Innovative Ideas Help Produce Low-Cost "Range Chickens"

Innovative Ideas Help Produce Low-Cost "Range Chickens" 30-2-7 Some people call it "pastured poultry" but Jamie and Chad Henneman like the term "range chicken" to describe their grass-raised birds. They've come up with some other new ideas, too, that have helped lower their costs. For laying hens, they converted an old two-horse trailer into a mobile henhouse. The unit provides shade and nest boxes in the daytime, and a place to roost at night. The Hennemans bought the used trailer for $300. "We removed the stall partition inside the trailer and cut a hole at the bottom of the board between the stalls and tack area to allow the birds to access all the floor space. This created a comfortable place for our hens to roam in and out throughout the day," Jamie says. "We also added a piece of linoleum flooring, which makes clean-up a lot simpler because it's so easy to scrape. We put some grass hay litter on it to absorb waste." The chickens roost at night on an old wood ladder that stands against the trailer wall. During the day they remove the ladder and slip in a couple homemade nesting boxes. The Hennemans use a long outdoor extension cord to run electricity to the trailer, enabling them to set up a light bulb inside. It encourages the birds to go inside where they are safer from predators in the dark. "The light is also crucial to making sure the birds keep laying, even as the daylight hours wane. A chicken determines when to lay, based on how much light hits a certain part of their eye. Therefore, as winter approaches, their egg production will drop if there isn't a constant source of light," Jamie explains. The trailer is easy to move once the grass becomes matted and short. "Next summer, we're building an even bigger mobile shelter for them called an æegg-mobile.' It's basically a chicken house built onto a haywagon, and it's an idea we got from a popular pastured poultry book author, Joel Salatin," Jamie explains. Since the Hennemans have 42 acres of pasture available, they also produce a large quantity of range chickens for the broiler market. Jamie says they've tried various breeds, but like the Cornish Cross best. It takes them about 10 weeks of grazing to harvest a 5-lb. bird. "We put them out into our special æchicken condos,' when they're four weeks old. Each unit holds about 40 chickens," Jamie explains. "The 8 by 10-ft. condos are bottomless, mobile houses with angle iron frames covered with expanded metal meshing. Each chicken condo features a waterer and a feeder at each end for easy chicken access." Since the birds are inside all the time, there's a door in the roof to access them. An unusual feature is that the structures are wired for a heat lamp in case of bad weather while the birds are in the critical early stages of their pasture stay. Jamie says they usually tarp the whole thing and plug the light in at night, for the first two weeks or so. Each condo has a set of attachable wheels that lifts the house about 1 1/2-in. off the ground, so it can be rolled by hand to a fresh piece of pasture. They're moved once or twice per day, according to Jamie. The couple sells their range chickens from June until September. While many are pre-ordered, and they also sell at various Farmer's Market locations. Last year they sold 1,600 birds (pastured in four batches of 400). This year, their goal is to produce 2,000. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lazy Lightning H Ranch Chickens, Jamie and Chad Henneman, 1931 Bluecreek Rd. W., Addy, Wash. 99101 (ph 509 738-6127; hockleyjamie@hotmail.com; www.lazylightninghranch.com).

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