Nothing wrong with not using any soy in eggs either. You are right; you can have some tasty eggs with or without soy. This video was more so to address putting all soy in one box and just educating that soy can be a perfectly healthy protein. Unfortunately, GMO, processed soy is the norm and good soy isn't always easy to find.

We just sell locally. Our license only allows for the sale within the state of PA. And we typically sell around the Pittsburgh region. If you're local you can check out our site at Www.naturesgrovefarm.com. If you want similar chicken, is your on the east coast, check out Polyface Farm based in Virginia. If you're closer to the west coast, Primal Pastures is similar as well. You can also use eatwild.com to find farms near you. Then it's just a matter of asking how their chickens are raised to find what you want.

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!

We ship within Pennsylvania. With our current licensing we can not ship outside the state.

I have not. We do have hawks in our area, but the sight of one causes the broilers to run under shelter. So in my experience I haven't had issues with the broilers being carried away. I have had some free ranging hens lost to aerial predators though, but not any broilers in this system.

I grow mine out a little smaller and slower than most. I try to target 4 to 5 lbs. I have very few that exceed 5 lbs dressed weight. Most are right around 4.5 pounds.

Not for regenerative homesteading.. at least not yet. But that's it the plans. We do have a website for our farm though. Www.naturesgrovefarm.com

If we are doing the closed in tractor without the fencing around it, then we just do 75 birds with daily moves. If we remove the sides and are doing the fenced in model, then we can almost double that as the chickens really only use it for shade and shelter from rain. That system would be moved a couple times a week with that many chickens and the whole roof would be covered.

That's true. We only had 1 occurrence where a raccon reached through. Other than that the chicken wire has worked well. But you're right, hardware wire is definitely more secure for areas with stronger predator issues.

Absolutely! There's actually a whole lot going on in what you mentioned. Thanks for watching!

That isn't a bad idea. I may adapt to that and keep them in tractors until week 8 maybe. Im set up where at any given time I have 5 batches of chickens. 2 in the brooder and 3 out on pasture, and they are just on a rotation. So in that case, only one group would be in the fencing. Something for me mull over. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment!

That was real time! 😂 So far I'm thinking this may be better for large groups, maybe 200 or more. My batches this year don't exceed 150 each... at least for now. Otherwise, I agree, tractors may be the better route. But I will continue this and tweak and see how it goes.

I think there is protentional here to raise larger batches with less infrastructure, but I think it would be best served if I spent a whole season ironing out details to make a fair comparison to the tried, tested and true, chicken tractor method.

I mentioned this in the comment on my other video. We are told the avian flu wipes out flocks, but no where do I see an example of it wiping out a pastured based flock with a focus on raising birds with strong immune function. The pasture based flocks that have been wiped out were by the hands of officials coming in, not the virus itself. One positive test, and they say cull them all. So we have no real "data" on what would happen. But we do see real life examples. As mentioned before, Polyface Farms, who raise their layers in a similar manner, have not had an issue. If we look to nature, we never see the bird flu wiping out full populations. If we raise our birds, biomicic nature, and build a naturally healthy immunological function, I don't think we would see such a panic. We would assume a much smaller and manageable loss. Remember, these concerns and regulations always filter down from a factory farm system.

Absolutely! I do time and motion studies frequently. Thank you for watching!

You are very welcome! Thanks for watching! One thing to note for ducks, they are waterfowl and have waterproof feathers. So be sure to use dawn in your scald water.

