Broiler Chickens on the Farm! First Steps to Home Grown Pastured Raised Poultry!

Join me in an adventure of raising my own pastured chickens. This is a first for me and the farm. In this video I bring home 14 Sasso chickens and 14 Jackie chickens from the Freedom Ranger Hatchery. I had to get the brooder box set up for them the day the chicks came home. I picked these up myself given its approximate hour proximity to the farm. I also stopped at a local feed mill to try two bags of their feed. Part of this adventure is finding the cheapest feed for them while maintaining quality given the amount they will eat.

[@slyfox5063]

Heat lamp still needed in 90 degree weather?

[@thehayfarm]

For the first week, yes. It will vary a little bit since these are faster growing chickens than traditional egg laying breeds, but they should be kept around 95 for the first week. You then typically step down 5 degrees per week until they're 4-6 weeks old. Last week when it was in the mid 50's at night I was running the light overnight for them. I don't need them wasting any energy staying warm when they should be using it to grow bigger.