Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Chickens and Poultry Farming Whistle Blowing

With all of the issues associated with poultry in Minnesota, I found this video to be a compelling, humorous and informative addition to my day.  I wanted to give my readers a brief summary of the video by sharing some of the issues covered:

• Poultry housing and unfair contracts
• The way large poultry giants like Tyson basically enslave farmers to raise chickens
• The way our government has ignored the needs of the poultry farmers and sided with the large corporations(sound familiar?)
• Big business and governments control of poultry farmers

Please enjoy the video and leave your comments!  I promise to reply.

Day Range Pastured Poultry - An Alternative to Chicken Tractors

Great article on options for raising pastured poultry in the great outdoors!



Day Range Pastured Poultry - An Alternative to Chicken Tractors





Here is an excerpt from the article by an author and publication  I am very fond of:


Day Range Pastured Poultry – An Alternative to Chicken Tractors

By Kathy Voth / July 7, 2014 / Comments Off on Day Range Pastured Poultry – An Alternative to Chicken Tractors

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Lots of producers use chicken tractors. The concept was popularized by Joel Salatin and the structure size and shape has been modified by many people. I used my own version when raising meat chickens in my backyard. It’s basically an open-floored enclosure that is moved once or twice a day around a pasture. Birds live in the enclosure all the time, and get fresh pasture when the pen is moved.


From “Perfecting the Day-Range Poultry System” bib Jason Fischbach, UW-Extension Agent

But that’s not exactly “free-range” poultry. If you’re looking for more “ranging”, you might consider the Day-Ranged pasture poultry system. This is the system used by Pasture Perfect Poultry, a partnership of four farms near Ashland, Wisconsin that has been producing and selling free-range chickens and turkeys together since 2008. For a Day Range system, you’ll need a mobile pen, and an electric fenced area. Birds are free to roam all day long inside the fenced area (thus the name “Day-Range”) and at night they are put into the mobile pen if predators are a problem. The mobile pen is moved daily to spread manure more evenly, and the fence is moved as necessary to add fresh past

- See more at: http://onpasture.com/2014/07/07/day-range-pastured-poultry-an-alternative-to-chicken-tractors/#sthash.0IDph3Lw.dpuf

Pastured Poultry Immune Systems: Minnesota Avian Flu Epidemic

This sign is common in many areas of Minnesota. Driving back from Perham to Brainerd last weekend,  we saw this sign on every chicken and turkey house along Highway 10.  Read the following article on the benefits of pastured poultry and the importance of strong immune systems in poultry operations.

Brunnquell’s company has 1.2 million chickens that live either in an enclosed outdoor area or a pasture, but he has moved them indoors until the virus is no longer a threat. Brunnquell theorized that free-range, pasture and backyard chickens are surviving the virus threat because they have stronger immune systems than chickens that live inside buildings in cages.

McGraw said the virus is being spread by rodents, waterfowl flying over the commercial facilities and by people, machinery or tools who come in contact with it and then unknowingly track it to a commercial facility.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/business/as-bird-flu-costs-mount-for-egg-industry-questions-arise/article_16af6e17-45cf-5a17-bf67-a003056b3e58.html#ixzz3aQxmOEYm

Sauna, concrete block and oak log raised beds, and moveable chicken coop

This is a picture of our raised beds and sauna.   The chicken coop is also in the background. I am in the process of cleaning this area up, and getting things planted for our summer garden.
Here is the coop made from a homemade pickup truck kayak rack, some tin for the roof, and a little wood crate with a plastic tote cover nailed on for the mini roof.

It is for these three, when they get older: