Raising Poultry on Pasture: Ten Years of Success

by Jody Padgham (Editor), American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Staff

A comprehensive guide-book for those interested in raising poultry on pasture. Numerous articles from a diversity of authors, each highlighting their "lessons learned" and "best practices." Organized in an easy-to-use format, topics range from brooding to processing, laying hens to broilers and turkeys. This book offers everything from the basics to the finest details shared by successful pastured poultry producers. Included are discussions of various shelter designs and comparisons of "day-range" vs "closed shelter" systems. Chapters on Marketing and Equipment help producers make decisions in these areas. Profiles of numerous successful producers and suppliers of specialized equipment from around the U.S. are included. Fully indexed.

Genres: Agriculture

264 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2006

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raising Poultry on Pasture wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I'm still glad I checked out this compilation of a decade of GRIT articles.  Since the book is, essentially, a "best of" collection from the magazine, each chapter was written by a different poultry enthusiast, which strengthens the book by giving it a wide range of opinions and points of view. Big names like Joel
Salatin, Andy Lee, and Harvey Ussery are represented, but so are less well known authors writing from around the U.S.

The downside of the mixed points of view is that you should probably plan to read the whole book rather than dipping in to find one right answer. Articles side by side contradicted each other, which is perfectly understandable --- every farm is a little different, so techniques that work in one area won't work as well in another.  Think of the book as primary research and draw your own conclusions.

Although I found lots of tidbits (which I'll flesh out on my chicken blog) relevant to my own operation, I should also warn you that Raising Poultry on Pasture is written for folks running a commercial operation, selling hundreds of broilers and/or eggs. If you're just trying to raise eggs or meat for yourself while keeping your chickens as happy and healthy as possible, you'll probably skim over large segments of this book. I'd recommend that backyard enthusiasts check Raising Poultry on Pasture out of their local library while those of you considering a poultry business pony up the $45 to buy a copy.

[Belle Meade School]

636.51