chicken tractors and hay making

[Niji]

I've worked out an arrangement I hope is a local win/win, and I wonder if anyone on the forum has experience with something like this to advise, particularly as regards how best to stagger cuttings.

Last year two things happened to trigger this deal: fertilizer costs would be pushing ten thousand dollars on my 50 acres of hay fields, and I cut a neighbor's 5 acre hay field on which his "chicken tractors" had been the year previous. That 5 acres was the tallest, darkest, best hay in the county. I made nearly double on it what I did on my fields which had liquid cow manure the year before. Chicken tractors are mobile pens, about 15 x 15, that hold their meat birds and get dragged around so the birds essentially range the field but in controlled increments. They had barrels atop which gravity feed automatic waterers.

These guys were looking for new fields to rent, since their business is growing, and the chicken manure is so strong they can't run in the same fields each year. So, I'm letting the operation come onto about 37 acres of hay fields as a swap: land for them, fertilizer for me, no money paid out of either small business. I'm very impressed that the chickens also do more than fertilize, as they scratch around, eat pests, are organic, and provide more services than a simple application of fertilizer. The down side is that they have to be in the field during the hay season. By my figuring, if they ran 30 of these pens, they could cover 35 acres in the season--April thru November. It sounds like they sometimes need to have the hay mown ahead of the pens to get them dragged along, as grass that is too tall doesn't allow for the things to move along or seal to the ground properly.

So I foresee a hopscotch inefficiency for this hay maker, although I anticipate for a savings of many thousands of dollars, I can pay myself to be patient for a season! I also expect the soil samples to indicate I can enjoy the following season without needing to fertilize at all, which will be sweet.

If anyone has any experience with this kind of thing, please let me know. Especially advise regarding how to best organize cutting ahead of and behind the chickens, or sectioning things off to the best accomodate the hay making.

 

[deereguy]

WOW! That does seem to be a win/win situation. I don't have experience with that idea- I have seen it, went to a conference about it- but no true experience with it concerning hay. We did it here in the yard a few years ago and seemed like it worked. It seems like the grass will be taller in the spring than what they will keep up with so mowing close to the chickens seems inevitable. Are you thinking of lining them up in a line and moving them the same distance each day or week? Then I see mowing hay isn't that difficult. I would think by moving the chicken tractors in after your first cutting and splitting the fields for 2 years may increase profitablilty in your hay operation.
Do you fertilize your hay annually? I know Va is higher standard of living- we got a quote of $66/acre (100#N/acre) for fertilizer for our hay to your $200/acre.

Sounds like a great plan all the way around....Good Luck!!

 

[jimg]

Ive heard of this sort of setup and it works best on land not being actively farmed or at the end of a growing cycle. As you noted theres going to be some scheduling headaches along the way. That said it could still work out well if youre willing to take hay a bit at a time. I think your idea of paying yourself to be patient is the right approach. Hope you report back after this year and let us know how it all played out.

 

[Niji]

It sounds like the way they have been working it is to put the pens side-by-side stretching across the field like a row of combines when harvesting, then starting at one edge of the field move them the length of the field, then move over and come back down. Eventually these swaths will cover the whole field. They move them at least once a day. I suppose it depends on the size of the chickens as to how often they get moved? I also understand it takes 9 weeks to go from chicks to butchering size. Hmmm...maybe I should angle for some chicken out of the deal, I hadn't thought of that.

The only other concern for one of my fields, is that it is on a river. There is a legal buffer zone for certain livestock on this river, so I may have to hold the chicken operation back a significant ways from the riverbank. I still have to get the real scoop on that though.

 

[jimg]

Right, thats how Ive seen it work as well. All the pens march down the field together and then make their way back (if space and time allow). Movement depends on how many chicks/pen, supplemental feed provided and field condition. I think if you leave them in one spot too long the field can get the worn out look.

Asking for some of the chicks might be a good plan.

 

[farmerjim]

i think the best bet w/ the chicken tractors rotation is have them in there about 2 months b4 1st cut and maybe inbetween 1 st and 2nd cut, but just after 1st cut that way you give the field some time to "digest" the N , that way you won't have raw manure on your bales. also it will allow time for the field to "recover" from the chickens. we have about 10 hens in a 20x20 run and they tear the ground to pieces scratching and foraging. i re plant each spring w/ winter rye and keep them out until it grows to about 2ft then let them in and they have it bare within a few weeks. i would hope that w/ the tractors they move them on a regular sched. as your hay field may suffer.

 

[Niji]

Good point on the timing schedule from the hay making perspective. The chicken guys won't be able to adjust their selling schedule, or be able to easily move their whole operation somewhere else to help streamline my hay making though. So I'm going to have to let them run their business continually and work around it for the exchange. I understand their requirements in this matter. That said, I certainly don;t want fresh chicken anything in the hay bales. I'm not exactly sure how this will work out.

I expect the pens to move rapidly enough not to seriously damage the hay--a point I can insist upon in fairness. I am a little concerned how much time might be needed to allow the area behind the pens to recover, both from fresh manure and for re-growth. I'll be taking some photos and keeping notes, so I can post the general overview here and report back as to how much of a fiasco or well-oiled-machine this turns out to be.

I'm hearing rumors that fertilizer is going to be back down this year, so the cost savings is in flux from last year's prices. Still, I'm very curious as to the overall benefits these birds might provide this season and next to the hayfields.

 

[Harold_J]

Good point on the timing schedule from the hay making perspective. The chicken guys won't be able to adjust their selling schedule, or be able to easily move their whole operation somewhere else to help streamline my hay making though. So I'm going to have to let them run their business continually and work around it for the exchange. I understand their requirements in this matter. That said, I certainly don;t want fresh chicken anything in the hay bales. I'm not exactly sure how this will work out.

I expect the pens to move rapidly enough not to seriously damage the hay--a point I can insist upon in fairness. I am a little concerned how much time might be needed to allow the area behind the pens to recover, both from fresh manure and for re-growth. I'll be taking some photos and keeping notes, so I can post the general overview here and report back as to how much of a fiasco or well-oiled-machine this turns out to be.

I'm hearing rumors that fertilizer is going to be back down this year, so the cost savings is in flux from last year's prices. Still, I'm very curious as to the overall benefits these birds might provide this season and next to the hayfields.

Currently fertilizer prices are about the same as this time last year, which is much lower than the high prices hit in summer 2008.

However, demand is now expected to rise considerably. Supposedly there was a big reduction in fall applications in the midwest due to rainy weather. Now farmers will try to make up some of that application this spring. So who knows? My guess is we've kind of seen the bottom, especially in the east.

 

[toddol1971]

Well if you live next door just go over there & see what there ground looks like where the chickens were.

 

[VALENT]

First and foremost, I think you are doing really good to take on the extra hassle because I do feel it should pay off well in the next few years for your fields. I would guess you will still be able to harvest probably half of your hay this year and more than make up for it next year. As long as they move the pens in a line, you should have lots of field to hay before they move early in the season and lots of field to hay after the chickens have been there plus a few weeks (depending on rain, etc). Talking to the guys with the chickens is going to do the most as far as clearing up any misconceptions.