Raising Over a MILLION Chickens a Year | Pasturebird Farm Tour

[@samnoble9587]

I’m always in awe of how Pasturebird has been able to transform their production! Can’t wait to be able to see the ARC’s in person.

[@ashleyalexander7388]

Great stuff. This should be the standard, I'm sure the birds are so much happier and healthier.

[@johndoh5182]

It's more expensive. Plus, when a person goes to the grocery store and see something labeled "organic" or "pastured", you don't know the processes the grower used. This is an ideal situation for both the farmer and the chickens as much as possible. But it's not free range which SOME people seem to think is the best way to keep chickens. But free range is hard to deal with as a farmer and predators are going to get some of the animals. So personally I think this is the best way to raise chickens.

[@douglasthompson9482]

Outstanding….as a former raiser of poultry, this is perfect situation for all concerned.

[@AlgiereRanch]

This is absolutely awesome!! What an amazing set up!!

[@HeiferUSA]

In fact, it is impressive!

[@OliviaMichele-sz6gt]

Whenever I come across farming, it takes me down memory lane. Losing my farm to the hurricane Florence on September 2018 here in North Carolina dealth a huge jab. But with an influx of $32K monthly made my family happy one more time

[@HeiferUSA]

Must be tough, thanks for sharing!

[@gdelvalle22pr]

Do Pasturebird sells those mobile coops or anyway it can be acquired?

[@BirdseyeVu]

No. PB is wholly owned by Perdue now.

[@HeiferUSA]

Please reach out to Pasturebird directly to inquire!

[@Pl-qq4yl]

if this the future of pasture raised poultry , I will still keep my chickens .

[@erikkkkkkk914]

@@Pl-qq4yl what do you mean?

[@safffff1000]

Free choice chickens, they decide where they want to me. Fantastic

[@jlkkauffman7942]

How do you anchor them in hurricanes or high winds?

[@HeiferUSA]

Great question! We use two t-posts crossed over one another at each corner.

[@doanusa89]

Your farm is very large and beautiful.

[@HeiferUSA]

So nice of you

[@VashtiPerry]

I literally was just asking myself this question. Not that I'm interested in becoming a commercial farm😂😂 I'm just a person who's constantly interested in pasture raised or free-range animals. And what's the difference between all of them? And how do you raise enough to become sustainable in business but also keep them healthy without a bunch of antibiotics? Anyway, thank you for the video. I love this kind of information😂

[@johndoh5182]

So a little bit of info. Free range isn't any better than this. It may SEEM more natural, but free range in the wrong environment means birds will be more stressed because they don't have the feeling of security and predators get part of the birds. So free range is more of a problem in trying to keep the bird safe and at the same time being able to easily get the birds or gather them up. Richard Perkins has some video on what I would say is ideal for free range. Every morning you let chickens out of a large coop that's mobile, and at night you have to get all the chickens back in. You DO have fencing around the area they will roam for that day. These housing units are necessarily larger since they have to be designed to let chickens out and in each day. Basically it's similar to this technique but I'd say it's probably better if you have nice pasture with protection, you have egg layers, and you're willing to spend another hour of time in moving the chickens because you have to deal with moving the fencing. For raising chicken for meat this is probably the best technique possible and the neat thing about this design is it scales to any size you want it to. This technique actually comes from small scale farming with much smaller houses, that you can simply pull yourself to move it. It also means if you want the birds to have more room you simply have a few less birds. These farmers use a density rating for the type of chickens they raise, and since they have to make money because it's their job, they're going to be close to maximum density. A person doing this for fun can do whatever they want. I can't tell you the ideal way to make one, but the structure that Joel Salatin uses is a starting point, or it may be ideal depending on your situation. I'd personally want something with wheels that lift up when you aren't moving the house. Justin Rhodes has some decent designs with wheels.

