It’s chicken season!

As I write this, it’s mid-October and unlike most farmers who are wrapping up their harvest for the year, I am at my busiest with my pastured meat bird enterprise.

I started this venture 3 years ago and I always end up starting late summer or early fall. Despite my chronic procrastination, this is actually a beautiful time of year to raise chickens outdoors. We’re past the threat of severe weather and heat spells, and not quite into frosty mornings or looming snowfall. It works out well for me and I think the health of the chickens, too.

I got this idea in 2021 when the post-Covid homesteading craze was a big deal. I, like many other aspiring small farmers, was looking to try a new hobby and learn some skills in self-sufficiency. I was especially inspired by reading a couple of Joel Salatin’s books- Pastured Poultry Profits and You Can Farm. I set out to challenge myself and that I did.

I learned some lessons the hard way, and I also had some great success. I’ve been wanting to scale up this business because I genuinely enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve cussed out a few chickens, but I can’t deny the joy and satisfaction that comes from watching these animals grow.

Right out of the egg, they are ready to eat. It’s amazing how the selective breeding of these birds has created a monst- I mean an innate desire to eat, eat, eat! After a week, they double in size and start growing little feathers. The pace at which they change is shocking, but it makes me feel like I’m doing something right. After about 3 or 4 weeks in the brooder, they’re ready to go outside.

Outside to these chicks is limited at first. In pastured poultry fashion, I built a mobile chicken coop a.k.a. a chicken tractor. I move the tractor once or twice a day so the chicks have fresh and clean grass to explore. I continue this ritual until they are finished. At about 6 weeks, they are big enough to free range. I wait to allow this until they are too big for a chicken hawk to grab and have been in the tractor long enough to know where home is. The trouble is around 8 weeks, they learn where I keep the feed. This is when they turn into free-loaders and loaf around all day waiting to be fed again. I’ve tried just feeding them more, but trust me, its never enough…

I don’t plan on keeping them long after first frost. When the grass and bugs die off for the year, there isn’t much nutrition available free-range anymore. I think this is why they turn into free-loading lumps and why my feed bills soar as it gets colder.

When I first started, I took everything I researched and read very seriously because I just wanted to do a good job. From keeping the brooder hot to transitioning feed, I learned that I was worried too much about the number on the thermometer and the directions on the feed bag rather than observing my flock’s behavior. One early winter made me realize these birds are much more hardy than we give them credit for. I think that is an under-appreciated element of raising chickens outdoors. They adapt quite easily and don’t need much. They live how they’re made to, with dignity and freedom. While there is genuine concern for welfare and safety of outdoor birds, they’re usually happy enough to be outside stretching their legs and pecking around. My first group got hauled inside during a snow storm and lived a comfortable winter under a heat lamp, so I’m definitely not afraid to spoil them if I need to. I think the important thing is that they have the opportunity to be animals, not just food.

I would love to continue scaling up this business and making a nice side income among other things. I’m excited about clearing more pasture space for my chickens, and improving the quality of their diet. I enjoy watching them free range, but I do have concerns about predators on my farm and keeping different age groups separate. I might experiment with different breeds of meat birds next year, but it is hard to beat the performance of the Cornish cross. There is always room to improve and new things to learn. I get a little exhausted towards the end of chicken season, but it never takes away from the next year’s excitement to start all over again.

If you live in Iowa and would like to purchase fresh or frozen pasture-raised chicken from me, please reach out and I will put you on my list!

Thanks for reading.