Life at Cobb Creek Farm - Hoop Coops

Hey all!

Today I want to write about the last 4-6 weeks of our Cornish Cross Chickens after they come out of the brooder houses.

Typically we catch the 3 week old chicks the night before putting them out on pasture as it is much easier to catch them at night in the dark. We just flip our head lamps on to the red light and they don't become disturbed or frantic like they do when you catch them during daylights hours. After catching them we leave them in crates in the brooders til morning. Then after chores the next morning we load them on a trailer and drive them out to the "hoop coop" where they will stay until they are ready to go to slaughter.

"What on earth is a 'hoop-coop'?" Glad you asked.

Think of a portable chicken coop in a hoop house/greenhouse type structure that is 20'x36', rests on skids, and is moved daily with a pick-up or tractor. Or better yet, check out the photos below.

The Hoop Coop (I also like the name, Chicken Schooner but this ship only has one sail)  in the rather pitiful looking pasture. These chickens are doing the most good by fertilizing as this soil is in pretty bad shape and needs some TLC. Come on perennial warm and cool season grasses!  

Every morning we pull the hoop coop forward a spot. The structure is mounted on skids that we can pull with a chain. When
we get to the end of the field we just pull it back in the other direction on new ground. From hooking up to the chain to pulling away after feeding and setting everything up, we spend 10 minutes per coop.
Also, as you can see in the photo, we have
the side walls rolled up to regulate airflow and temperature. This time of year in the cool season we have the end wall plastic on to help keep the heat in and keep the chickens out of too much direct wind.  

Around the base is our hot wire that we jumper (black cord with the white handle) over to the portable electric fence (the yellow stake). The garden hose is plugged for water. If the weather report is calling for near freezing temperatures, we bring the hoses into the barn over night and put them back out in the morning.

6 week old Cornish Cross Chickens in the hoop coop. Waters down the center with the pvc water pipe running down the middle in the rafters. Feeders running down each side with two white grit dispensers as well. 

The tally sheet. From right to left: Date, daily feed, total cumulative feed, daily casualties, cumulative casualties, total live birds, feed conversion which we tally up after they have gone to the processing facility. 

Pretty neat system, huh?

Right now we have 2 hoop coops, with the 3rd in construction and 2 more on the way. Each coop has 12 feeders at 30lbs of feed each, 6 automatic water dishes, 2 grit dispensers, and a tally sheet that we keep track of daily and per batch. On the front and back walls we have plug ins for the water so we can plug it into the farm water lines and/or daisy chain the coops together. Around the perimeter we run a hot fence that is attached to a portable fence run from the permanent hot fence. Thus far there have been no casualties due to predators, and the coyotes are around. The side walls roll up and down to provide climate control; plus the end wall plastic can be taken off during the hot time of the year and put back on during the cold season here in Texas. (I am from Alaska. It is hard to call it winter when there is no snow sticking to the ground. Sorry ya'll.) During the summers we will put shade clothe over the top of the hoop-coop to limit the green house effect and to run a misting system down the length of the coop tied into the same water system to keep the chickens from over heating - there is good water pressure and supply to the entire farm.

"What does all this mean in a nutshell?"

We can raise broiler chickens on pasture year around in Texas, cover a lot of ground with a lot of chicken fertilizer, and raise a superior tasting industrial bird then the industrial system.

Is this the perfect picture of a sustainable farm?

No, but the Cornish Cross bird is what we, food citizens, all have come to associate with the taste of chicken from the store and the industrial food system; we, farmers, can improve the soil with the bird; and we, farmers again, can make money quickly with their fast ROI and ready available market.

Is there a better way?

Absolutely. Up next in our discussion, the Heritage Delaware Chicken.

Every morning I make my way to the back of the coop to shew the chickens forward as Grady slowly pulls the structure forward. I snapped this photo before calling out to pull ahead. 

Life at Cobb Creek Farm - Brooder huts and chicks

Hello Family and Friends!

I have been remiss on writing but never worry, I haven't forgotten and have been taking some photos to illuminate my lack of description and creativity. Since I am mainly working with chickens and chicken related projects I figured that I would start there. (More on chickens, cattle, and sheep to come)

The chicks (Cornish Cross)  arrive in the mail and we pick them up first thing in the morning from the post office. To start out there life with us we keep them in a brooder house for the first three weeks where they can stay dry and warm out of the weather. After their three week stay they then head out to the field shelters or "hoop coops" where we raise them until they are ready to be processed at about 7-9 weeks of age. These broilers grow fast. Below is the process that we went through building the brooders and some of the elements of our chicken process. Starting this week we will be raising 600+ broiler chickens a week - we were doing 600+ every other week. To meet the increase in numbers we had to build two more brooder houses for a total of six houses.

