We returned from our trip to the east coast. While we were there Donald and I visited the Polyface Farm in Virginia. We spent the morning hiking around the farm, studying the chicken trailers, hog hangouts, broiler rotations, cattle clean up, and poultry butchering station. We talked with several people working on the farm as interns. Matt was spending a year at Polyface learning about the sustainable methods of farming in order to eventually run his own place to provide food for his own future restaurant. He'll spend next year in New England at another farm.
The poultry are all grassfed with lay mash for the layers. They hang out in a fenced in area with a large shelter that is moved every three days, guarded by a Great Pyrenese. The shelter provides the obvious shelter, but also numerous nesting boxes. The shelter is set upon a frame like a sled that makes it mobile. There are also numerous low boxes with 3/4 sheltered, 1/4 wire-topped, that house the broilers, located over another hill. These are moved daily. The manure is high in nitrogen and the constant relocation provides fertilizer for the fields. The cattle were previously located in these fields, evident by the cow pies, from which the birds eat the bugs. Closer to the farmhouse there are several large laying hen barns as well.
The hogs were up over another hill in the woods. We were told that they were there to eat the tubers/roots, and were munching on branches when we visited. The cattle were located around a cluster of outbuildings and we were told that they were "cleaning up." Indeed they were. They were chewing through the weeds that had grown up from the spring rains. We appreciated the fact that the cattle were provided with 24 hour grazing opportunity, so that lying down in the grass, chewing their cud was not thought of as a waste of good grazing time. Grass is plentiful.
We watched the butchering station for a while and talked to a visiting family (ironically from Prescott, AZ) that were helping. They butchered 350 birds that morning and were preparing to cut up many into pieces for sale. A large majority are sold as whole birds, but the pieces drew a larger price for the additional labor.
We are planning on starting some meat poultry during the winter months this coming season. We will attempt to replicate some of the methods that are implemented at Polyface Farms. We will work on a much smaller scale to begin, really just wanting to provide for our family and friends initially. I am curious to see what Salatins' from Polyface think of the Freedom Ranger chickens that they are now just raising.
I chatted with a beef rancher at the Casa Grande Farmers' Market about his farm and our visit to Polyface. He was very excited to hear about it as they will add poultry to their processing this coming year as well. He was familiar with the Freedom Rangers and interested in alternatives to the Cornish Cross commonly raised here for the breast meat. I will have to look into these birds as an option. Emma is opposed to raising most of the birds for meat, but told me that at least the Cornish cross are doomed anyway. They grow too large for their frame and if were not butchered, they would not enjoy a long life anyway because of their mutated size. I appreciated that perspective.
All the trees, grapes and blackberries were mulched this morning. It looks like we will be at 100 degrees very soon. The mosquitoes are terrible already. I contacted the company that manufactures Altosid for information on application rates. I will continue to research mosquito eradication for the rest of my life it seems.
