Rare Turkey Opportunity: Beltsville Small White€¦ · American Pastured Poultry Producers...

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 84

ISSUE 84

November/December 2014

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Newsletter

this issue Beltsville Small White Turkey P.1

President’s Corner P.2

Polyface Broiler Production P.9

Is Fishmeal Sustainable? P.10

Cover Crops in Idaho P.11

Art of Duck Plucking P.13

USDA Chilling Requirements P.17

Feeding Kelp and Vitamins P.21

Community Corner P.23

Rare Turkey Opportunity: Beltsville Small White —Mike Badger

Following my disastrous Broad Breasted White

turkey mortality, something had to change. That’s

what I found myself thinking in the late summer of

2014. And the truth be told, my turkey production has

been lackluster for years, so it’s easy to give in to the

feelings of desperation when faced with problems.

My latest problems started with shipping stress and

dead poults at the post office. However, my lack of

time to adequately manage the stressed survivors

proved to be this year’s turkey downfall. Turkey

brooding time always crowds my schedule come

August, and time is the number one management

problem I have.

With only a handful of turkeys to deal with for the

current season, I found myself thinking about next

year. To counter my stressed summer schedule, I

knew I needed to move turkey brooding to earlier in

the year when I have more time to observe and react

to issues. I’d still need to decide between commercial

or heritage birds.

The problem with raising the commercial turkeys

early in the year is that I’d need a new freezer to

store the birds until Thanksgiving or convince people

to pick up their turkeys in September. The problem

with the heritage birds is that I couldn’t find any that

really got me excited enough to commit the extra

labor and expense.

Then something divine happened right when I

needed it most. At the Mother Earth News Fair in

Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, I had dinner with some

staff from the Livestock Conservancy. I listened to

Jeannette Beranger talk about rescuing and

relocating a flock of adult Beltsville Small White

turkeys from the USDA’s Southeast Poultry Research

Laboratory in Athens, Georgia. The turkey

opportunity I sought was gift-wrapped and waiting.

After I researched the breed history, I could see the

market opportunities and unique historical appeal. In

other words, I found a story I could rally behind. And

in short order I decided to make the transition from a

mail order poult-killer to a heritage turkey breeder.

(Continued on page 4)

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue # 84 2

The days are becoming shorter, and thankfully we are

now back on "normal" time. Winter is quickly approach-

ing. There is much banter on the list serve about tur-

keys. Indeed, it is the season.

The last few weeks in the balmy sub tropics have been

horrendous. I truly thank all who kindly thought about

us with the impending Hurricane Gonzalo.

The weekend before we were unexpectedly pummeled

by what the powers that be still refer to as tropical

storm Fay.

Interesting to note was an article in our daily newspaper

"The Royal Gazette." This was a headline on the Thurs-

day before Fay, a really fatal ink waster announcing

how Bermuda had escaped any serious drama in the

2014 hurricane season. I could not believe what I was

reading! Hurricane season is not over until November

30th. At a minimum, they can be just as severe later,

they just do not have names.

The Bermuda weather service mumbles something

about possible 40 knot winds over the weekend. OK

guys, we need to block the pens, standard procedure

for any wind over 30 knots. Saturday night is my night

off, and I usually stay up a bit later in anticipation of a

bit of rest on Sunday.

I awoke at 7.30 on Sunday morning, and it had all hit

the fan. NO WARNING. The guys were already tack-

ling the disaster, and several of them were wearing mo-

torcycle crash helmets for reasons that quickly became

apparent. Pens were completely through fences and

over roads, with some having flown over a 10-foot se-

curity fence and landing on neighboring properties. The

furthest was 200 yards away and quickly disintegrating

into mangled shards. A 20x8 foot shelter for 200 layers

was not far behind it, completely wrecked and on its

roof. It weighs close to two tons. Gusts were well over

100 knots and the temperatures had dropped down into

the 50s with horizontal rain. Carnage.

There were birds everywhere. We quickly salvaged

90% of a five-week-old 300-broiler flock by placing

them in the tractor bucket and then into a barn. Several


PO Box 85

Hughesville,

PA 17737

[email protected] | www.apppa.org | (888) 662-7772

The APPPA Grit newsletter is published six times a year.