Each of the brooders are 12'x12' inside dimensions and the peak is at about 7'. We framed the brooders in up in the barn out of the elements and painted them there with a cheep primer. After the primer dried we loaded them onto a trailer and drove them down to brooder alley as I have taken to calling it.

Once we got the upper roofs attached and the seams caulked and flashed we put up chicken wire over the lower roof portion as the lower part of the roof opens up to let air flow in during the hot summer days. This time of year we have them sealed down with some fiberglass along the edges to block the cold north wind. Also the two windows next to the door and the back wall open up for added ventilation and day light.

The upper roof over hangs by several inches to make sure the drip edge doesn't flow in and soak the chicks.

  

Everything up but the doors. It is almost good enough to be the new apprentice housing! Time for me to move in!
















The "Ohio" brooder box. This is a 4'x6' box that sits several inches off the floor. We then have two red heat lamps, one at each end where you see the light fixtures. On top of the box we spread a bag of peat moss to act as a bit of insulation on the top that we can then scoop off as needed in wet spots. The temperature with the heat lamps combined with the body heat coming off 330+ chicks can easily exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Even when we were having ambient temperatures in the low 20s here, the temp under their brooder box was in the 90s.

One thing that I failed to take a picture of was that we ran a sub power feed from the main breaker panel to the back of the first brooder house in the row of six and then ran power to each of the other houses. We are able to plug in several lights or fans as needed.

The water system is pretty straight forward. It is all gravity feed. Outside we have a 5 gallon bucket sitting on a pedestal with a hose running into the hut feeding a 2"x10' PVC tube that we taped with water nipples every couple of inches. Then we attach the water system to an adjustable hanger. As the peat moss bedding gets deeper after each batch of chicks and as the chicks grow we can raise and lower the water system. The area just under the water pipe gets wet more then any other place in the brooder. Additionally, the chicks lay a good amount of their nutrient load here. Hence why we have extra peat on the brooder box to spread and help lock in the nutrients and "absorb" the smell. When well managed these brooders don't smell repugnant at all. If they smell bad, we are doing something wrong.

Grady's pick-up loaded down with a ton of sphagnum moss, literally. We use
a lot of it around here. "Is that strapped down?" you ask. Nope. However,
the pallet was well shrink wrapped and we still drove safely home from Lowe's. 

Which brings me to sphagnum peat moss. We use peat moss as our bedding material for the chickens. It absorbs water and holds nutrients well keeping the chicks dry and warm. After each batch of chicks we till up the bedding to mix in their manure load and then add more bags of moss. As the bedding gets deeper it actually starts to compost in place somewhat making the bedding warm to the touch. Once we get to the point that we need to clean out the brooders, which hasn't happened yet, this peat moss will make some amazing garden soil building material. I am excited to see how it does come spring time.

These little guys venture out from the comfort of the mass under the brooder
box to get a drink, eat, and explore their new home.

Once the chicks arrive we count out 330+ into each brooder - I say plus as there is a certain percent the hatchery sends extra that they expect to die out of each batch - and we monitor the chicks as they drink out of the bell waters and run around checking out their new digs. They will drink out of these for the first day or so before going over to the PVC water system. Also after the first week we put the tubes back on the feed trays to accommodate the increased daily food needs and provide starter and grower grit in a separate dispenser depending on their age.

That is the brooders and a little on the first three weeks of our meat birds. Until next time,

Ciao!

Little Farmer thinks this brooder house is ready for chicks!

Latin Mass on All Saints Day

Today I went to a Latin Mass Parish outside of Dallas for Church. It was exquisite. The music and choir was uplifting, the homily challenging, and God was present. My heart was beating so hard with anticipation; pounding rapidly and loudly in my chest and ears as I prepared to receive the Eucharist. That never happened before becoming Catholic when I had communion in other churches. Our God is an awesome God. He is the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God.

Selah.

I doubt I will go weekly since it is over an hour drive one way, but I hope to go about once a month while I am down here in Texas. I came back singing a hymn we sung this morning that I first learned in the Lutheran Church. The classic hymns can really be timeless, much like the Latin Mass. (No, I don't speak Latin, but fortunately there is an English translation of the Liturgy with which to follow along.)

Yeah, by God's grace I am finally home in the Catholic Church. Now the journey begins in earnest.

"Further up and further in!"

New Beginnings Take Shape

Greetings friends and family,

Over a month ago I wrote about my resignation from working in Central West Africa. Well, things have progress apace. Almost immediately after returning to Alaska I was on a flight to