"Free Range" System Helps Net $5 Per Chicken

"Free Range" System Helps Net $5 Per Chicken LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous 24-2-13 If you're looking for sideline income, Ohio farmer Herman Beck-Chenoweth says you can net as much as $5 per chicken by setting up a free-range poultry system and then selling to local residents and restaurants. Beck-Chenoweth has produced a video touting the system. The video was funded in part by a grant from the USDA. It shows in detail how to set up a free range system as well as how to handle on-farm commercial slaughter and how to market. Free-range is different than the pasture method with rolling poultry pens that has received a lot of coverage in the last few years. In free-range, chickens are free to wander in a field but come to an open shelter for protection and feed. Beck-Chenoweth favors a new-style skid house which can be towed from place to place. It'll handle up to 400 chickens. If you live in an area where people are willing to pay more for what they view as "healthier" eggs and poultry, you can use the free-range method as your marketing tool. The broadcast-quality video is available for $27.50 postpaid. A companion production manual is also available for $44. You can buy both together for $55. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Herman Beck-Chenoweth, Back Forty Books, 26328 Locust Grove Rd., Creola, Ohio 45622 (ph 740 596-4379).

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