pastured chicken field day at perry winkle farm

One of the benefits of living in Chatham County is the access it provides to workshops, classes and visits to sustainable farming and other operations.  Debbie Roos, our extension agent for sustainable and organic agriculture, is the force behind many of these opportunities.

Last week I was able to attend a free field day about pastured poultry at Perry-winkle Farm.  After wiping our feet in a bleach bath to eliminate any chicken diseases we may have inadvertently brought with us, we walked to the brooding house where up to 125 chicks are raised for three weeks before going to the pastures.

The chicks are fed a non-medicated feed mixed with molasses, garlic, olive oil, comfrey and cayenne pepper.  After they start laying, the chickens are moved to 17% protein feed to supplement their pasture diet of grasses and bugs.

Perry-winkle averages 250 laying hens in three movable chicken houses.  Each house has a couple of roosters in the mix just to make it interesting.  A dozen or so roosters are needed to get any sort of good fertilization, so a few roosters in a pen may be more of a protection for the flock than anything else.

The first house we visited contained two year old hens that were laying well.  The second year is the best laying year for the hens; after their third laying year they usually end up in stew.

Mike Perry, our host for the field day, said that reusing trailers and campers for chicken houses had mixed results.  He recommended starting with a flat wagon or trailer unless you wanted to add to your work load.  The chicken camper holds 65 birds at a time.

The original idea for the chickens was to get them into the gardens before planting.  The largest chicken house (the Egg McMansion) is situated among the farm beds.  Planting of crops comes behind the chickens.  The Egg McMansion holds over a hundred birds at a time.  As a general rule, one nest box is required for each five laying hens.

The roosters kept busy with their noise during our visit.  One rooster almost fell over every time he crowed just from the extra effort he seemed to be giving for the crowd.

The chickens are kept behind non-electrified poultry netting during the day.  They return to the mobile coop each evening and are closed in to keep them safe from predators.

While at the farm I checked on the pigs that I photographed on my first visit to Perry-winkle.  The pigs were down to three in number, and soon they would all be processed.  They seemed happy and oblivious to their impending change from playful dirt diggers to packaged human food.