Please find our printable on-line order form here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=djw268m_13c8jmgcgg
Print it up...
Fill it out and send it off to reserve your poultry order for 2009.
All the information you need is on the form.
And PLEASE spread the word to folks that appreciate locally produced food.
Be well,
Doug
Monday, February 2, 2009
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Adieu for now...
Well...this blog was not updated as often as i would have liked but i remain the optimist: hopefully it will flourish in the spring of 2009 when we start up again.
First let me say thank you so much to all of our customers who made their deposits and took the long trip out to the farm to pick up their birds. It's not usually how folks procure their poultry. But I hope you all feel like the extra effort was worth it. If you hadn't gone that extra mile or put faith in us in the form of your deposits we wouldn't have been able to pursue the operation.
We were very happy with how this summer went. All told we sold about 425 birds. I (Doug) have a final mini-run of 80 in a pen right now. The mania of summer led Jeff and I to opt out of the third run of 225...but not because we weren't enjoying the work...and not because the system didn't work.
In fact, it worked quite well in all respects. Low mortality, a product people seemed to love and we made a decent profit. The hay we cut after the chicken tractors passed over was extremely lush so there were benefits on that front too.
So, next summer. We're going to "go for it" in a sense. Right now, Jeff and I are planning to raise 2,000 birds between May 1st and October 15th. It'll involve twice the number of chicken tractors and about eight 'pick up' days...alot more work for us but alot more pasture raised chickens for the Island...
We're busy writing a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant in the hopes of receiving funding for research. Namely we want to look into four elements of our operation:
1. An in-depth financial analysis so we can let other would-be growers know exactly the expense and labor involved and what they can expect in the ways of profits.
2. A close study of feed conversion. This essentially means that we're going to study how much grain the birds need in order to gain a pound of meat. We'll also look at if there's a benefit to feeding them more at different stages in their lives.
3. We're curious exactly how well the birds' droppings fertilize the fields and what that means for Arnie's hay yield.
4. Lastly we're going to study a method of composting all the waste: static passively aerated aerobic composting. Sounds fancy huh? We hope to prove we can make save, pathogen free compost for our gardens with all the feathers, feet n' such that come from our processing days.
We're tentatively planning some workshops and chicken dinners to share our research and show people how we raise the birds. Should be fun.
So, thanks again for all your support.
As soon as we decide to commit to everything described above we'll send word along.
As many birds as we're planning on selling, we'll really need you all to help spread the word...we'll likely know for sure by February.
Enjoy fall,
Doug and Jeff
First let me say thank you so much to all of our customers who made their deposits and took the long trip out to the farm to pick up their birds. It's not usually how folks procure their poultry. But I hope you all feel like the extra effort was worth it. If you hadn't gone that extra mile or put faith in us in the form of your deposits we wouldn't have been able to pursue the operation.
We were very happy with how this summer went. All told we sold about 425 birds. I (Doug) have a final mini-run of 80 in a pen right now. The mania of summer led Jeff and I to opt out of the third run of 225...but not because we weren't enjoying the work...and not because the system didn't work.
In fact, it worked quite well in all respects. Low mortality, a product people seemed to love and we made a decent profit. The hay we cut after the chicken tractors passed over was extremely lush so there were benefits on that front too.
So, next summer. We're going to "go for it" in a sense. Right now, Jeff and I are planning to raise 2,000 birds between May 1st and October 15th. It'll involve twice the number of chicken tractors and about eight 'pick up' days...alot more work for us but alot more pasture raised chickens for the Island...
We're busy writing a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant in the hopes of receiving funding for research. Namely we want to look into four elements of our operation:
1. An in-depth financial analysis so we can let other would-be growers know exactly the expense and labor involved and what they can expect in the ways of profits.
2. A close study of feed conversion. This essentially means that we're going to study how much grain the birds need in order to gain a pound of meat. We'll also look at if there's a benefit to feeding them more at different stages in their lives.
