Pastured Poultry > Free Range Chickens = Sanity + Sunflowers

For the first year here it felt like trying to drink from a firehose. Now in year number two, things have seemed much MUCH more manageable. I credit two pivotal points for me that turned it around. One, barn organization. The barn, while small, is centrally located on the front property and so, all projectsContinue reading “Pastured Poultry > Free Range Chickens = Sanity + Sunflowers”

Using pigs and chickens to convert pasture to garden beds

Needing additional space for cabbage, beans, corn, and winter squash, we decided to expand the vegetable garden this year. The ideal location for this row cropping is our level pasture, of which we have WAY more than we can use at the moment. The spot we decided to annex was covered by foot-tall grass, alongContinue reading “Using pigs and chickens to convert pasture to garden beds”

Raising meat chickens: the nitty gritty

I wouldn’t deliberately choose to process chickens in a cyclone. It’s just that when you raise meat chickens, you’re working on a timeline. There’s a lot to line up: you have to consider the day the chickens were hatched, and calculate 7-8 weeks to determine the butchering window. And when you’re a part-time farmer, weekendsContinue reading “Raising meat chickens: the nitty gritty”

The Yellow Submarine: Salatin Style Pastured Poultry

The inaugural launch of our (Joel) Salatin style pastured poultry pontoon occurred in mid-August of this year. Typically, broilers are done in the Spring when the grass is growing fast and the temps are warming nicely. But, since we didn’t move onto the homestead until May and were busy setting up 4 pastured pigs andContinue reading “The Yellow Submarine: Salatin Style Pastured Poultry”