[@weirdmood8102]

@@johndoh5182 Jordan green ( J&L farms) has a pretty awesome enclosure for pastures birds. It's a bit pricey, but behind this structure, his is one of the most ideal I've ever seen.

[@TheoneandonlyRAH]

this is amazing!!

[@HeiferUSA]

It is!! They're doing a great job :D

[@pattimiller9157]

Amazing ❤

[@Ertugrul51]

I have two questions for you, please answer, what to do to ensure that water does not fill up during the rainy season and how to protect it from wild animals because the mobile chicken coop is open from the bottom.

[@HeiferUSA]

Hey! The schooners have a roof protecing from the rain and livestock guardian dogs protect the chickens very well :D

[@Ertugrul51]

@@HeiferUSA Please upload the video of rainy season and cold season on your channel heifer usa. How do you keep the chickens inside this chicken coop in both the seasons? Please upload the video.

[@HeiferUSA]

Thank you! We'll think about making it.

[@Ertugrul51]

@@HeiferUSA ❤❤❤

[@680ecks]

I love love love this !! I eat meat but dont want animals treated poorly. I think this is so great that the birds get grass and bugs and sun . i would like this ti be the standard of care for chichen farming and if this could be used for egg production as well . also the combination with the cows i also think is great . and i believe this is so much more natural for the soil and the animals.

[@johndoh5182]

So, I always knew this was possible as soon as I saw the large prairie schooners. I knew that could be automated and put on wheels though I didn't think about having it motorized so they move themselves. Once you're at the scale of prairie schooner then the cost to automate makes sense. I'm REALLY happy to see this as it makes more sense than those large fixed coops that SMELL TERRIBLE and are environmental nightmares and the chickens aren't healthy IMO.

[@electrostatic1]

If there is one weak spot in this setup it's that you could have better plant cover if you went with more than just grasses.

[@HeiferUSA]

That's a great idea to try out!

[@laurensvackier2704]

I could have mist it in the video, but where do you get your elektrician from for the automatisation. With a battery? Second question if it heavy rains will you still move the bird in the water or do you switch to deep bedding or how do you deel with that? Very nice concept never seen it before! Lovely video!

[@HeiferUSA]

In fact, you missed it😅We answer these questions in detail the video. Check it all out!

[@EHSTexas]

Do ya'll manufacture these? Sale them? What do they cost?

[@HeiferUSA]

Hello! you can see details of these structures in this link www.feathermanequipment.com/shop/prairie-schooners/prairie-schooner/

[@CelestialBow]

Great system! I wonder about using a bird with a slightly longer lifespan and better physical conformation may be a beneficial addition for quality of life and meat quality due to a few added weeks of more active foraging. I also wonder about the use of cloth perhaps made from bamboo for the roof and sides to use a biodegradable product. This system also looks excellent for ultra high density grazing that combined with long rest periods will give excellent results. The annual grain production to feed this system also rely on fossil fuel powered machines which likely is not a long term sustainable solution. Still a beautiful alternative to current large scale chicken farming practices.

[@HeiferUSA]

Thanks for sharing!

[@rickthelian2215]

May I ask do the schooner move at night upsetting the birds sleep over 8 hours? Do the birds sleep on ground? Thank you, great work

[@Oak_Hollow]

Cornish cross sleep on the ground. Even if they were inclined to use a low roost, there is a very high risk of broken legs hopping down even a few inches.

[@HeiferUSA]

Hey! The schooners do not move at night and yes, the birds do sleep on the ground!

[@stealthswim223]

This is crazy! I wonder how much each of those coops are

[@HeiferUSA]

We don't have this information, unfortuantely. You can try to reach out to Pasturebird directly and ask them!

[@francocatalioti6274]

You didn't mention Joal Salatan once and he is the one who brought this sytem to lighton a smaller scale!

[@HeiferUSA]

We have several videos filmed at polyface farm coming soon!

[@gardenersgraziers7261]

joel copied others = so what is your point ???