3. We're curious exactly how well the birds' droppings fertilize the fields and what that means for Arnie's hay yield.
4. Lastly we're going to study a method of composting all the waste: static passively aerated aerobic composting. Sounds fancy huh? We hope to prove we can make save, pathogen free compost for our gardens with all the feathers, feet n' such that come from our processing days.
We're tentatively planning some workshops and chicken dinners to share our research and show people how we raise the birds. Should be fun.
So, thanks again for all your support.
As soon as we decide to commit to everything described above we'll send word along.
As many birds as we're planning on selling, we'll really need you all to help spread the word...we'll likely know for sure by February.
Enjoy fall,
Doug and Jeff
Monday, June 16, 2008
Pick me up, chicken-cup?
Directions for our fearless customers...
From Alley's General Store travel east on Edgartown-W. Tisbury Rd.
Your first right will be New Lane - take it! Travelling down New Lane
you'll drive about 0.4 miles - at the second curve to the left there
is a dirt road that continues to the right. This is the road you're
looking for. Expect plenty of potholes, a peacock or two and a few
glimpses of Tisbury Great Pond as you drive down the road ignoring all
turnoffs for 0.6 miles until the road climbs and you can see a red
barn in front of you where you'll find a couple of chicken men with
large grins across their faces. See you soon!
View Larger Map
From Alley's General Store travel east on Edgartown-W. Tisbury Rd.
Your first right will be New Lane - take it! Travelling down New Lane
you'll drive about 0.4 miles - at the second curve to the left there
is a dirt road that continues to the right. This is the road you're
looking for. Expect plenty of potholes, a peacock or two and a few
glimpses of Tisbury Great Pond as you drive down the road ignoring all
turnoffs for 0.6 miles until the road climbs and you can see a red
barn in front of you where you'll find a couple of chicken men with
large grins across their faces. See you soon!
View Larger Map
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Stress, Death and Resolution
Well...it would seem that I had some reason to worry about putting the birds out in the inclimate weather.
The next morning Jeff, Zephyr and I gathered around the pen to find that six birds had been smothered to death trying to stay warm. The guilt that I felt over this was considerable as I feel that I am responsible for these birds short, hyper-productive lives. To be totally honest it kind of sent me in a funk...a fuming funk....a fuming, foul funk. I was pretty miserable to be around for four or five days.
But then I had something like an epiphany...and I use that word realizing its weightiness. It involved the beautiful sunrise we had Wednesday morning after the sun finally broke through after several days of slop and wind. Essentially my realization was this:
Chicken Farmer say: "To gripe in the face of challenges is like feeding chickens SPAM." Or something like that...sounds better in Chinese. It's essentially illogical to lament the inevitable.
That and...there's no better way to fail than to sit around beating myself up for these initial mistakes...it won't help the birds, it won't help our customers and it won't help my wallet. Etc.
So...I went out there at ten at night with my drill in hand and put up some boards to give the birds more shelter from the wind (I don't think the cold got 'em...it was the wind tunnel they were living in!)...and since then we've had no fatalities due to weather. Two birds have been crushed unfortunately...one while moving the pen, another got caught under its trough feeder in the AM melee. Feeding is always frantic with these birds.
So these losses, plus the birds we lost in brooding brings us down to 210...a number that that I'm not totally pleased with but accept knowing that there's nothing i can do about it and that a new batch arrives in just ten days!! Got to keep moving and improving the system.
Speaking of improvements: Our electric fencing came which means we won't have to shoot any coons or skunks this summer. That's a vast improvement. Thanks to Jeff for helping with the big initial investment on this equipment. I intend to repay him with sage wisdom...hope that's okay with him.
The birds are really coming along...we'll try to get some new photos up this weekend so people can see the progress they've made in four weeks. They've gone from docile chicks to 4 pound corn munching machines...truly amazing how fast they grow.
Hope everyone is well.
D.b.
The next morning Jeff, Zephyr and I gathered around the pen to find that six birds had been smothered to death trying to stay warm. The guilt that I felt over this was considerable as I feel that I am responsible for these birds short, hyper-productive lives. To be totally honest it kind of sent me in a funk...a fuming funk....a fuming, foul funk. I was pretty miserable to be around for four or five days.