I am no sharpening wiz, so I use an idiot proof sharpener. It's a belt sharpener which you can find here: amzn.to/37oJTZO And use these belts on it: To fix damaged edges - amzn.to/3Mg2juh To finish an edge and maintain - amzn.to/3L0poRE We can process about 20 birds per hour with 3 people, once we get going. 1 on kill scald pluck, one removing pin feathers, cleaning gizzards and QC, and 1 everserating. This is actually slow compared to most. The equipment you see can handle 200 birds an hour with a full crew. But this is just myself with my mom and aunt who are both 60+ years old. Field time, add an extra 30 minutes for catching the birds, setting up the equipment and cleaning. The only difference from how the equipment is set up is the kill cones are moved outside. The grey table is where the pin feathers and QC is done. We have another stainless steel table on the opposite wall where the everseration takes place. I am curious, with the next chickens you do, maybe chill one for 48 hours, freeze one the same day you process and eat one same day you process. I would be curious to hear your results. There may be another variable I overlooked. But in our experience, we just waited longer for freezing the meat was much more tender. I have seen some other videos on here showing the everseration, but I will double check those rules. Thank you!

@@regenerativehomesteading4538 thanks! I've never eaten one on processing day. I'm guessing that I don't have issues because it takes a bit for the birds to get frozen once they go in the freezer. 20 birds per hour with just 3 people isn't too shabby! Keep up the good work!

Thank you!

Thank you! Really I should add to that suggestion, don't eat it either within the first 24 hours. If you process a chicken, and cook it that same day, the meat will be tough. Letting it chill and rest before freezing or eating it and it will yield more tender meat.

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!

Sure can. The only part we don't want to slow down is the kill cut. But we can shoot that in slow motion so it'll be slowed down in the video.

Unfortunately, everything seems to be going up. Now's a good time to own some timber and a saw mill!

I had to search long and hard for that. I found mine from a roofing company. Check around for local roofers or building suppliers. Even companies that supply construction companies. That's how I found mine.

Yeah, you hit on a hot topic. My strategy on this is do everything possible to build a strong immune system. All the reports you hear about and numbers are based off of are not this pastured system. It's commercial, factory chicken operations. I know you mentioned you're friend who has a pastured model, I'll get to that. But first some baseline information. There's reports showing that pastured based models show a much higher resilience to Avian influenza. However, even at that, we really don't have much information to go on. As you have seen first hand, the standard protocol is wipe out everything. So losses that are shown are birds that just lived with others who got Avian influenza and not even had a chance to build immunity. Sure, losses will occur, even in pastured models. Joel Salatin talks about this too. On his farm, Polyface, he really doesn't have an issue with this either. Nor have I. While I haven't done any studies as to why my birds are less affected, I'm sure the answer lies in our practices of building natural immunity. That's not to say every single chick will live. Some just will not be strong enough. I have a video on my channel about one trick I use to build natural immunity. But to answer your question, I think the answer is a combination of practices that all support immune function, and not giving the immune system a crutch. I also think when the government comes in and wipes out a flock, it destroys all chances of building a resistance and actually giving us real data to work with. The bird flu comes through in cycles, and in wild birds, we see it, but it never wipes out the population of wild birds. Weak ones don't make it, strong ones adapt, build resistance and pass on those survivor genetics. There's a really good podcast on this from Mike Badger from pasturedpoultrytalk.com and he interviewed Chrislyn Wood, DVM about this very topic. But focus on natural immunity. I think the key lies in that. Like I said, farmers like myself, Joel Salatin and many others have not really been affected by this, and I think it all lies in those natural practices and following nature's template.

Someone else mentioned fox as well. I have never had a fox get in or ever heard of one getting in. My only predator issue with these was a raccoon reaching through and trying to grab a chicken. Here are a few things to note... predators will usually circle around trying to find a way in. They never really think to attack the top. So the bottom is where you want to secure. On uneven ground, keep little pieces of wood and use them as plugs. Just plug up any holes you see along the bottom. Also, keep you chicken tractors away from a wood line. Make it so that if I weasle or smaller predator wants to get them, they have to run through an open field, making themselves vulnerable to attack (usually hawks can be a guardian of sorts for this reason) Those smaller predators typically will not risk becoming prey themselves trying to cross over open land. As a final security measure, if you really want to go all out, use electric. The cheapest, yet effective way is running a wire along the bottom of your chicken tractor with a good solar energizer. I would highly recommend, don't skimp on the energizer. There's a lot of cheap ones from stores that just simple don't work well. I have a graveyard of store bought ones that turned out to be garbage. I would recommend at least something like this amzn.to/3usVa3G Adding a little more expense, but upgrading the setup and security, you can add this electric netting amzn.to/37C2LnR That netting is what I use and I use a charger similar to what I linked to above, but it's the most powerful one they make. I do that because I run a lot of that netting off of it at once. Hope that helps, and if you have any more questions, feel free to reach out!

