Large scale (1000 ++) pasture questions

[CountryGirlCityChicks]

Hello fellow chicken crazies!
Ive been raising city chickens for egg and meat for several years. Growing up on a farm, all I have wanted to do is get myself back to a farm life.

My husband has finally caught farm fever (thank god) and we are looking now into getting a usda loan for a property somewhere.
Our dream is to raise pastured broilers with soy and corn free feed and egg from my hens and ducks. We wish to start out small and after a few years doing somewhere between 5-10k broilers a year.
Is anyone else a larger scale broiler production like this? Can you give any tips and information that can help educate us in our endeavors?

 

[Molpet]

Hello fellow chicken crazies!
Ive been raising city chickens for egg and meat for several years. Growing up on a farm, all I have wanted to do is get myself back to a farm life.

My husband has finally caught farm fever (thank god) and we are looking now into getting a usda loan for a property somewhere.
Our dream is to raise pastured broilers with soy and corn free feed and egg from my hens and ducks. We wish to start out small and after a few years doing somewhere between 5-10k broilers a year.
Is anyone else a larger scale broiler production like this? Can you give any tips and information that can help educate us in our endeavors?

Do you have a feed supplier?

Friend raised a dz broilers on soy free. They were slow to get to weight, had to go a few extra weeks.

He had troubles finding soy free feed, Somewhat local farmer had a mill and was willing to make soy free feed.

 

[CountryGirlCityChicks]

Do you have a feed supplier?

Friend raised a dz broilers on soy free. They were slow to get to weight, had to go a few extra weeks.

He had troubles finding soy free feed, Somewhat local farmer had a mill and was willing to make soy free feed.

We have not found where we want to settle down and farm at yet to be able to locate a supplier or mill, but I currently make my own soy and corn free grain mix for my small batch broilers and layers that I ferment. I dont think it would be too difficult to order bulk supplies and mix my own batches or have a batch made at a mill

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I don't. Biggest I've become is 85 birds or so, eggs, not broilers. There are commercial scale family chicken operations all around me - and they are all abandoned. Margins too tight, families got crushed.

(N FL Panhandle/S Alabama area). Its no better in SW Georgia, though I've not driven around there much.

Land by us is cheap, climate is good - you don't say where you are at. We have a decent mill (actually two of them) in the area.

Tucker Milling is one of them, they make some non-GMO Soy and Corn free feeds. I was disappointed in their 18% Protein soy-free offering. Like Molpet's experience, birds were slow to grow, never bulked up.

 

[CountryGirlCityChicks]

I don't. Biggest I've become is 85 birds or so, eggs, not broilers. There are commercial scale family chicken operations all around me - and they are all abandoned. Margins too tight, families got crushed.

(N FL Panhandle/S Alabama area). Its no better in SW Georgia, though I've not driven around there much.

Land by us is cheap, climate is good - you don't say where you are at. We have a decent mill (actually two of them) in the area.

Tucker Milling is one of them, they make some non-GMO Soy and Corn free feeds. I was disappointed in their 18% Protein soy-free offering. Like Molpet's experience, birds were slow to grow, never bulked up.

We currently live in ohio, but looking to move between georgia and arkansas and Kentucky areas.
My current broilers are coming out 6+lbs at 11 weeks. 5+ at 9weeks and 4+ at 8 exactly.

 

[CountryGirlCityChicks]

I don't. Biggest I've become is 85 birds or so, eggs, not broilers. There are commercial scale family chicken operations all around me - and they are all abandoned. Margins too tight, families got crushed.

(N FL Panhandle/S Alabama area). Its no better in SW Georgia, though I've not driven around there much.

Land by us is cheap, climate is good - you don't say where you are at. We have a decent mill (actually two of them) in the area.

Tucker Milling is one of them, they make some non-GMO Soy and Corn free feeds. I was disappointed in their 18% Protein soy-free offering. Like Molpet's experience, birds were slow to grow, never bulked up.

And it is difficult, we know there are a lot of places for sale down south, but finding them has been a problem since most are for sale by owner and not posted online anywhere. lol

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Well, keep FL in mind - there's still some cheap land out here, and there's no State income tax.

 

[Molpet]

Well, keep FL in mind - there's still some cheap land out here, and there's no State income tax.

So long as you don't mind the humidity

 

[CountryGirlCityChicks]

So long as you don't mind the humidity

XD im willing to put up with anything to get back to farm life. Even humidity, snakes and gators.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

XD im willing to put up with anything to get back to farm life. Even humidity, snakes and gators.

You forgot Mosquitoes the size of small cargo planes.