[@RJ-ox8on]

but this is factory farming and joel salatin focuses more on multi species self sustaing farming

[@Oak_Hollow]

@RJ-ox8on What is your definition of "factory farming"?

[@AngelManolchev]

Is it profitable busness I want to try it

[@halilbalaban1056]

ARE TWO IMPORTANT TECHNICAL INFORMATION NEEDED? We learned that this chicken palace, which is an ultra all-inclusive holiday village for chickens, floating on the meadow grass in the pasture, moves at a speed of 15 meters in 7 minutes, or approximately 128 meters per hour. There is two subject I am curious about. 1-) How many hours a day does this meadow schooner travel and how many meters a day does it cover? Therefore, how many square meters of salad bar land does this meadow schooner need to serve the chickens in a day? 2-) When you look at it from here, how many acres of land are needed for a pasture schooner during the 5 weeks that the chickens will spend in the pasture after their incubation period at the age of 3 weeks.

[@HeiferUSA]

Thanks for the great questions! We don't have the answers for you, but if you reach out to Pasturebird directly they might be able to answer them for you. Thanks for watching!

[@halilbalaban1056]

@@HeiferUSA Thank you for your kindness in answering. Sending you my love and greetings from Türkiye. 🙏🙏🙏

[@BirdseyeVu]

It moves the depth of the structure (side wall to side wall) each day, to most efficiently utilize pasture.

[@halilbalaban1056]

What is the speed of these sailboats in meters per hour? Also, how many hours do the sailboats move during the day and how many meters do they travel during this time?

[@HeiferUSA]

the information is in the video around the 14 minute mark. ! thanks for watching :)

[@halilbalaban1056]

@@HeiferUSA Thank you for your ansverd.

[@abunawrobson8707]

What could be the cost of an ARC

[@HeiferUSA]

Hey! Try reaching out to the folks at Pasture Bird directly with your question. They can help you better, and thanks for watching!

[@promesasbiblicas2023]

So, how much does a chicken house like that cost?

[@HeiferUSA]

Hello! We don't have this information, unfortuantely. You can try to reach out to Pasturebird directly and ask them!

[@romaricvincent7616]

Amazingly interesting! We are so far from this in France. I guess we spend too much time complaining that others country are producing cheaper than us because they don't respect the rules we have... I start to understand that we are just lacking innovative thinking!

[@HeiferUSA]

Thanks for watching! We hope these ideas can help improving farming all over the world

[@ngana8755]

Is Pasture Bird selling these movable chicken coops?

[@HeiferUSA]

Try reaching out to Pasturebird directly to inquire!

[@abelcunningham4907]

How much one of them houses cost?

[@HeiferUSA]

Hello! We don't have this information, unfortuantely, but you can try to reach out to Pasturebird directly. They can surely help you!

[@pcl598]

Is this part of Will Harris?

[@jsmfarms71263]

🎉🙏🙌

[@HeiferUSA]

Thank you!

[@unabatshomatebesi8840]

Is it safe from snakes 🐍?

[@HeiferUSA]

It depends on your area!

[@AngelManolchev]

Are u selling it alive or .... ?

[@HeiferUSA]

We sell wholesale to a cooperative, which then sells them to the consumer processed and frozen usually.

[@AngelManolchev]

​@@HeiferUSA can we contact for more information please 🙏?

[@calebleibold7644]

Not going to lie, my chickens look way better lol. BUT I'm also not raising 1million+ birds a year lol.

[@wallacewimmer5191]

If we as a nation 🇺🇸🇺🇸👍would apply this process to all the farmland converted to “solar scam” in the last administration….🤔🤔🤔🤔love the channel keep it coming 👍🎉🎉

[@Chris_EE]

@@wallacewimmer5191 you do realize most of the interior and Midwest of United States is an empty flat land. How is solar farm inhibiting farmland. Farming and energy independent are both important.

