New to chickens and looking for advice

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newfarmer205

newfarmer205

Hatching
5 Years
Jan 9, 2015
3
0
7
I have taken over my familys farm and want to convert two horse/goat stalls in the barn to chicken coops. I need requirements for healthy happy birds and i plan on harvesting wild foraged eggs to local chefs as i am a chef by trade. I will be using dropping for compost to feed my large vegetable garden. This farm is in southern Tennessee is this helps about temp and soil. I have looked at tons of coop pics and will begin the conversion mid feb. I plan on fencing in a large run on the outside of barn connected to the two stalls that is 8ft high framed with wood and chicken wire with an open top. Any advice and pics ect will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help you all!

joshp
"Future farmer with big dreams, a strong back, and little experience"
 
newfarmer205 said:
I have taken over my familys farm and want to convert two horse/goat stalls in the barn to chicken coops. I need requirements for healthy happy birds and i plan on harvesting wild foraged eggs to local chefs as i am a chef by trade. I will be using dropping for compost to feed my large vegetable garden. This farm is in southern Tennessee is this helps about temp and soil. I have looked at tons of coop pics and will begin the conversion mid feb. I plan on fencing in a large run on the outside of barn connected to the two stalls that is 8ft high framed with wood and chicken wire with an open top. Any advice and pics ect will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help you all!

joshp
"Future farmer with big dreams, a strong back, and little experience"
Click to expand...

A couple things need to be kept in mind. First, be very careful selling/giving your eggs to local chefs as the FDA has very strict guidelines on what they use. Per their regulations, farm fresh eggs can't be used in a restaurant unless the FDA comes out and approves your farm. I don't know any other details than that as far as FDA regulations.

Congrats on the new farm! Running a farm can be a lot of work but I thoroughly enjoy it. It sounds like your stalls will be nice for them.
 
Understood and thank you. Its the same as raw milk and you basically only sell hand to hand and to chef owned restaurants. But thanks for the heads up.
 
Definitely contact your local farm extension office and google "selling eggs in Tennessee." If memory serve me correctly you'll need to be licensed. Also, look into carrying at insurance (mine is through Nationwide.). Basically if someone gets sick or injured from a product you sell, they can't take your farm. Premiums are pretty cheap.
 
welcome-byc.gif
 
You being a chef yourself know enough about where your foods come from to make decisions about selling your eggs. I had a small food manufacturing business and went through the whole thing. It's a lot safer to have nests where you gather eggs regularly so you always know the source and age of your eggs. If you feel you need to be inspected, have the inspector come out before you start. He'll tell you what you need so you only need to do it once. That's what I did before I built my tiny kitchen and it really helped. How exciting to be getting into your farm! If you have any specific questions, please ask. I'm not an expert but I love my chickens and love to share my experiences.
 
newfarmer205 said:
I have taken over my familys farm and want to convert two horse/goat stalls in the barn to chicken coops. I need requirements for healthy happy birds and i plan on harvesting wild foraged eggs to local chefs as i am a chef by trade. I will be using dropping for compost to feed my large vegetable garden. This farm is in southern Tennessee is this helps about temp and soil. I have looked at tons of coop pics and will begin the conversion mid feb. I plan on fencing in a large run on the outside of barn connected to the two stalls that is 8ft high framed with wood and chicken wire with an open top. Any advice and pics ect will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help you all!

joshp
"Future farmer with big dreams, a strong back, and little experience"
Click to expand...
Bolded statements are contradictory.

Chicken wire will not keep predators out, cover top of run to protect against hawks.
 
I put three rows of electric fence around the bottom of my run. I lost a lot of birds from hawks or owls until I covered the top. I did it an unusual way that I could explain later when you get to that.
 

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