The farm produces pastured beef, pork, chicken, eggs, turkeys, rabbits, lamb and ducks. So, we wanted to make an egg mobile for egg laying chickens to follow. Pastured poultry profits by joel salatin goodreads. Salatin semester a complete homestudy course in polyface. Working with the polyface eggmobile homesteading and. A third generation alternative farmer, he returned to the farm full time in 1982. Inspired by joel salatin who i learnt about reading the omnivores dilemma by michael pollan.
I have been studying this book and am making my first go at raising chickens this way. Joel salatin and his family own and operate polyface farm in virginias shenandoah valley. Salatins egglaying chickens are housed in a mobile trailerstyle structure known as an eggmobile. This custom cutting ability allows us to read more. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Joel salatin, has become something of a celebrity in the local food movement. Vicfa 4342638704 virginia independent consumers and farmers association. An egg mobile is a concept touted and it think developed by joel salatin of polyface farm in virginia, usa. How we built an aframe chicken tractor for our pastured. Ive wanted to build an egg mobile for a long, long time.
Yet his successful, innovative, dirtunderthefingernails agricultural practices are far from the norm in this country. For him, transition starts right now and never ends since it opens up to possibilities impossible to predict. Enter the egg mobile start with what youve got milkwood. In yesterdays post, we talked about pigaerators a bithow polyface farms uses them to turn their deep bedding into beautiful compost. Another of joel salatins pioneering examples is that of his egg mobile. Salatin raises both cattle and chickens, among other things. The eggmobile is essentially a chicken coop that can be moved around in order to best mimic a. Editor joel salatin makes sure that in addition to howto pastured farming content, each issue contains business, marketing, and team leadership articles as well. Here at green willow homestead, our chicken plan is much smaller. Mob grazing sustainable food trust sustainable food trust. His hardhitting views on the industrial food system were heard earlier this year in london, but its his innovative and highly. Every couple of years he stocks this device with 200 young birds, and with his tractor pulls it to the paddock that his beeves have just grazed.
He is not any worse than the mother earth news contributors. These 6x10 chicken coop designs, are for raising fast growing chickens for homestead meat production. Contents of regenerative agriculture this book transcends and includes making small farms work, which was selfpublished and sent out from our farm to over 90 countries worldwide. And he loves the philosophy of his business, which is that a truly sustainable farm should also support a local food system. A look inside joel salatins polyface farms eggmobile chicken tractors, chicken coop plans. Joel has some good ideas that will work, but his methods are very high labor. He loves observing his pigs, which snort with glee while sifting through piles of manure. Salatin and his farm was the main topic of the documentary polyfaces. This egg mobile is of minimal size to work on a small farm. Ive used harvey usserys aframe design for years it houses about 30 chickens. Joel salatins egg mobile backyard chickens learn how. Watch joel salatins priceless 30 minute poultry lesson. As a christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer.
At that point, they dont lay enough eggs to be economical and we dress these old. The egg laying box is attached to the side of the egg mobile so that eggs can be harvested from outside, rather than having to go inside providing convenient egg harvesting. Salatin candidly admits in his book, the sheer ecstasy of being a lunatic farmer, that the meat bird operation. Egg mobiles i have loved chicken house, chicken barn. In pastured poultry profits, joel salatin lays out the model that virginias polyface farm uses for pastureraised broilers, as well as thoughts on raising layers as of 1999, they hadnt settled on a production model, though they had quite a few thoughts on the matter. Weve been researching egg mobile models for a good while now, in order to figure out how best. Joel salatin has shown that there is a viable working proof of concept for a truly sustainable agriculture enterprise that is healthy for the planet, the people and the pocket book. Ive drawn different designs and daydreamed of when i could follow our cows with a portable hen house. Murray mcmurray hatchery visits joel salatin and polyface farms duration. Joel salatin is an imagination catalyst anchored in the pragmatism of a familys patriarch one could even say of a good housewife who only spends what she has and allows nothing to go wasted. The perfect chicken by joel salatin mcmurray hatchery blog.
Regenerative agriculture the book crowdfunding forum at. He loves the succulence of tender, grassraised beef. According to salatin, raising poultry on pasture, even for part of the year, can be lucrative. Below is a picture taken in early september 2012 as the girls are heading out for. Joel salatin has 45 books on goodreads with 31403 ratings.
