What a year 2025 was for our little farm and our pastured poultry program. We raised about 150 chickens and about 15 turkeys and by in large we were successful but not without its lessons.
First, it is SO NICE to have the Alumi Coops from Farmcraft (formerly Superior Poultry Products) as they make moving the birds around easily and safely. We did not lose any birds from aerial predators nor anything digging underneath the coop. What a difference and since we live in a wet area (although the summer of ’25 was surprisingly dry), we did not finish the fall with a long list of repairs of broken/rotten wood or other maintenance issues we had in the past with our “craigslist” finds made out of wood that do not stand up well to the weather nor our bumpy pastures.
Second, the fact that Dominica gets to manage the feeding and watering of the birds as part of her daily farm chores, also makes it nice. She created a nice rhythm, which we have learned is an integral part of having a small farm and it seemed to benefit both the birds, and the rest of our livestock.
Third, the lessons. The poults, when they come in the mail are so cute and yet so fragile. We do the “magic water” that Justin Rhodes and others fancy and it seems to work for the initial immune pump but we inevitably lose some what appear to be happy and healthy little guys within the first couple of weeks…especially the turkeys! The turkeys are SO FRAGILE when they are young. We bought 31 and we ended up with 15 (yes that hatchery refunded the losses the first few weeks) but it is disheartening a bit because we are trying to plan just the right amount of feed to make all of this work, both for their health, and the health of our farm pocket book. “Livestock” loss, gets expensive and remember we ADVANCE the cost in the spring, hoping it all works out to not only have it work out economically but of course deliver on our commitments to our small band of loyal customers. It can be tough, and a bit exhausting, but you know what it ends up being worth it when you fill up not only our family freezer as well as the aforementioned additional families who have entrusted us to help with their animal protein needs.
The Stats
We started with 150 meat birds and we ended up with 120 due to the losses mentioned above as poults (chicks). We kept a bunch for ourselves and also sold some to area families and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We did something new this year in that we used a USDA poultry processor (Widnor Farms near Lynden) and that was very nice because for a fee, and after a long day, we got the birds back beautifully butchered and shrink wrapped, far better than what we have been able to do on our farm with our friends and family program, plus because of their license, we were able to keep and sell the hearts, livers, necks and feet! It became a nice little boost for us and well worth the effort. We again, and will probably continue to do so, raised the Cornish Cross, affectionately called by some, the C-Monster, as they grow so very quick and look the part when they come in at that 4 pound ish weight fully dressed.
For the turkeys, like I mentioned, we started with 31 and ended up with 16 to butcher. A couple of things to note as this was our second year doing turkeys and while we did the Big Breasted Whites for 2024 we made a switch to the Big Breasted Bronze this year. The rich, deep black feathers left what appears to be “tattoo ink” on some of the skin and while OK for consumption, doesn’t look like grandmas butterball. But hey, this is farm-raised and close to a heritage breed so three cheers for being rustic! We also came in about half the weight as last year. We think it was two things. First, we butchered them at about 13 and a half weeks and not the preferred 16 and that is probably most of the issue and that was due to setting the date with the poultry processor, we had to “back date” the order of the poults, and we couldn’t sync up perfectly. We will do a better job next year. The other thing we learned is protein content. The feed we used was 22% and although it worked well last year, maybe this breed needed a higher amount!? Don’t really know but we are putting into the wrap up so we can be better next year.
A big thank you to Dominica first for doing the DAILY, and our partners in this, The Red Bridge Farm for the feed, and Widnor Farms for the processing and of course an extra special thank you to the families that supported us by buying, what we feel, is the very best poultry in the PNW.
