Paul, I got your article
Raising Chickens 2.0 No more coop and run through the Rural
Roots listserve and have only
> have time to read the Raising
Chickens article. I already feel compelled to write.
>
> Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m just celebrating my first full
> year as a
chicken rancher. I was mucking out my coop’s
> long-since-devegitated-run yesterday afternoon thinking, “There’s got
> to be a better way.” It doesn’t matter that some of the birds seem to
> prefer the corner of the run that doesn’t drain well (here lately with
> the rain, we’re talking poo soup)—I’m responsible for creating a healthier situation.
>
> I really appreciate your honesty throughout the article—the pictures
> of the various chicken living arrangements are very useful to me at this point.
> Not only do I have about 50 layers going strong in my coop/run, I also
> have 160 meat birds and 50 turkeys on the way this spring.
> Furthermore, I live in town on 2 acres. I’ve made it my season’s goal
> to do this in a way that doesn’t bog me down, doesn’t strip anymore
> ground down to dirt, doesn’t piss my neighbors off, and most importantly respects and enhances the birds’ quality of life. If I get it right, the proper system will satisfy
> all of the above. What’s healthiest for the bird is best for everybody anyway.
> Your scale was really useful in that regard. At this point I’m
> leaning toward the poly-rebar set up, maybe with some short walls,
> inside of a rotational paddock for my meat birds. We’ve had an aerial
> attack before so I want to get those broad breasted beasts some good
> cover within a paddock.
>
> One question I have is how do you feel about wing clipping? I haven’t
> done it before and have found no research to say that it is harmful, physically.
> What is your
experience with it? My layers are Plymouth Rock, Rhode
> Island Reds, and Australorps—all high flyin’ ladies. I have to figure
> out a way to keep them home before I can rotate them in paddocks.
>
> So thanks for compiling your experiences and sharing them with all of us.
> My birds will benefit from it.
>
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