Pastured Poultry Producers Share Ideas On Getting Feed To The Field

Pastured Poultry Producers Share Ideas On Getting Feed To The Field LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment If you have a question about raising pastured poultry the American Pastured Poultry Producers Association APPPA is the place to go The non-profit group encourages the production processing marketing and purchasing of poultry raised on pasture Members can list their farms on the Get Real Chicken directory and view virtual educational programs live However a key benefit is being able to take part in the online members-only discussion group This is where a member can post a question and get responses from other members people who pasture birds themselves A good example was a recent question about the best way to deliver feed from super sacks to range feeders in the pasture The question was posed by a member who wanted to dump the super sack feed into a feed cart with 7-ft tall sides A response came quickly from member Dave He suggested taking advantage of a steep terrain change and grading it out to make a lower area to set the feed cart If farming on flat ground building a loading dock and ramp was suggested especially if it could be used for other purposes He also shared that a friend installed a doubled-up plywood deck on a pallet with a hole for the super sack spout drilled through it This made it possible to lift the sack with pallet forks rather than by the sack’s lifting straps Member Brandon noted that his best investment this season was for a bottom bulk container from Bulk Containers Express www bulkcontainerexpress com He said it was easy to auger into and safer and easier to work with than super sacks Jeff suggested a DIY solution using used IBC totes He cuts off the tops adds a small sliding door in the bottom and stores his bulk feed in them He can easily move them to the field with pallet forks as needed to fill feeders Keith advised considering a Grain-O-Vator www grainovator com such as he purchased and uses which avoids super sacks altogether Even non-members can benefit from APPPA The organization has posted more than 20 videos to YouTube These are available to anyone and cover a wide variety of poultry pasturing topics Contact: FARM SHOW Followup American Pastured Poultry Producers Association P O Box 85 Hughesville Penn 17737 ph 888-662-7772; grit@appa org; www apppa org

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