But then I had something like an epiphany...and I use that word realizing its weightiness. It involved the beautiful sunrise we had Wednesday morning after the sun finally broke through after several days of slop and wind. Essentially my realization was this:
Chicken Farmer say: "To gripe in the face of challenges is like feeding chickens SPAM." Or something like that...sounds better in Chinese. It's essentially illogical to lament the inevitable.
That and...there's no better way to fail than to sit around beating myself up for these initial mistakes...it won't help the birds, it won't help our customers and it won't help my wallet. Etc.
So...I went out there at ten at night with my drill in hand and put up some boards to give the birds more shelter from the wind (I don't think the cold got 'em...it was the wind tunnel they were living in!)...and since then we've had no fatalities due to weather. Two birds have been crushed unfortunately...one while moving the pen, another got caught under its trough feeder in the AM melee. Feeding is always frantic with these birds.
So these losses, plus the birds we lost in brooding brings us down to 210...a number that that I'm not totally pleased with but accept knowing that there's nothing i can do about it and that a new batch arrives in just ten days!! Got to keep moving and improving the system.
Speaking of improvements: Our electric fencing came which means we won't have to shoot any coons or skunks this summer. That's a vast improvement. Thanks to Jeff for helping with the big initial investment on this equipment. I intend to repay him with sage wisdom...hope that's okay with him.
The birds are really coming along...we'll try to get some new photos up this weekend so people can see the progress they've made in four weeks. They've gone from docile chicks to 4 pound corn munching machines...truly amazing how fast they grow.
Hope everyone is well.
D.b.
Monday, May 19, 2008
OUR BIRDS ARE ON GRASS!
As they should be I think…
After 25 days in their makeshift brooder we have moved our broilers out onto pasture. The move is a mixed bag for the birds really: on the up side they get out from their rather ‘fragrant’ brooding pen.
We don’t pull punches here at FPP so I’ll tell you the truth: We were changing the bedding every couple days with cedar wood shavings but darn it if those birds didn’t foul that fresh forest fragrance with their feces within a couple hours of the new stuff being laid down. As they got into the third week they really became…prolific. Their capacity for crapping cannot be overstated…so thank goodness we got the pens wrapped up and out on the field.
So in that sense, the birds are probably happier. But…
It’s cold out there. Most of the day was gorgeous but within a couple hours of getting them out, there was a cold snap…it began drizzling!!…and I’m left imagining the birds shivering furiously, knitting sweaters in preparation for a late, wet frost. But then I remind myself that I’m prone to paranoia. And without opposable thumbs I doubt the birds will be engaging in any fiber crafts any time soon. They seem alright I guess. I may go out later tonight and lead them in a step aerobic class to get them warmed up. Got to dig out that Olivia Newton John CD.
In the end we put 219 chickens out in the field having lost 6 during brooding…2.6% mortality rate which is actually way better than the industry standard. This variety of bird is quite prone to heart and leg ‘malfunctions’ so I was ready for 5 to 10%. I am very happy about how things have gone so far. Our choice not to vaccinate didn’t seem to hurt. Joel Salatin who invented this system of raising poultry says he’s always felt the vaccines make them weak…seems he may be right.
Besides the cold I fear coons and skunks. We have gone ahead ordered a good amount of electric fencing from the Premier company. We’ll set it up in a long corridor along one side of my father-in-law’s hay field. This way we can avoid having to trap and shoot varmints…a really nasty chore I had to perform three times last summer. But our fencing doesn’t arrive until Wednesday (we dragged our feet on shelling out the big bucks for peace of mind). So for now we’ll have to depend on the trap that served me well last year. It’s something of an antique but ingenious in design. After we get our ‘security perimeter’ set up we’ll probably still keep the trap set inside it incase the midnight marauders figure out how to pole vault over the electric fence. Do not underestimate the wiliness of a raccoon…they are formidable adversaries.
