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SARE2006 Study

 

Sustainable Livestock Farming:
A farmers approach to understanding multi-species livestock farming.

Rumbleway Farm made a movie about the farm for a SARE grant (Sustainable Research and Education) about sustainable farming. Below is the text that accompanied the grant application and refers to the processes at Rumbleway Farm.

Poultry

Chickens

Most poultry can be ordered and shipped to you via the US Postal Service from surrounding hatcheries. We order a white Cornish–cross. This is the industries' standard broiler chicken.

For brooding the chicks, set up an area that is dry and has a electric or propane hookup for heat, and access to fresh water. Chicks have enough stored energy to survive up to 3 days without food. Place clean wood shaving on the floor or surface to house the chicks and every so often add fresh shavings to keep it dry. Have small waterers available with warm water (first day only), 90 degree heat (electric or propane), and plenty of feed. Use a non-medicated broiler feed (19%) and add fish meal (3 scoops of feed to one scoop fish meal) to bring the percent protein up to 24% for the first 3-4 weeks. The chickens will stay in the house for 2-4 weeks, and turkeys for 6-8 weeks depending on the temperature outside and the size of the birds. You do not want to put birds out before they are feathered.

In early April the chicks are put in a 10x12 foot shelter, 18 inches high to start since it is warmer for them. We place no more than 70 birds per shelter, and they are moved everyday to fresh grass. Be aware that it takes several days for the chicks to get used to walking with this style shelter. It took about 8 hrs to build each one of these Salatin style pastured shelters. There are other moveable systems available, but this is one of the original designs.

Laying Hens

Laying hens are also ordered from a hatchery and the same rules are followed to raise them. Layers start producing eggs around 6 months of age. The food provided at this time must be higher in calcium to have good shell strength. You need to provide a nesting area for the hens to lay and collect eggs daily. The birds are raised free range from April until November and then they are allowed to roam in the barn with access to the outside. Each spring new birds are ordered to replace the older 2-3 year-old hens. These older birds are processed and sold to customers for stewing and soup stock.

Turkeys

We raise several varieties of heritage turkeys like the Black Spanish, Bourbon Red, Blue Slate, and Naraganset. We collect eggs from breeding heritage birds from March until May. Eggs can be held but not washed for 3-5 days at room temperature until placement in the hatchery. Dirty eggs are discarded. The date is placed on the top of each egg in pencil. All eggs are placed point side down in egg trays.

We use a commercial hatchery and rotate the eggs every day for 25 days then move them to the brooder for the last 3 days. You must maintain temperatures at 99.5 degrees C (temperatures over 102 degrees can kill eggs) and humidity at 60-70%. We add eggs every three to four days, candle eggs at 10 days, and discard those that are not full. We remove poults from the brooder once they are dry and place them on an upright mesh pen.

You need to provide plenty of fresh feed, water and a heat lamp with a red bulb to give a temperature of 95-100 degrees. The birds are next moved to an above ground step down pen for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks they are placed on wood shavings for bedding at floor level with access to fresh water, food and heat. At 8-12 weeks the birds are moved outside to pasture. We clip one wing to keep the turkeys off balance so they do not fly out of the fencing.

Be sure to provide plenty of fresh water, feed, grower grit and whole wheat. We use an electrified poultry netting to surround the shelter/house or houses. This type of netting can be purchased from Premier or Kencove Fencing. A homeopathic approach is used for algae control by adding cider vinegar to the water which also provides extra health benefits for the birds (1 ounce per gallon). Approximately 75-100 birds are kept in each shelter in the pasture with 2 poultry fences.

The housing and the birds are moved every week or so as needed. Heritage turkeys are raised from 5-7 months, the longer the better, while white turkeys are started in July and August and raised for 16-20 weeks. . The turkeys are processed fresh for Thanksgiving. They are sold whole with giblets inside. Processing for turkeys takes longer than chickens because the giblets need to be cleaned and trimmed.

Ducks

Presently the farm raises two types of ducks Muscovys and Pekins. The Muscovy ducks usually free roam the farm and hatch out their young after 30 days on their own. Ducks are usually very good mothers. You need to provide access to fresh feed and water to drink and swim in. A farm pond is ideal. We use the same 19% feed for the ducks that we feed our chickens. Muscovy ducks take 5-6 months to reach maturity, while Pekins ducks can be raised in 8 weeks.

Ducks are harder to process than chickens because of their pin feathers. It is easier to process these birds spring and summer, before thick down feathers have grown. We add some soap in the scalder to help with the natural oils of the birds and allow them to cycle through 2-3 times. This procedure helps the heat to penetrate through the down feathers.

We are currently in the process of switching over to only Pekins. We can raise these ducks free range because they do not fly, and we will be able to finish with ducks before winter. Over wintering ducks presents many problems with the availability of non-frozen water to drink and swim in.

Rabbits

Rabbits are housed in the barn in suspended cages above the laying hens. We usually have 6-10 does (females) and 2 bucks (males). The typical meat rabbits are New Zealand and California breeds. To breed rabbits you always take the doe to the buck’s cage and leave them together for a short period of time (up to an hour). Rabbits give birth after 32 days and you need to provide a nesting box with straw for them at the time of birth. Rabbits will begin to pull hair from their abdomens to build a nest close to the time of delivery.

