USA Today Article

An article on Polyface ran yesterday in USA Today for Earth Day and I wanted to share it with everyone.  Great article about us and I even got a quote in.  There is a Video on the same page that is pretty rockin' (I'm in it briefly watering the field shelters, but no talking... I'll leave that to the pros.)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-04-21-polyface-farms_N.htm

Enjoy!!

Broilers are IN THE FIELD!!!

Hello chicky...

Three weeks ago we received our first set of broiler chicks (cornish cross).  On Wednesday of this week they all went to the field.  The season is here and there is no turning back!!

All-in-all we put 2,945 broilers in field shelters.  I was very surprised how big they were at 3 weeks old.  The difference between cornish cross and Rhode Island Red chicks is incredible.  At 3 weeks of age the Reds were half the size of the cornish cross.  I guess that is why we eat cornish crosses and not Reds.  Joel calls them "High Octane race car birds," thats why we feed them "High Octane Fuel."

Here are some pics of the first batch of broilers in our brooder.  I'll try and get out to the field and get some pics of them in the field shelters.

Here I am... chick in hand... goofy smile on face...

Daniel on Left... Matt on right...  They were dunking the beaks of the new chicks.  Sometimes when they come in they are a little groggy and dipping their beaks helps bring them out of it.

 

This is one of 6 propane hovers that warm the chicks.

Here is one of the 1 gallon waters we use for the first few days.  I forgot to photograph the main watering system which is a tube with water nipples.  They use the nipple most of the time.

We feed 2 ways for the first week.  One way is in this tray that they climb into.

The other way is via trough.  As you can see they prefer the tray for now.  Soon they will be bellied up to the troughs filling their crops.

Five weeks from Wednesday we will be butchering.  If you are interested in ordering fresh chickens for pick-up on farm, check out the website and give us a call.  

Pasturing Pigs

Yorkshire on the move.

Now that spring is here and summer short to follow, my mind buzzes about pigs on pasture.  One of my newer duties here on the farm is to look after all the pigs... all 191 of them (this number is of course always changing).  For the most part we are currently on hold for turning pigs out on pasture.  Many of the hogs are currently pig-aerating and many of the young pigs are living in the barn and hoop-houses.  These groups are on deck and warming up, waiting for the the grass to get a head of steam before they're put to the plate and allowed to swing for the fence.  All the groups are waiting... all but one.

The Pine Glen Group

February 20th we took a group of 38 pigs out to a brand new pine glen.  I call it a pine glen instead of Joel's term "acorn glen" because this particular glen has very few oaks and lots of pines, so by overwhelming majority it becomes a pine glen.  Anyway... I have been keeping track of feed consumption since the 20th and I want to share with you what I have found.  Get excited... I know I am.

I want to compare with you two groups of pigs.  One group, which we shall call the "West" group is composed of 20 pigs and has been keep in the barn all winter.  They arrived in the fall and we're too small to go to pasture, then winter came and we brought all the pigs down, so...  The other group, which we shall call the "Pine Glen" group, is 38 strong, arrived in the fall also, were to small to put out to pasture, winter came, same story... until February 20th when they went to the new pine glen.

Except for the differences in living space, the groups have been treated almost the same.  Both have a waterer that allows free access to as much water as each pig wants, 24/7.  Both have a self-feeder that allows free access to as much of the pig feed ration as each pig wants, 24/7.  I give the West group about a bale of hay (small square) a day for eating and bedding, but I give no such amenity to the Pine Glen group.   

I went back to my data of feed and began counting how many days it took each group to empty a one ton pig feeder.  It took BOTH groups the SAME amount of time to finish the SAME amount of feed even though the Pine Glen group has TWICE as many pigs as the West Group!!!

Moral of the story...

Pigs are able to find at least half of their food when they are allowed to forage.  Even though the Pine Glen group had free access to the feeder, just like the West group, they chose to root up food, graze, scavenge, and forage for at least half their diet!!  This isn't really scientific data, but it is definitely eye opening data to say the least. 

When we let livestock express themselves fully, they thrive.  Pigs have a God given talent (or naturally selected variation for those evolutionists out there) for foraging and the moment we allow them to express it, they impress us.  

 

Doesn't look like there is much to eat... but then again I'm not a pig.