Sales are going well (aprox. 150 of the first run of 200 with four weeks until the first slaughter day) but I would urge any of you that have purchased birds from us to spread the word so we can wrap up sales for the first batch and begin taking ‘reservations’ for the 2nd and 3rd run of birds. A great way of spreading the word might be to send off a link to our little blog here…
In other farm news: Our goat China White gave birth to two healthy kids (Pat and Vanna)…we are very excited to add another female to our little herd. Baby goats are just about as cute as it gets in the animal kingdom. You’ll all be able to meet them on June 21st when you come to pick up birds.
Thanks so much for all your support and we’ll keep you updated about how these weeks out on grass…hopefully we won’t have to report any losses to predators. Knock on wood if there’s any handy.
Enjoy spring,
Doug
After 25 days in their makeshift brooder we have moved our broilers out onto pasture. The move is a mixed bag for the birds really: on the up side they get out from their rather ‘fragrant’ brooding pen.
We don’t pull punches here at FPP so I’ll tell you the truth: We were changing the bedding every couple days with cedar wood shavings but darn it if those birds didn’t foul that fresh forest fragrance with their feces within a couple hours of the new stuff being laid down. As they got into the third week they really became…prolific. Their capacity for crapping cannot be overstated…so thank goodness we got the pens wrapped up and out on the field.
So in that sense, the birds are probably happier. But…
It’s cold out there. Most of the day was gorgeous but within a couple hours of getting them out, there was a cold snap…it began drizzling!!…and I’m left imagining the birds shivering furiously, knitting sweaters in preparation for a late, wet frost. But then I remind myself that I’m prone to paranoia. And without opposable thumbs I doubt the birds will be engaging in any fiber crafts any time soon. They seem alright I guess. I may go out later tonight and lead them in a step aerobic class to get them warmed up. Got to dig out that Olivia Newton John CD.
In the end we put 219 chickens out in the field having lost 6 during brooding…2.6% mortality rate which is actually way better than the industry standard. This variety of bird is quite prone to heart and leg ‘malfunctions’ so I was ready for 5 to 10%. I am very happy about how things have gone so far. Our choice not to vaccinate didn’t seem to hurt. Joel Salatin who invented this system of raising poultry says he’s always felt the vaccines make them weak…seems he may be right.
Besides the cold I fear coons and skunks. We have gone ahead ordered a good amount of electric fencing from the Premier company. We’ll set it up in a long corridor along one side of my father-in-law’s hay field. This way we can avoid having to trap and shoot varmints…a really nasty chore I had to perform three times last summer. But our fencing doesn’t arrive until Wednesday (we dragged our feet on shelling out the big bucks for peace of mind). So for now we’ll have to depend on the trap that served me well last year. It’s something of an antique but ingenious in design. After we get our ‘security perimeter’ set up we’ll probably still keep the trap set inside it incase the midnight marauders figure out how to pole vault over the electric fence. Do not underestimate the wiliness of a raccoon…they are formidable adversaries.
Sales are going well (aprox. 150 of the first run of 200 with four weeks until the first slaughter day) but I would urge any of you that have purchased birds from us to spread the word so we can wrap up sales for the first batch and begin taking ‘reservations’ for the 2nd and 3rd run of birds. A great way of spreading the word might be to send off a link to our little blog here…
In other farm news: Our goat China White gave birth to two healthy kids (Pat and Vanna)…we are very excited to add another female to our little herd. Baby goats are just about as cute as it gets in the animal kingdom. You’ll all be able to meet them on June 21st when you come to pick up birds.
Thanks so much for all your support and we’ll keep you updated about how these weeks out on grass…hopefully we won’t have to report any losses to predators. Knock on wood if there’s any handy.
Enjoy spring,
Doug
Friday, April 25, 2008
German Lesson: Achtung!!! Der chicks sind hier!
This poor, poor neglected blog.
It has be much too long since Jeff and I got around to adding to this little chronicle of our poultry biz. Apologies…
But of course, we got the sense so few were reading as we waded through the R & D phase of the operation. Perhaps now, after a few more orders and a bit more buzz we might end up with some of our customers checking in regularly…and perhaps sending the link off to a friend or…fifty?
And after our long hiatus from writing, there’s plenty to talk about.
