Yesterday, I posted a picture of a project Tim and Steve are working on this summer. Thanks to Cassy and Bree for guessing correctly on yesterday’s post
So what is it you may ask? It will be our new “Chicken Hotel.” The laying hens have over stayed their welcome in the yard and are being put out to pasture. It is very understandable that Lisa is growing tired of them messing up her mulch and pooping on the deck.
Decades before Joel Salatin became famous in movies such as Food Inc and Fresh, he was better know by his book Pasture Poultry Profits. Back in the 1990’s Jon and Lisa had read his books and attended a lecture he gave on the subject. The farm started raising chickens on pasture using Salatin’s methods. Our broiler production has grown from a few hundred to between 700 and 900 annually.
Now we are employing another one of Salatin’s methods: the egg mobile, or as we call it, the Chicken Hotel. We are converting an old hay rack into a portable living and roosting quarters for the laying hens. During the day, the hens will be let out into one of our pastures to free range, eat bugs and fertilize the soil. At night, they will be protected in the “Chicken Hotel” from predators. This hotel will be a complete mobile unit complete with nesting boxes, roosts, feeders and waters.
Salatin’s Egg Mobiles
The hotel will not be done soon enough. The hens have really made themselves at home in the yard. We are thinking that their first pasture visit will have to be far away from the house…so that they don’t return.
We are nearing the finishing time for our first batch of meat chickens. If you are interested in purchasing chickens pre-cut please contact Lisa ASAP.
Emily
Zweber Farms is a 4th generation family operated organic dairy. We are proud Organic Valley farmer members and sell our milk under that label. We also specialize in sustainably raised beef, pork and chicken and sell it directly to customers in Minnesota.Visit our website to learn more, www.zweberfarms.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitterand YouTube.
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