Poultry Your Way - Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems ...

Labor. Daily chores during the
pasture season include feeding,
watering, moving pens, and
monitoring birds. Feeding and
watering take Salatin about one
hour for 26 pens (2,400 birds).
Daily pen movement is the
reason that the daily move pen
management model is often labeled
more “labor intensive” than other
pasture-based systems. Salatin
estimates that the task of moving
pens takes up to one minute/pen.
He moves 26 pens (2,400 birds)
in approximately 30 minutes. The
pens are designed to be moved by
hand using a specially-designed
dolly placed at one end of the 10 ft
by 12 ft pen and lifted by a handle
on the other end. After removing
feeders and waterers, Salatin drags
the pen to the new pasture section.
The birds walk on the ground
(inside the pen) as the trailing edge
of the pen pushes them forward.
See Figure 32 for a full estimate of
labor required to produce birds in
the daily move pen system.
MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES
PASTURE: DAILY MOVE PENS
Figure 32: Minutes Required per Bird Each Season*
for Pastured Poultry Production
ACTIVITY
Chick pickup at post office
Brooding
Chicken move to pasture
Brooder prep
Pasture grow-out
Chicken pickup for processing
Delivery to processing plant
Building projects
Repair and maintenance
Total minutes/bird
(may not add due to rounding)
Total hours per season
200
BIRDS/WK
*season = 26 weeks
Source: Neufeld, 2002.
Finances. The full title of Joel Salatin’s book is Pastured Poultry Profits: Net $25,000 in Six Months on 20
Acres. Indeed, some growers have been able to make this kind of income on a small scale thanks to reduced input
expenses and efficient management. Feed, labor, and housing costs are responsible for savings on the expense
side. Salatin estimates that producers who rotate broilers and layers daily to fresh pasture (while confined to the
pens) can reduce feed costs by 30 percent (Plamondon, 2003).
See Growing Your Range Poultry Business: An Entrepreneur’s Toolbox for a 1,000-bird pasture pen enterprise
budget and Consumer Preferences for Organic/Free-Range Chicken by Liz Neufeld for sample pasture pen
budgets (see Resources under Budgeting, Enterprise Planning and Recordkeeping).
Summary. The daily move pen model is an alternative that may be most suitable for beginners who want to
make a minimal capital investment or for smaller scale operations that have land available for pasture. This model
requires minimal labor when compared with the “industrial,” “traditional,” and “organic” models. It encourages
birds’ natural foraging activity while allowing producers to take advantage of niche market opportunities for
“pastured” products. In Salatin’s words: “I cannot overemphasize the value of the pen to the smooth running of
the pastured poultry model. It answers the need for small flock grouping, sanitary conditions, fresh forage, proper
manure management, and predator control. It is also far cheaper and simpler to maintain than a stationary house
of equal square footage.”
.35
1.21
.30
.35
3.63
.45
1.38
.23
.35
8.22
715
400
BIRDS/WK
.17
1.21
.23
.22
3.03
.30
.87
.23
.35
8.22
1119
600
BIRDS/WK
.12
1.21
.20
.17
2.83
.25
.69
.15
.23
5.85
1522
Poultry Your Way 81
MANAGEMENT
ALTERNATIVES