In the past few weeks Jeff and I have been moving along in our pen construction getting in at least five or six quality hours a weekend…with a few exceptions for trips off island and such. The results? 1 and 5/16ths pens…or thereabouts.
We’ve got one completed and with assistance from our favorite Canadian handyman, Chris, made great improvements to the “Swedish Ski Lodge” A-frame design.
Another day of cutting and drilling during this blissful week of school vacation and we should be well on our way to completing the third and final pen…and our ROTUND first design (remember that?…if not check out some past posts to find out how NOT to build a Salatin Chicken Tractor…in brief, don’t cover it in Plywood) may allow us to raise some other birds…a small run of pheasants or heritage breed chickens has been discussed.
Remember to keep your ears pealed for the date of our open house where folks can really see the entire process. You’ll get a chance to see it all: from brooding chicks, to pen design, to chickens on grass, to [if you so choose] slaughter and evisceration…maybe a bit of cooking/bird fabrication (breaking down into parts). We’re planning on that event coinciding with our first ‘pick-up’ tentatively scheduled on Saturday, June 21st. We’ll send out an email once that date is confirmed with the operators of the Mobile Poultry Processing Unit.
And so this morning I got that fateful call that we have waited for so long:
Doug: Hello?
Voice: Is this Doug Brush?
Doug: Yes, this is Doug…
Voice: Yeah, hi…pause… we’ve got allloootttt of chicks here at the Vineyard Haven post office…
(Roadrunner-esque puff of dust as I sprint to the truck…)
Picked up the birds, stopped by Campbell and Douglas Harness and Feed for a couple heat lamp bulbs. It’s simply not as much fun if you don’t procrastinate about certain things until the last possible second…I try to cultivate a little panic in my life at all times to keep me on my toes.
So I got the birds home as quick as I could, got the lamps set up and turned them out into their little Romper Room (AKA the brooder, AKA the winter goat housing in our milking parlor)…
And I was very pleased to find that all 225 birds (with just one sad exception, RIP Wee Unnamed Fluff) were scooped out of their crates and started checking out their new digs…all eating, all drinking. I actually write this five feet away from the brooder and it’s a bustle of activity. Fortunately, the initial “pile-up and suffocate your brothers and sisters” tendency that they had at first has subsided.
Regarding their feed, for the public record we went with Poulin Grains Non-Medicated Chick Starter Crumbles. Picked up the stuff at Campbell and Douglas, who were nice enough to give me the company’s number when I wasn’t sure about certain contents on the label. It claims to “Features MOS” which turns out to be a naturally derived anit-coccidiosis treatment…something like a pro-biotic. But it was Greek to me.
Besides this there’ll be a few other things going into your birds:
I immediately went and got some of the pasture’s grass and chopped it up to introduce it into their feed early on…we shall see if they push the salad to the side at first. A few good days of rain and these amazing temperatures has the grass coming on strong. We want them out on pasture just as soon as we can…it means a smaller grain bill for us, a tastier, healthier, happier bird for you…and the fields will be all the more fertilized taboot. If these temps hold up we may be moving them out on grass at just two weeks old. We’re considering a movable outdoor ‘solar brooder’ that will take advantage of the solar gain that the plastic sheeting we’re using provides. We’ll keep you up to date on that too…
I also did a bit of reading on adding liquid whey to water and/or feed. We’ve got quite a bit lying around from our goat cheese experiments. As long as you do it the right way the chicken geeks would have you believe that it improves feed conversion, weight gain and a host of other characteristics. It would seem (though I still need to read more) that:
a) You don’t want the total amount to exceed 40% of the total liquid consumed…so in our five gallon pails that feed our waterers we’ll do perhaps 1:4 whey to water.
b) You don’t want to give the birds whey until they are 3 to 4 weeks old. We’ll probably start incorporating it when they are moved to their moveable pens.
c) You want to give them whole days off the whey supplement…one day on, one day off is what was suggested.
These factoids come from a Jordanian study I found on line.