The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

(APPPA) is a nonprofit educational and networking

organization dedicated to encouraging the production,

processing, and marketing of poultry raised on pasture.

Staff

Mike Badger, Director/Grit Editor

Board of Directors

Tom Wadson, President, 2009-2014

Vice President, David Schafer, 2013-2015

Greg Gunthorp, Treasurer, 2009-2014

Jennie Watkins, Secretary, 2009-2014

John Benoit, 2014-2015

Jeff Mattocks, 2013-2015

Val Vetter and Deb Aaron, 2010-2014

Grady Phelan, 2014-2015

Joel Salatin, board member at-large

From the editor: I’m ceding my Director’s Report in this is-

sue so that Tom can recount his harrowing two weeks of

severe weather events that have crippled his Bermuda

farm. In Bermuda, Tom obviously deals with hurricanes,

and his preparedness is evident: generators, fuel, anchor-

ing shelter pens, a plan, a whole lot of effort, and much

more. Are you prepared to respond to your emergencies?

That’s definitely the question I’m asking myself, as I read

Tom’s sanitized version of the chaos.

Tom is no stranger to life-altering weather. Hurricane Fabi-

an wiped his conventional farm off the island in 2003, and

paved the way for his transition to a more natural, pasture-

based system. The APPPA team wishes Tom and Cathe-

rine well in their rebuilding efforts. May you find opportunity

in the wake of these storms. —Mike Badger


trips and this was sorted. The surviving layers were

doing pretty good, sheltering behind various pieces of

whatever they could find. Their biggest concern ap-

peared to be the sudden absence of nest boxes. Talk

about loyal producers!

We had about 15 feeder lambs in the same pasture.

Their shelter and shade resembled a war zone; eve-

rything was completely mangled and tangled. We

found ourselves bringing out tractors and some heav-

ier implements to anchor them to. Things were still

jumping in heavier gusts.

Chickens were everywhere.. We were now trying to

locate any injured birds, There were not that many,

thankfully.

Bella, only the third sheep out of some 700 that we

have bred to have a name had been hit and had an

irreparably broken leg. That was the emotional low of

the day. The only solution was quick dispatch. She

was definitely suffering.

Needless to say, there were downed trees and debris

everywhere. The generator was coupled to a tractor

as power had been lost. We had a lot of inventory in

in chill rooms and freezers. Fall vegetables, bananas,

cassava, and pretty much everything else had been

hit pretty hard.

We were about to be able to move again when my

real weatherman started sending models of another

pretty nasty looking hurricane called Gonzolo. I then

received a call from one of my best friends who runs

a large estate in St Barths lamenting this hurricane

that had completely ruined most of the permaculture

sites and the entire estate in general. A complete

mess with heavy damage to everything on it. Uh-oh.

By Wednesday it had become quite clear that Gonza-

lo was going to arrive.in the form of a pretty direct

hit. No time to clean up Fay; it was time to seriously

batten down the remnants that had survived. Forget

about the crops; we were now into securing struc-

tures that had survived Fay. Our turkeys were to be

moved into our abattoir, which is structurally bullet

proof. I think they almost enjoyed their first stay in

there! Next visit could be a bit of a shocker.

We could not drill in the phone pole anchors in the

location that the layers were in. Hard rock under a

foot of soil. Impossible. We had no anchoring system.

We used more implements, tractors, and whatever

was heavy. Another hundred fathoms of line to tie

everything down as best we could.

It was another late night with a full crew drilling and

anchoring the remaining shelters in the outlying pas-

ture. We worked until 1 am. We had been doing 18

hour days trying to hang onto whatever we could. We

completely retightened all of our tin roofs & doubled

up on screws on most of them. If the buildings are

tight they stand a much better chance. Good invest-

ments in hardware and labor are the best insurance

one can buy.



Short Beltsville Small White History

The Beltsville was developed as a double-breasted

turkey in the 1930’s by a group of scientists at the

USDA Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville,

Maryland, in response to customer demand for a

smaller turkey suitable for households. In addition,

white turkeys, like white chickens, pluck cleaner than

birds with darker feathers, which presents a nicer

looking bird for the table.

