Site Unseen Windrower Auction Purchase - Hope It's Not A Lemon! Rolling Chicken Litter

[@natesloan7322]

Got my feet wet with poultry in March, going full time with it and moving in June! Watched your vids beforehand and it helped a lot, really lowered the learning curve. Thanks for all the info man!

[@FarmerHunt]

Awesome! Glad we were able to help. Good luck in the poultry business. Feel free to reach out if you ever have questions.

[@natesloan7322]

@@FarmerHunt Right on, will do!

[@johnratcliff9749]

I think it’s a great idea to and Eric to the channel. I like the other guys suggestion about farming with hunt and lovvorn

[@FarmerHunt]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@zachanderson9775]

rlly enjoy the poultry vids would love some more in the future!

[@FarmerHunt]

Thank you! We are working on a video of us leveling our litter back down out of windrows. We are also planning to do a video of setting up the houses for baby chickens.

[@countrylifegaming]

Great content as always! Hope you enjoy Disney.

[@FarmerHunt]

Thanks for watching. We had a great time!

[@geloperez9417]

I build the windrower at Lewis brothers manufactured

[@FarmerHunt]

Pretty cool. You make a good product!

[@jerrylee8261]

Not sure what was purpose of Windrower. If I had to guess, it was moving chicken poop around. Anyway, you can't be lazy and have a business like Hunt. I hope he doesn't overwork himself too much. I wouldn't say he looks very happy in this video. Hmm....Looked it up on internet and according to it it's usually called a swather mainly used for harvesting crops which doesn't fit in with what Hunt was doing. When I was a kid, I lived with my aunt and uncle in Va on a huge farm for awhile and we did most chores manually-milking(had 3 or 4 cows), harvesting tobacco(horse and mules pulled a slide for throwing manually picked tobacco leaves into), used two mules and a gelding for plowing fields, had a herd of whiteface cows with a bull called Domino, we got hay up by driving a truck with a huge bed(about 6 by ten feet)and throwing mowed hay onto bed of truck with pitchforks, our job was to walk on hay and pack it down. I remember fussing at myself one time because I was barefoot which was the case 90% of the time and hay had briars in it which was rough on my barefeet so I said to myself-wear shoes next time. It was the happiest time of my life. I thought aunt and uncle were my mom and dad and their five children were my brothers and sisters. Russell, Ronald, Myrna(after Myrna Loy), Inez and Elna.

[@FarmerHunt]

The windrower piles the chicken litter and causes it to go through a heat cycle. In that heat cycle, it helps kill any unwanted pathogens. It also allows the floor underneath the litter to dry out while the litter is windrowed. The process of windrowing isn't real fun, but it's part of the process. We just have to take the good with the bad. A swather is a different piece of equipment. This is a Lewis Brothers Windrower that is designed specifically for chicken houses. A swather, also called a windrower, is used to cut crops and place them in a windrow so they can be baled. Sounds like you had a great family and also had to work very hard. I look forward to my kids growing up on a farm and learning about all the hard work involved. I think it is very important for them to learn at a young age how to work. Thanks for sharing your story and for watching our video.

[@robertodalberto1775]

Hi What bedding / litter material do you use ? Can we use a course river sand ?

[@FarmerHunt]

We use saw dust. I have heard of some people using peanut hulls. I have never heard of anybody using river sand. I would think that would be difficult to clean up after a flock

[@HendrixFarmExperience]

I've always left my cake in and put it in the windrow. I've been told if you don't leave the cake in you don't get the 135 degrees that you need. Are you able to get 135 without leaving the cake?

[@FarmerHunt]

We’ve hit 135 both ways. Some say leave the cake and the added moisture helps it heat up. Others say remove the cake and you have less air space in your windrow and that helps it heat up more.

[@HendrixFarmExperience]

@@FarmerHunt Thanks for the reply. We've got a few videos of our farm. Feel free to check them out

[@FarmerHunt]

@@HendrixFarmExperience Just subscribed!

[@HendrixFarmExperience]

@@FarmerHunt Thank you!

[@littleredatvmi]

Curious how you think the 4066R handles that Lewis Bros windrower. I know in their specs they say 75 hp with a creeper gear. I'm assuming with the hydrostat that you'reable to go slow enough to manage with the 60hp? I've been running with only a cruster (DB1) pulled behind my Kubota MX5800 hydro and have been happy with it, but sometimes I'm tempted to windrow to try and get rid of some disease pressure. I was mainly looking at either the same Lewis Bros that you just got or the LVI Jr 60. Course with only 2 houses, it prolly doesn't make sense for me to have a windrower as well as a cruster, but it seems you can never hire someone to do it when you need it done.

[@FarmerHunt]

We have been really pleased with our 4066R and also our 4066M (we just got the M about a year ago). They both handle the windrower, and we don't seem to have any issues due to horsepower. If anything, when our litter gets too deep the windrower may not be able to handle it, but it's never due to the tractor. We have been consistently rolling our litter for a few years now. It's a little added work, but it seems to pay off for us. You would be surprised at how wet the floors are underneath that litter. Without windrowing, it is very difficult to get those floors dried out in my opinion. We are hoping to do a video soon about both of our chicken house tractors. Maybe compare the two and also talk about likes/dislikes. Hopefully we can get that done soon and elaborate more on everything.

[@philipedwards8762]

I think the channel name change would work well.

[@FarmerHunt]

Thanks for the feedback. That’s kinda what we are leaning towards. We are trying to figure out a way to incorporate everything we do more and make it more about both of us also.

[@ronaldwade9819]

Just think? We are watching you guys showing us how to maintain a Chicken house and you ask us if we want you to change your name to Hunt and Lovvorn Cattle company. That name just doesn't cover all the content you provide. How about Farming with Hunt and Lovvorn.

[@FarmerHunt]

Thanks for the feedback. That makes sense! We are wanting to make it more inclusive for Eric and also our beef business. Some of our content is poultry related, but since we can't do videos of the live chickens we are limited on that side.