So now it’s the long first night where I sit around worrying about rats and their chick devouring ilk. I’ll probably pop out to the barn a couple times this evening to look in on the little guys…but right now I feel great about how they fared on their 2 day trip from Iowa…
So far Salatin’s assertion that opting out of vaccinating birds at birth leads to stronger birds is proving to be true. Our 224 broilers to be look happy and ready to eat!...That is...they look hungry. We’re not going to eat them…just yet.
For any of you who made it through this epic entry, thanks for reading.
Also Thank You to the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society for awarding us a grant for the costs associated with the moveable pens. That was a big help…especially during tax season!
And thank you to Slow Food MV for having us out to their pot luck supper at the Ag Hall on Thursday April 17th. They let us get up and say our piece about the pastured poultry mission and the greater goal of bringing people a little ‘closer’ to their food. It was a great night…and we sold 50 birds or so!
I know from experience that these birds grow like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
We’ll do our best to post a photo every week to ten days so you can begin to appreciate their passion for putting on the pounds.
Check in every now and again to see how things are going…
And be sure to share the fact that you’ve purchased birds from us with a friend…
After all you should be proud! You did the right thing…
As Jeff put it: You’re Part of the Solution.
Doug
Monday, March 24, 2008
Back to work...
Well, life's been running ahead of this blog for a few weeks now. Doug spent the last few weeks back at school, teaching guitar lessons, and generally working on everything chicken oriented... And I spent a week in Colorado where Zephir and I caught up with family, friends and a couple of recumbent bicycle manufacturers. Which isn't to say I wasn't thinking about chickens - far from it. Rather, I spent my limited free time pouring over the potent words of Joel Salatin and look forward to quoting at length to one and all when the time arises.
So after said hiatus, work on the chicken pens resumed this past weekend after a period of reflection. It seems our friendly, Salatin inspired chicken pen weighed somewhere between 400 and 4000 lbs, or at least that's what it felt like. This was due to added weight from opting to use plywood instead of corrugated aluminum (for cost reasons - corrugated aluminum is vastly more expensive than plywood) and a much, much bulkier frame due to concerns of a goat/sheep attack on the pens. The resulting design changes led to the following design:
As you can see, we will have much more headroom when feeding and talking politics with the chickens (most birds are concerned with the rising price of grain due to corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel, feedstocks that are energy intensive, carbon-intensive and in the case of biodiesel make rather low quality biodiesel). Additionally, the weight is lower, there's a nifty door we can use to access the feed, and they double as alternative lifestyle communal dwellings (in no way similar to my main place of employment).
In addition to construction, we had a conversation with Patrick Phillips of the Vineyard Voice. Hopefully some snippets of our conversation will make it up on the website soon, but for now you can read about the IGI Poultry Event. Patrick has an incredible vision of a kind of internet commons where the Vineyard Voice will act as a platform for people of the island to connect, project and find out about all the incredible things happening on the island.
So after said hiatus, work on the chicken pens resumed this past weekend after a period of reflection. It seems our friendly, Salatin inspired chicken pen weighed somewhere between 400 and 4000 lbs, or at least that's what it felt like. This was due to added weight from opting to use plywood instead of corrugated aluminum (for cost reasons - corrugated aluminum is vastly more expensive than plywood) and a much, much bulkier frame due to concerns of a goat/sheep attack on the pens. The resulting design changes led to the following design:
As you can see, we will have much more headroom when feeding and talking politics with the chickens (most birds are concerned with the rising price of grain due to corn-based ethanol and soy-based biodiesel, feedstocks that are energy intensive, carbon-intensive and in the case of biodiesel make rather low quality biodiesel). Additionally, the weight is lower, there's a nifty door we can use to access the feed, and they double as alternative lifestyle communal dwellings (in no way similar to my main place of employment).
In addition to construction, we had a conversation with Patrick Phillips of the Vineyard Voice. Hopefully some snippets of our conversation will make it up on the website soon, but for now you can read about the IGI Poultry Event. Patrick has an incredible vision of a kind of internet commons where the Vineyard Voice will act as a platform for people of the island to connect, project and find out about all the incredible things happening on the island.
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