According to an article “The Beltsville Small White

Turkey” by Glenis Marsh and Dr. Brian Tibbot, the

Beltsville is a unique heritage breed of turkey created

from 15 strains of the following turkey breeds:

Standard Bronze, Broad Breasted Bronze,

Charlevoix Bronze, White Holland, Black

Narragansett, Wild, and White Austrian.

The Beltsville Small White was successful in the

marketplace and contributed a quarter of the birds to

the overall turkey market at its height. In 1967,

according to Marsh and Tibbot, the Beltsville’s

decline was imminent. While the Beltsville’s smaller

turkey size was a good fit for consumers, the

wholesale market wanted more meat from fewer

birds. And of course agriculture was moving away

from diversified, smaller farms and toward more

specialized commodity-based production at larger

scales.

To meet the more meat with less bird need, breeders

artificially inseminated Beltsville Small White hens

with Broad Breasted toms, and the turkey industry

was on its way to faster growing, larger turkeys. We

know how that story played out. The commercial

strains of the Broad Breasted turkeys dominate the

marketplace for CAFO and pastured production

systems alike despite the fact that they can’t naturally

breed.

The Beltsville Small White, in contrast, can naturally

breed. The problem, however, is that the Beltsville

Small White is on the Livestock Conservancy’s

critically endangered list. And a genuine American

breed is slipping into oblivion.

(Continued from page 1) Obtaining My BSW Stock

The Beltsville Small White line that the Livestock

Conservancy was relocating came from the Southeast

Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, Georgia, and

according to information provided by the Livestock

Conversancy, it’s believed to be the lone surviving

USDA foundation flock in the United States. This blue-

eyed line was procured from the Ames line (ARS

National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa).

In the spring 2013, the Conservancy procured hatching

eggs that were placed with Julie Gauthier, a heritage

turkey breeder in North Carolina, for hatching. In

September 2014, the Conservancy procured 24 hens

and 6 toms from the adult breeding stock from the lab.

From what I understand, the adult breeders are grown

until they are one year of age and the next breeding

flock is established, at which time the mature turkeys

are destroyed. The 30 adult turkeys that Julie and

Jeannette rescued from Georgia received the ultimate

pardon.

At the lab in Athens, researchers use the Beltsville

flock for avian disease research, such as Newcastle

Disease. I have been assured that the offspring from

the breeders are the subjects of the research, not the

mature breeders.

There is a risk with the turkeys, however. They have

been living in a biologically controlled environment

since the early 1990’s to ensure they were pathogen

free. The unknown question when Jeannette and Julie

put their 30 mature turkeys in a stock trailer is, “How

will that sheltered immune system hold up when

they’re exposed to the real-world’s germs?”

The turkeys traveled 350 miles to Julie’s farm in North

Carolina where she held them. Then, within a week or

so, I arrived at Julie’s farm to take half the flock (12

hens and 3 toms). I placed them in several turkey

crates and hauled them the remaining 450 miles to my

farm in Hughesville, Pennsylvania.

As I watched in my rear-view mirror, a couple brave

turkeys popped their heads out of the crates to take in


the interstate scenery. Their pampered, germ-free days

were definitely behind them.

At home, I placed the birds directly into their winter

housing so they could be quarantined from the rest of

the poultry on my place, and so that I could observe

them closely. Because the flock is suddenly exposed to

the natural day length, they were starting to molt when I

picked them up. I’ve noticed that some of the flock is re-

growing feathers at a much slower rate, and that’s a bit

concerning as winter approaches.

Allowing Turkeys to be Turkeys

The birds took a long time to settle down and remained

timid when I approached for a couple of weeks. Given

the environmental stressors they’ve been subjected to,

a little extra time to settle in can be expected.

At this point, they have been out on range a couple of

times in a temporary paddock to glean some squash

plants. Approximately 10 of the 15 turkeys ventured

outside. The first two birds I herded out literally sat in

the same spot outside for about two hours. When a

significant part of the flock decided to join them

outside, they became more mobile. I observed them

actually foraging and eating insects. At dusk, half the

flock decided to fly over the fence instead of walking

back into their barn. I heard the loud crash of a turkey

trying to land and subsequently sliding off the roof of

a small shed. She did not sustain any noticeable

injuries.

