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.

 

[mattman]

I have no idea what a chicken tractor is, around here are chickens are grown in chicken houses. Most all the folks around here use the litter out of the chicken houses to fertilize their fields. Sometimes when the litter is first applied it burns the grass, give it a couple of weeks and here comes the grass.

 

[deereguy]

A chicken tractor is an enclosed outdoor wire pen (maybe 10'x10'x 3' tall or bigger/smaller) with X amount of chickens in it (maybe 10 for a smaller cage) and the cages are placed on grass and the chickens scratch at the dirt, eat bugs, grass, etc and fertilize those penned areas. The pens are moved daily/weekly by hand or machine (again by size). This is an organic practice that keeps the chickens cleaner and less labor intensive with the exception on carrying water and moving pens. I have only seen a few "tractors" in action locally and heard about them at seminars- this should give an idea of what the discussion is about. I'm sure someone here with more detail can eliberate. Hope this helps!!

 

[Lawnman TX]

Unless they are giving the chickens any supplemental feed in their diet, they will not be adding any nutrients to the field, only depleating them just as if you were haying without fertilizing, or running any other livestock.

Sure they are producing manure, but what they produce is being taken from the grass, and only part of the nutrients being returned, the rest of the nutrients are going into the growth of the chicken.

If they are being fed well then you will gain nutrients, and may come out ahead.

 

[mattman]

Is the chicken tractor thing cost effective? We grow thousands of chickens in one chicken house year round. I agree on the may not be putting alot of nutrients back into the soil. Have you seen the fields after the chickens have been moved?

 

[EquipmentJunkie]

Sounds like Joel Salatin is correct about the chicken tractors from his book, Pastured Poultry Profits. I always thought that it sounded like a good idea...especially after eating free-range chicken and eggs.

 

[Charlie175]

Free Range Chickens are becoming a big item for sure.

Chicken litter is strong stuff! Makes the weeds grow also.

Litter used to be a cheap byproduct but now is in demand for fertilizer due to cost.

 

[Niji]

The chickens and chicken tenders (the folks that tend the chickens, not the fast food restaurant variety) are lining up to start this chicken tractor venture. I've been tinkering with the haybine getting it tuned up, and with the weather looking good for the next week, I may go over and clip a couple of acres where the pens are going first and get that baled up. Apparently the pens won't seat to the earth well if the hay is too tall, and they typically bush hog in front of them. So heck with that--I'm trying to make every bale I can. They say a variety of predators is the biggest trouble they have.

I asked the county extension agent to be involved with this endeavor, and he's pretty excited about it. I've got soil samples from the end of the season last year to compare to and get an accurate before/after picture. He is suggesting I cut earlier than typical for the area anyway and try to push for an additional cutting in the year if the moisture is available.

I just acquired additional hay fields, so to get it all done before the hay is too mature, I may prefer to start a little early anyway, if the weather provides.

It seems the chicken people do provide feed to the birds, to answer the nutrient question a few posts back.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that one of the main reasons I'm so willing to try this deal is because I cut a five acre mixed hay field last year that the chicken tractors had been on the year before, and it was unbelievable. That hay was the most robust, tallest, greenest hay in the county. It had about the normal average weed population that my other fields have, but of course the weeds were super weeds in the same percentage that the grasses were super grasses.

I'll try to get some photos if I can figure out how to upload them here. They are going to start with 600 chickens in a couple of weeks, and the number increases as the season gets underway. They cycle mature birds out for butchering and bring in replacements continually during the season.

Should be interesting. Will keep you posted.

 

[Niji]

The chickens are in the field. I've taken a few photos, and hope I've managed to get one posted to this e-mail so y'all can get the visual on this. Over the next week or two the chicken guys say they will be adding pens to the line as they march along.

We've had really decent rain this spring, and the hay is looking good.

I'm off to get a replacement shaft for a DaRoss tedder I picked up.

 

[Niji]

Here's the latest photo--I took it this morning. So far, all is going smoothly. They have 10 pens in the field, are butchering the first 60 chickens out of this arrangement today, and are steadily covering ground. I hope to see a dark green streak behind these pens at some point!

I've cut a few rounds of hay to the side of the operation, as you can see.

 

[barrybro]

I just put my first 10 into my pasture. This is my first attempt. My pasture pen is designed to hold 50 which will be the next batch.

Thanks for the posts.

Barry