Once the kits (baby rabbits) are born you should check them daily. Make sure you provide plenty of fresh water and a teaspoon of whole corn daily for the doe to help with milk production. The kits drink milk from their mothers for 21 days. After 10 days the rabbits will have fur and their eyes will be open. When the kits are 5-6 weeks old we move them to a free range pasture area until they reach a 5-6 pound processing size.

For the free-range area we use a Salatin style shelter that is stationary and is surrounded by electrified netting. A solar charger is used to provide current. You need to maintain a weed free area around this netting.

We sell rabbits whole, packaged in clear plastic bags, whole rabbits are double bagged to avoid freezer burn to the meat.

Goats

Goats were originally brought to the farm to control the growth of weeds in the hedgerows. We started off with Boer goats. Boer and Kikos are both African meat goats. We currently raise both Boers and Kikos. We fenced in our hedgerows with 4 strand electric fence, and use a portable house to move the goats from area to area (Fencing supplies are from Premier Fencing). The house gives the goats security and it stays with them no matter what new place they go to. Goats need to have a dry place to get out of the weather and access to fresh water daily.

Goats should never be fed concentrates on the ground as it encourages the spread of parasites such as worms. We also move our goats every 1-2 weeks to help break the parasite loop. We worm our goats once a year, and trim hooves as necessary. We feed in bunkers or in feed troughs. Our goats get water and a bucket of sweet feed daily in addition to the weeds and trees available in the hedgerows. Goats need the added selenium in their diet that is found in weeds and small leaves and saplings.

Goats can give birth at 6 months of age. The Billy should run with the nannies for about 45 days. Before the babies are born the Billy should be removed. Goats tend to have twins and triplets. Goats are typically sold per pound by live weight. Many customers like goats to weigh from 50-60 pounds or around 5-6 months of age.

Beef Cattle

The last large scale farming operation was a dairy farm operated in the 1960’s. The fields had been rented out to a local farmer who produced grain crops. In 1992 we placed 27 acres of land into hay production. We planted hay because of the rolling hills and rocky-ground. We also wanted to control soil runoff and to increase the organic matter. The overgrown pastures were fenced and we also rented a neighbor’s adjacent fields to graze our beginning cow-calf operation.

We started off with Black Angus cattle and a few Herefords. We mainly raised White faced Angus. This is a cross of a Hereford Bull and Angus cow. We found these worked well for us. We eventually lost the extra pasture and had to bring all of our cows here to the farm. We wanted to continue to offer grass fed beef and moved to rotational grazing as a way to utilize our current pastures and sustain our small herd. The cattle are moved to fresh ground every 7 days. They are maintained with a single strand of electric wire. We have portable watering systems in each field. During the winter months the herd is supplemented with hay and remains in our wooded feeding area to alleviate damage to our hay fields.

The cattle are sent to the butcher at between 20-30 months of age depending on size. Beef is processed, and individual cuts are packaged and brought to the farm for resale. In Maryland, for you to be able to resale beef it must be processed under USDA inspection. Always check with your state and local authorities to determine what the regulations are in your state. You can use a non-USDA or custom butcher to sell beef on the hoof which is in quarters, halves or in whole to the customer. This is because you are selling the live animal and not by the piece.

Crops and Composting

When composting your goals include a Carbon to Nitrogen ratio in the neighborhood of 30:1 and a moisture content of 50%. These conditions will produce the temperatures needed to complete the composting process. Our typical recipe for compost is to start with dry woodchips provided by a local tree trimmer. We clean out the manure in winter feeding area and add other types of manures to a layer of woodchips, then cover with compost from a previous batch, this provides a chimney effect for improved air flow. You need to check the temperature with a thermometer (you want it above 140 degrees) and turn and water the manure pile as needed.

So while you are managing a number of different materials, it seems like you’ve found the process to be somewhat forgiving. You can always alter or improve the compost with moisture and air to get the composition right. Compost is an important soil amendment to your organically certified fields. What other materials do you use to maintain soil fertility? The calcium and magnesium ratio are important for soil fertility, you can add these materials to the compost which makes it easy to spread manure on your fields at a later time.

Looking at your pastures, the new fence serves both as a paddock boundary for the cattle and an electrical source for your movable poultry pens. In addition to the trough at the feeding area, you have 4 hydrants in various areas. The hydrants allow us to move the water troughs from area to area via hoses and still be able to rotationally graze our cattle with no fixed water source.

Marketing and Advertising

You want every customer that comes to your farm to leave with some literature about your farm that focuses on the yearly events and the products that you produce. Several years ago we determined a need to have all of our labels, brochures, t-shirts and logos follow the same outline. This process is called branding your logo. The customer should be able to recognize your products by the label or logo. Individual labels are made for all of our products from beef to chickens.

Vacuum sealing products also helps customers see the products they are buying. It is very important to have your products reflect the good quality that lies inside the packaging. When labeling meat products be careful to follow your state guidelines. (www.USDA.gov) Take advantage of business cards when you are at an event or away from the farm.

Dinner at the Farm started as a way to bring people out to the farm during the winter and to utilize our processing area year round. Dinner is served on weekends and by reservation only. Private parties and luncheons are also featured. Starting up a new venture can be expensive. Go to outlet stores and look for inexpensive dinnerware, this is one way to keep your initial costs under control. It took a little while to estimate serving amounts, so keep track of everything served.

A website is a critical part of a sound business marketing plan. This allows potential customers to find you on the web and see a virtual tour of your farm before they visit. Try to update it regularly.