[@johndoh5182]

What's a REAL scam is the fact the US has to GROW so much of its gasoline and the insane amount of acreage that's used for corn to GROW gasoline. There are excellent techniques of combining solar farms with ag. If some idiots did an installation on their land but didn't understand how to incorporate it into their farming practices, well, that's not an idiot govt. administration, it's an idiot farmer. Right now the US could solve the world's issues with grain if we weren't growing so much corn for ethanol. The US USED to be the major producer of wheat. Geez if only we still grew that much wheat, bread prices wouldn't be ridiculous right now.

[@gardenersgraziers7261]

DANGER = Cattle and Chickens are grazing toxic excess NITRATES

[@Oak_Hollow]

You would have to test to be able to say that with any actual knowledge.

[@BirdseyeVu]

The chickens won’t likely cover the same spot more than once, annually. Having run this systems myself (albeit, on 1/10th scale), I can attest that the manure “load” is less than if a farmer mechanically spread it over his field. The remaining variables are the amount of rainfall and health of the soil. Soil microorganisms (along with dung beetles, earthworms) are able to “digest” most manure so that it becomes more time-released. Also, when cows are only fed grass (no grain), they are really only “putting down what they picked up”, if you know what I mean.😉

[@gardenersgraziers7261]

@@BirdseyeVu the relevant factor is quantity - how much chicken manure per hectare per annum ??? everything can be measured

[@wjgoh653]

Very much an exaggeration about indians doing natural grazing techniques. First off, there is little evidence that they started farming like we understand today. Also, there is NO evidence of indigenous raising cattle before the spaniards show up. They had no domesticated buffalo either. So, let's just accept the evil european...as usual, was the impetus for any and all innovation that we see today. not to get on the soap box but these new ideas are really an answer to the 7-8 decades of industrialized farming methods that utilized chemical maturation and scaled yields. Like any technology, whether mechanically based or chemically based, it takes time to see the Benefit/Detriment scale. Unfortunately the scaling with chemicals cost us in lives as well as destroyed soils. Cancers, glandular malformity and even some birth defects are a result of post WW2 era industrialized farming practices. Add to that the advent of processed food products and humanities "Scientific better ideas" really have doomed many to a longevity on more chemical dependence via the pharmacueticals to combat the very practices used to feed them. Great farm, fantastic operation with innovation thats beneficial and great info. Thanks Heifer for another awesome archive video.

[@HeiferUSA]

Thanks for the reflexion! We love providing information that can help and also open the floor for perspective sharing❤️

[@crusadesgeneral]

great way to raise chickens but this doesnt seem economical. these chicken houses are extremely high priced because of all the parts that can fail and the amount of electronics, you need absolutely flat ground to use those coops, the grass in those fields looks like its struggling to maintain the amount of chickens also. most people cant even afford garbage grocery prices let alone the rpices they charge for this chicken. i do agree this is the best way to raise them at this scale though and the healthiest way.

[@HeiferUSA]

It is certainly a point for conversation! Thanks for watching!

[@crusadesgeneral]

@@HeiferUSA great videos !

[@MrNardo1238]

6000 birds per ARC. If the chickens were sold for $4/lb and the birds average 5lbs, that's $120,000 of revenue generated per batch. They are growing year round. Takes 8-10 weeks to grow out a 5lb bird. Let's use 9 weeks as the average. You could raise 5 batches in a year and still take 7 weeks off. $120,000 × 5 = $600,000 (revenue) I suspect the ARC pays for itself pretty quickly. Once it does, the maintenance is fractional compared to the initial purchase cost. And they're not writing checks for fertilizer. The grass helps reduce their feed costs. Automating moves reduces labor costs. I bet they're doing ok and I bet their chicken is safer to consume.

[@crusadesgeneral]

@@MrNardo1238 once again most people are not paying that for chicken

[@crusadesgeneral]

@@MrNardo1238 and the chicken is sold for twice that amount at least