I was surprised that in the first couple of nights, not a

single bird made use of the roost, but with each

passing day, more birds found the roost in the

evening, and after six weeks, approximately one-half

of the flock roosts. As they settle in, the turkeys are

more inquisitive and frankly starting to act more like a

turkey instead of the shell-shocked, pampered

turkeys I picked up.

I did notice a tom with a limp and a swollen leg above

the knee. At first, I thought it was just a nick from

transport, but upon closer inspection and consultation

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from the APPPAPlus discussion list, it’s likely some

toenail trauma. Many of the birds in this flock had

extremely long and curly nails, which is a likely side

effect of their unnatural confinement conditions. As

the turkeys scratch and dig on dirt, rocks, and

pasture, they should wear the toenails down to

normal lengths. The inside nail on my limping tom

had curled into the pad, which I did trim with a pair of

side cutters.

At this point, it’s too early to tell if my injured tom will

recover, but as a practical matter, I believe I found

my Thanksgiving dinner. He is also the slowest

turkey to regrow his feathers from molt.

Mixing a Custom Feed Ration

I don’t know of any off-the-shelf rations for heritage

turkeys, and I don’t have enough turkeys to warrant

the minimum 500 pound custom batch from my feed

mill. But I know that if I intend to hatch poults, I need

to pay attention to nutrition at various life stages.

To solve the ration problem, I turned to Jeff Mattocks

at The Fertrell Company. In the fall, the non-laying

breeders need a maintenance diet, which is listed in

the sidebar.

Because the ration consists of mostly whole grains

with supplemental minerals and vitamins, I was able

to source all the individual feed ingredients from my

mill. Based on a feeding rate of 0.5 pounds per

turkey per day, I need approximately 7.5 pounds of

feed a day, which means I need approximately 100

pounds for a two week supply.

To complicate matters, I don’t have a mixer or a

grinder. What I do have is a 55-gallon drum and an

ice auger, which would accommodate up to 300

pound batches even though I’m only mixing 100

pounds at a time. To make the micro-batch of feed, I

weighed each ingredient and dumped into the drum.

To mix everything up, I used the hand-powered ice

auger to stir it up. If you’ve ever drilled holes in 18

inches of ice with a hand auger, you’ll appreciate how

(Continued from page 5)

easily you can turn 100 pounds of mixed grains by

hand.

Heritage Turkey Maintenance Ration Ingredient ........ Amount (lbs.)

Corn .............................. 45.75

Wheat ........................... 25.00

Alfalfa ........................... 15.00

Roasted Soybeans ......... 8.75

Poultry Nutri-Balancer .... 3.00

Aragonite ........................ 2.50

Total............................ 100.00

Crude Protein ............. 11.8%

Crude Fat ..................... 4.0%

Crude Fiber .................. 6.8%

Mike’s “feed mixer” is a metal drum and a hand-powered ice auger that easily turns 100 pound batches of whole grains.


The other big obstacle to mixing very small batches

of feed is the amount of vitamin and mineral premix

(Poultry Nutri-Balancer) required in the ration. The 60

pound bag is a large investment for a rate of use at

about six pounds a month, not to mention the

minerals are perishable after opening the bag.

To help offset some of the expense and freshness

problems, I sold half my bag of Poultry Nutri-Balancer

to a friend. Then I wrapped my remaining portion in a

plastic bag and stored it in the freezer in an attempt

to keep everything fresh.

The plan is to switch the flock over to a layer ration in

December and prepare them for egg production.

Market Opportunities

In the 1930’s, the consumer demand favored the

smaller double-breasted carcass of the Beltsville. I

believe consumer and backyard grower demand is

still looking for smaller table birds. The challenge with

a heritage bird, of course, is profitability. In my view,

I’m not profitable with the commercial turkeys, so

there’s not much risk involved with this venture.

Realistically, I see more ways to make these turkeys

turn a profit beyond Thanksgiving. Generally

speaking, my primary goal is to successfully hatch

poults to supply my own turkey needs. Each hen,

however, has the potential to produce up to 150 eggs

per year. At 12 hens, that equals a potential 1,800

eggs to try to hatch, sell, or eat.

