Chickens are warm and cozy in the brooder. Turkeys arrive this week. We will be officially in full-fledged poultry season when they arrive. all total that will be around 500 baby chicks/poults in the brooder. What a way to start the year, with a bang. Some folks don't know why we only raise poultry seasonally, so let me take a moment to explain. Our model calls for our poultry to be moved around the pasture daily so that our birds get to eat grass and insects at will. While it's true that we could grow some cool-season annual grasses in the winter, other factors make it more complicated. Here are a few.
- Water: Due to the mobile nature of our pasture pens, the water is a self-contained gravity flow system. It has many exposed pipes, and the houses are not insulated. It doesn't get super cold here, but there are more than enough sub-freezing nights to make watering winter poultry a challenge in our system.
- Rain: Yes, also water. Our Pasture pens are moved each day by tractor or farm truck. Getting that equipment in and out of the pasture daily would make a muddy mess in our rainy winters.
- Temperature: As it relates to the birds themselves. Broiler chickens like to be warm. The older egg-laying hens can tolerate cold weather. Broilers, not so much. When the weather is cold the broilers would spend much of their energy keeping warm, decreasing their performance, and dramatically increasing their feed intake.
- Rest: Even though we never come to a complete stop (thanks dairy and egg layers). It is nice to have a "slower" season. We and all of the farm team get to relax a bit without several hundred chickens and turkeys at various stages of growth constantly coming and going. The break is welcomed at the end of the year, but by this time of year, we are chomping at the bit to get back at it.
- Nature: This may be the most convincing factor. I strive for all of our farming activities to mimic nature's activity as closely as possible. All birds that I know of lay eggs and hatch in the spring. It makes sense right? Better weather, more to eat, and only mature individuals have to survive the winter. That alone is convincing enough for me.
That is why we don't grow poultry in the winter, but thankfully winter is almost over. It's poultry season again. Hurray.
