S9E13: How one person can efficiently move 600 broilers, 200 layers, and our cows with no machinery!

[@elizabethcarlson5830]

Inspiring!

[@jsmfarms71263]

🎉🙌🙏🙏

[@folsterfarms]

How do you feed when it’s pouring rain? Don’t the feeders get flooded?

[@abrahamstablefarm7261]

@@folsterfarms good question: the feeders do sometimes fill with water but it doesn’t really matter. They drain through small holes and dry out. Chickens don’t really mind wet feed as long as it’s still fresh (plenty of people intentionally soak their feed). If it happens to be raining so hard that the birds don’t come out to eat then we wait to put the feed out. If it’s light rain they will clean it up pretty quickly and so we just put it out at the normal time. We measure how much we are feeding and feed twice a day so they eagerly and quickly eat it right when we put it out and there is never feed sitting in trays for a long time. So the short answer is that wet feed isnt a problem as long as it is fresh. If anything it is more digestible.

[@LokiOdinssnn]

@@abrahamstablefarm7261 some even ferment the feed.

[@rodagrail3231]

Awesome..just think too many broilers in each coop..not much space to move around.😊

[@joshmorrow9872]

Because its moved daily they can run more birds per sq foot

[@abrahamstablefarm7261]

@@rodagrail3231 it’s true, but we pay close attention to their signals and they are always very content and calm. We dont see any of the problems that come with crowding so I think they are content. It does help that we move them once or even twice per day so they are on fresh ground. And they don’t like to walk much!

[@soudeaforbes]

I don’t know anything about chickens so my question is why the broilers and layers are housed differently?

[@joshmorrow9872]

@@soudeaforbes broilers don't roost they are ground dwellers

[@abrahamstablefarm7261]

@@soudeaforbes Because the laying hens are far more active and aggressive in their foraging. So they thrive when they have plenty of space to roam and hunt. They are also active enough to scurry away from arial predators quickly. The broilers on the other hand are very bulky and lazy--they don't move around a ton and they are slow when they do. This is because so much of their energy goes to digesting and building muscle (meat). So they don't roam much or hunt and would be extremely vulnerable to arial predators. They also would not be able to jump up onto roost bars. So they have a low protected pen where they can eat and lounge in safety. So it just comes down to what conditions will allow each animal to thrive best!