These fit into the existing triangular bracing see in figure 6. Today i want to continue the tour and head to the pigs in the woods. Polyface uses heritage breeds for its egg production. But as the doublebreasted hybrids like cornish cross became possible, then popular, then industrystandard, the meat quality of the dual purpose bird gradually fell into. I think i read joel salatins book salad bar beef nearly ten years ago now. How to establish a smallscale, pastured poultry operation. In summary, the book is an excellent investment for anyone considering how to earn a living from the land. Permaculture designanimals wikibooks, open books for an. Books by joel salatin author of folks, this aint normal. A state prototype political activist organization, cofounded by joel, to promote unregulated free. The chalet has turned out to be pretty awesome for its current use as an egg mobile. A complete homestudy course in polyfacestyle diversified farming what happens when trailblazing urban agroecologists rob and michelle avis of verge permaculture host superstar lunatic farmer joel salatin for a threeday, threeworkshop weekendthen expand and enhance that recorded wisdom in a threemonth online intensive.
Joel salatin, ba, is a fulltime farmer in virginias shenandoah valley. How to make an egg mobile the permaculture research institute. Here, he shares his perspective on one of the polyface centerpieces. I read the book in one long, late night and my mind exploded. The farm produces pastured beef, pork, chicken, eggs, turkeys, rabbits, lamb and ducks, servicing roughly 6,000 families and 50 restaurants in the farms bioregion. Back in january as i was pondering the liberty garden concept, thinking about education, outreach, and scale. The salatin shelter is a reliable housing design and a starting point for raising 7075 broilers per shelter. Everything guests eat comes from the lodges gardens or from the farm. Still the centerpiece of the farm, and the engine that drives sales, notoriety, and profit, pastured poultry has revolutionized countless farming endeavors around the world. Reese says of polyface, joel salatin is doing industrial birds. Joel salatins most popular book is folks, this aint normal. In love with the land, dubious of government, quintessential entrepreneur but distrustful of anything that diminishes the commons, his perspective brings depth and breadth to the table. Im trying to do something new with my chickens and wanting to move em around the pastures and saw a few of joels ideas and thought it was pretty neat. This is a genius invention for mega egg distributors who want to do right by their birds.
Extracted from issue 105 of the grit, this article describes the. Salatin is criticized by poultry farmer frank reese in jonathan safran foer s book eating animals for raising industrial birds, not heritage birds. Many chicken owners know about joel salatins eggmobile. Some folks, like geoff lawton, convert small trailer frames into coops while joel salatin is famous for his large eggmobiles. How joel salatins farming style can feed the world. With 450 acres of forest, we practice a sustainable harvest rotation and turn our logs into lumber with our bandsaw mill. Polyface literally backed into the pig business many years ago as a way to build compost. I think i read joel salatins book salad bar beef nearly ten years ago continue reading. Joel salatin semester pastured poultry lesson youtube. The eggmobile which i didnt get a picture of because of the weather follows the cows in their. It is part of the grazing regime, adding fertiliser and helping to control pests. Tim rohrer talks about his interaction with the polyface eggmobile. Our second design is a hybrid between a salatin style coop and a hoop coop. In my quest for knowledge regarding animal husbandry, ive read time and time again how hard it.
Joel salatin brings a unique eclecticism to the foodfarm discussion. Discover the secrets of the eggmobile in this 30minute snippet. Joel salatin, for example, has perfected raising poultry for profit. Joel salatin made them famous at apr 18, 2012 an egg mobile is a movable chicken house designed to house laying hens at night, who by day cluck around on open pasture. However for meat birds salatin uses the cornish cross, the same type of bird used in the industrial system. These follow the cows so the birds can scratch through the cow dung, spread it into the soil, and peck. These egg laying boxes are also very comfortable for the chickens so that. A portable hoophouse called the gobbledygo offers shelter to the turkeys. He loves getting up at the crack of dawn and taking his chickens for a walk. An egg mobile is a movable chicken house designed to house laying hens at night, who by day cluck around on open pasture.
The outspoken american farmer, who featured in michael pollans book, an omnivores dilemma, after refusing to ship pollan meat outside its bioregion, now writes and tours himself. They are 10x12x2 and designed to be moved every day with the aid of a dolly. Building a coop with just a roof and a few walls but having electric fence around it. A mobile coop for free range laying hens on the farm. Joel salatin made them famous at polyface farms, but who invented the concept i do not know. Discover book depositorys huge selection of joel salatin books online. Black australorps and white rocks were the mainstay of both broiler and egg production.