@@regenerativehomesteading4538 Thanks for taking the time to reply to me. I will give the electric wire or netting a try. This will be my first attempt at the chicken tractor. I'm going to try and do 30 Meat Birds. I currently have chickens I raise for eggs and have had to deal with Racoons and Fox constantly. I'm wanting to be proactive with this meat bird tractor. Thanks again

If you have layers, maybe use that netting to protect them as well. A movable shelter with laying boxes inside surrounded by the netting allows you to have a foraging area for your layers, but also allows you to move them across the land for fresh pasture. Any time you can incorporate movement, it will encourage freshness for your birds and allow your pasture to regenerate. So the same equipment that can help protect your broilers, can also protect your layers.

Pex piping would be pretty flimsy and not suitable for building, unless you are referring to something different than what I am thinking. I like the sled idea though. I have thought of large PVC cut in half to achieve this. I never did try it though. As for the weight, we sometimes get some strong winds, so as you said, having it too light isn't good. There's a sweet spot where its light enough to make work easy but heavy enough to handle winds. Thank you for the comment. I may try out some "PVC Skis" in the future.

I meant to say PVC. (missed my coffee).

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed.

Get 2 sheets of plywood that are 18"x5'.Your basically going to use that move the chickens and block the back end. If I were kneeling in the front right of the chicken tractor, I use one sheet of plywood to move the chickens starting from the back right. Moving them from that corner and doing a sweeping motion across the whole back of the tractor so that all the chickens are moved to the front then set that wood up against the supports. Use the 2nd sheet of wood and block off the other half where you just were. You are left with all the chickens in the front and the whole back end is blocked. This is the one area I like the A-Frame tractors better. But even with that drawback, I still prefer the low profile Salatin style tractors. Once you get use to it, it really only takes a minute or 2 and all your chickens are easy to catch from there.

I build the Salatin style, but make them 6’ by 10’. Very easy to move. 30 birds per tractor. I use a plywood board as you described. Very simple.

I was actually thinking of doing this. One flaw I have with the dolly is the wheels have to be small enough to fit under the chicken tractor, but some of pasture has some uneven ground. Putting axels on like you said, maybe something like the Suscovich style has, would allow for some bigger wheels making it easier over that uneven terrain. I like that idea and that's one modification I will likely do.

This is the first season I have water lines going to them, but up until now I always just hauled water. You can get 5 gallon waters and go anywhere really. This year I have lines going 400 feet away from a water source. But that's an automatic system with float valves. Depending on your terrain you can go for as long as you have water lines for. Going up hills will affect that however. Regardless, hauling water or an automatic system, the closer the better.

@@regenerativehomesteading4538 very nice.

I am actually going to making videos on that aspect this summer as well. But we started just by doing farmers markets. Our first few markets, we were excited if we went home with $50, but it grew pretty quickly. Point is, we started very small. I also have a CSA I offer as well and plan my season with that in mind. The farmers market is a good launching pad. We started with a small market then branched off and now do a few markets during the summer, one of which is a very large market. Between that, facebook (however that seems to be eroding), our website and building an email list, that was our start. Because of the way we raise our chickens, we became well known in our local area for having that "premium quality." Every market we hear multiple times customs say, "that was the best chicken ever." That often leads us into a talk about our practices which has set us apart. That has helped and we are proud to share the story behind our customers food.

@@regenerativehomesteading4538 I’m looking forward to your marketing videos