"Going to the Birds!" by Anita Gerber

I have learned to accept the gentle smiles and assumptions of others when the subject of chickens is mentioned. It is always assumed that there is a quaint little yard and a chicken house with cozy nests and warm brown eggs. Actually, there is a setup just like that here, but it certainly isn’t the source of income that most people like to imagine from the movies and old stories. The chickens that make me money reside here for approximately seven weeks before they take up residence in someone else’s freezer.

Approximately five years ago, I decided to again raise broiler chickens for sale to others. A neighbor had been doing this for a few years and was continually discussing having appointments to deliver orders of five to forty chickens to his customers. I had raised a few several years before and knew that, though the butchery at the end of the growing period can be work, beyond the first few days after delivery, chickens don’t require intense work. I asked questions regarding his sources for chicks, the cost per bird, where he was buying his feed. I ‘picked his brain’, so to speak.

This little homestead has a nice big pole barn. It is approximately 50’ by 85’ and sits facing south on the property. It had formerly been used for feeding cattle, so there are no doors closing the 9’ by 14’ accesses on the south end of this barn. (Cattle don’t do well in enclosed places as they tend to develop pneumonia when too warm in the winter.) Over the years, we have used this barn for horses, primarily. One half of one side, the west, is the stallion’s residence. The eastern half has been used for pens for young horses or those under stress in winter. That eastern half has another valuable asset: its dirt floor. No, that dirt floor doesn’t lend itself well to sweeping, but with its ability to drain away moisture, it actually will stay dry much better than the concrete floors that were used throughout the rest of the barn. The barn sits unused, for the most part, in the warmer parts of the year, which seemed to me to be a bit of a waste.

My theory has always been to make the most of what I actually have before I invest in additional equipment, facilities, etc. This barn wasn’t contributing to the fullest extent of its potential if it was sitting unused for most of the spring and summer. I decided to start some broiler chickens to utilize that barn and to, perhaps, put some change in my bank account.

First, of course, I needed to get those chicks! Both our local veterinarian clinic, which is only ten miles away, and the Running’s store, which is about forty-five miles away, carry chicks from Hoover’s Hatchery in Iowa. My neighbor had purchased from both places. The price per chick was lower at Running’s, but in one case he had found that not all the chicks were actually the Cornish crosses that have been especially bred to gain weight quickly and economically. In comparing the legs of the chicks, it was easy to tell very early in the program that some had far less sturdy legs than the others. A good broiler chick must have legs that will support the rapid weight gain. A laying type of chicken will never gain the weight or the bulk that most of us expect from a meat chicken, no matter how much they are fed. I decided to order my first batch of two hundred chicks from my favorite vet clinic.

In preparation for their arrival, I passed the word from neighbor to friend that I wanted to take any leaky water tanks off their hands. This caused a few raised eyebrows at first, but I have grown accustomed to that over the years. When they learned that these tanks would be used as a brooder for the new, fragile chicks, they were more than pleased to have me come and remove a tank that had developed leaks and, for them, was no longer useable. Young chicks require temperatures between 90 and 95 degrees for their first few days of life. They are also very intolerant of drafts. These stock tanks, with the higher sides for cattle and horses, are perfect for keeping the warmth of the heat lamps right inside where the chicks need it.

I bedded the tanks with a light layer of ground corn cobs. These are another value-added farm product available at most farm stores, but I am fortunate to live near a family who has become wholesale suppliers. The ground corn cobs are not only very inexpensive (I pay $3 for a 50lb bag); they are also extremely absorbent (which keep the chicks dry and warm). Another asset is that, when the chicks have ‘graduated’ from the brooder tanks, this soiled bedding is completely biodegradable and makes wonderfully rich mulch for the garden.

The vet clinic finally called. The chicks arrived! Oh, glorious day! I loaded the perforated cardboard boxes, each holding one hundred fragile little creatures, into the pickup right beside me on the seat. I also bought one hundred pounds of medicated chick starter. I know the trend is toward avoiding medication, but I really felt my investment was safer with a good strong start. With the enthusiastic aid of the dogs and cats, I unloaded each chick from the box, dipping its beak for its first drink of water, counting it, and placing it in that warm well-bedded tank. I had prepared enough waterers so that all the chicks would have free and ready access immediately. I was in business!

I learned many valuable lessons that first summer in the chicken business. Some, however, were costly, as well as valuable. Technically, in our climate, one should be able to raise three or four batches of chickens like these before freeze-up in October. A little math shows that one can start chicks in mid-April, butcher them at seven weeks of age; start another about the first of June, another the first of August, perhaps even start new batches in stages before the others are done. In theory, that works. In actuality, working with the facilities at hand, I found out the hard costly way that it didn’t.

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