywood gussets to fit the right
triangles formed by the base frame and corner braces. A 'gusset' is just a piece of the
same 1/2 inch plywood that forms the end walls, You can cut a triangular piece from
the scrap left after cutting the end wall shape from the 4x8 sheets. Cut it the same
size and shape as the triangle formed by the base rails and the corner brace.

Use 2” wood screws to secure the gussets. This helps keep the base frame square,
and also prevents the little birds from getting squished by their brothers and sisters
in the corners.

Step 6 – Frame the end walls with 2x2 (see picture next page.) Measure
each side edge and top of the end walls and cut lengths of 2x2 to match. Screw
through the plywood end wall into the 2x2 to attach them securely; use the 2” wood
screws.

Step 7 – Frame the door opening. Measure the top and sides of your door opening
and secure lengths of 2x2 by screwing through the plywood from the outside into the
door framing. The framing will support the hinges and door latch.

Step 8 – Attach the top rails (see graphic next page). Attach the 12-foot 2x4



top rails to the end wall framing. Note that the middle rail is 'standing up' ; that is, it
resting on the 2” side. This provides a slope for rainwater to run off the coop.

Top rails are 12 ft 2x4's that screw
f e h si flu : to the top of the 2x2 end wall framing
nd
g
sh
to h b 2x2 amin

wa s a
nd d e
ll
's
wi ach ll fr
a
At d w

p o ot
En
t
t

This perspective shows what the inside of each end wall
looks like. 2X2 framing is attached by screwing through the
plywood end wall from the outside.



Step 9 – attach side rails between the base frame and the top rails. Measure
and cut 4 lengths of 2x2 to form side rails. Mitre the ends of the rails at about a 30-
degree angle to so they sit flush when attached to the outside of the top rail and
inside the base frame. Secure the rails, 2 on each side, on 4-foot centres.

2X4
TO
P RA
IL 12
F TL
ON
G
TOP RAILS ARE SCREWED
ON TOP OF 2X2 FRAMING
AROUND THE THE END WALLS

S
NT LS
RE
CE AI
FT R
4 DE
2X6
B
N SI

ASE
2

PLA
2X

TE
O

12
F TL
ON
G
END WALLS CUT FROM
4X8 ½” PLYWOOD



Movable Coop side rails



Step 10 – Cover the frame with chicken wire. Stretch lengths of 4-foot wide
chicken wire over the frame and secure them using the 1x2s. Three lengths will cover
the frame, secured to end-wall framing and the side rails.

Step 11 – Attach the tarp. Secure the 12-foot tarp using 1x2s screwed over and
through the tarp and into the base frame on one side. Attach the tarp on the same
side to the top rails, then secure it to the top rail on the other side. The remaining
end of the tarp is not secured; it is used to form a canopy for the birds by securing it
to T-posts.

Step 12 – Finish the window. Staple chicken wire over the window opening and
attached the plywood window with hinges and a latch.

Step 13 – Finish the door. Hang the door using the hinges and attach the latch.

Your Movable Coop is chicken-ready!



Building the New Terra Farm Broody Boxes
Our broody boxes are 3 feet wide, 4 feet long and 2 feet high; each box will
accommodate about 35 birds until they are ready to move outside. The boxes are
simple to build using 2x2 framing and the cheapest 4x8 sheathing you can find. I use
1/8" luan board (also known as "door skins") and it does the job,at a cost of about 8
to 10 dollars a sheet. You can also use plywood, but this might make the boxes
heavier (and cost a little more.)

Construction is easy if you follow this method. Just like with the Movable Coop we are
going to build a base frame, attach the sides, then add the rest of the framing to pull
it all together.

Step 1 – Build 3 rectangular frames out of 2x2. The frames are 3 feet wide and
4 feet long, outside dimensions. Use 3” wood screws to connect the 2x2s. Cut
another piece of 2x2 and secure it midway between the 4-foot long sides. One of
these frames will become the bottom frame of the broody box, one will become the
top frame, and one will be the cover. (see picture next page.)

Step 2 – Cut top and bottom sheathing. Cut two pieces of luan board, each 3 feet
by 4 feet.



Bottom of the broody box showing framing.

Step 3 – Cover the bottom frame and the cover frame with the sheathing.
Use 1” wood screws to attach the sheathing to the frames. Keep the frames square
by lining it up with the edges of the framing. Note the top frame is NOT covered.



Step 4 – Cut sheathing for walls. Cut two pieces of luan board 2-feet wide and 3-
feet long, and two pieces 2-feet wide and 4-feet long.

Step 5 – Attach the walls to the base frame. With the 2x2 side down, screw the
wall sheathing to each side of the base frame, flush with the bottom of the frame.

Step 6 – Attach the top frame to the walls. Align the top frame with the top
edges of the wall sheathing and attach with 1” wood screws.

Step 6 – Attach wall framing. Cut 4 pieces of 2x2 to fit snugly between the top
and bottom frame in each corner. Screw thorough the luan board from the outside
into the wall framing. Screw through the top and bottom framing into the wall
framing using 3” wood screws to tie it all together.

Step 7 – Complete the broody box cover. Cut a ventilation opening in one side of
your cover, about 1'x2'. This opening will be covered with hardware cloth or screening
to provide ventilation. Cut a 2” hole in the other side of the cover. This is the opening
for the heat lamp. (see picture next page.)

Step 8 – Finishing up. Attach the cover to the top frame with hinges. Add a handle
to the front of the cover, and a handle on each side of the broody box to make it
easier to move. Staple a ¼-section of 6” plastic nursery pot in each corner inside the
broody box so the little chicks don't get trapped in a corner and squished.



Broody box top with screened vent opening and hole for heat lamp.



¼ section of a plastic pot used to round the corners


How To Raise Meat Chickens 10 16

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