Hopefully, all those eggs translates into secondary

opportunities to sell hatching eggs, day-old poults,

started poults, or a combination of all that. Exactly

how things work out is unknown because I don’t have

a sense of hatching and survivability rates of the

pathogen-free birds. It may take a generation to build

up some antibodies in the flock. Dr. Tibbott suggests

in “The Beltsville Small White Turkey” that high

mortality in the first week of life could be expected, at

least with the first year. Now that sounds familiar.

While the Badger’s don’t know where this heritage turkey

adventure will end, Mike will chronicle the adventure.

There’s sure to be a host of challenges with trying to turn a

rescue flock into a profit. Stay tuned.

After being on the maintenance diet for as little as 24

hours, the birds showed a marked difference in

behavior and appearance. They were more alert and

less hunched. I spread the daily feeding into a

morning and evening portions and top-dress the feed

with the largest grit I can find. Finding turkey-sized

grit in my area of Pennsylvania is almost impossible.

In a pinch, I’m using developer-sized grit, and the

turkeys are eating it up.

They’ll put that grit to good use because my ration is

entirely whole grains; whole non-GMO corn, whole

non-GMO roasted soybeans, and wheat. The ration

called for alfalfa meal, but I initially source pellets.

I’ve noticed that the turkeys eat the corn, wheat and

soybeans while leaving the alfalfa pellets. Then after

several days pass by, they’ll devour all the alfalfa

from the bottom of the feeder.



APPPA Grit Issue 83 included a story entitled “Quick

Hitting Tour of Polyface Poultry Production.” In it, I

listed the total time to move, feed, and water a single

shelter as 1 minute. That’s definitely quick, and it’s

inaccurate. I ran two ideas together–shelter move-

ment with total chore time. Thank you to the Polyface

alumni for catching the error.

I asked Joel Salatin to provide the actual Polyface

Farms recommendations for poultry chores. His re-

sponse goes into more detail and describes the eco-

nomic returns associated with that daily labor:

Here is our official recommendation: 1 minute to

move, 1 minute to water, 1 minute to feed. If the

birds are small (into week 6), that's it for the day.

Once you go to what we call double chores (more

feed and water in the evening) then you add an-

other 2 minutes.

So if you figure an average 5 minutes per shelter

per day for everything, that's extremely liberal and

has plenty of forgiveness in there for fixing a

plugged waterer or something. At 40 days in the

field, that's 200 minutes per shelter to produce 70

salable birds (assuming 5 die or are not salable).

That comes out to roughly 3 minutes per bird in

the field. Add 1 minute per bird in the brooder and

you have a total of 4 production minutes per bird.

The other half is processing, which is also 4

minutes. That's 8 minutes per bird which means

you can do 7.5 birds per person-hour. If your mar-

gin is $2, that's $15 per hour. If it's $4, that's $30

per hour. If it's $6, that's $45 per hour.

Here at Polyface, we try to make it so that our

subcontractors can run at about $4 margins. That

still leaves us plenty for marketing and inventory

(freezers, etc.).

The archived version of Issue 83 has been corrected.

Time to Feed, Water, and Move Broilers at Polyface —Mike Badger


I get asked this question several times per year. De-

pending on whom you listen too or what you read,

you can be easily convinced in either direction. I dug

into this subject a little deeper recently and still sit in

the middle as to whether the fishing industry is har-

vesting sustainably. I do feel confident that most of

the governments of the primary fishing countries are

trying to regulate the fish harvesting in order to keep

the natural resource viable.

In my research, I found that the country of Peru takes

a very stringent scientific approach to measuring the

amount of fish at all stages of development to ensure

a future harvest [1]. In my search for answers, I found

a website that shows all of the fishing countries and

fish species. They are tracking harvest totals, school

location and size, health of the fishery, as well as

contamination levels of some fish for PCB, dioxins,

and other contaminants [2]. Surprisingly, the only

country I might not have total faith in would be the

U.S., as they manipulate the “safe” consumption val-

ues of how much farm-raised fish we can eat per

week.

I believe that, for the most part, the majority of the

countries that rely on commercial fishing for fishmeal

species are diligently trying to maintain the natural

resource for the next generation. This is really a deci-

sion you will need to make for yourselves. Interest-

ingly, Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) had a recent

article regarding fish meal fisheries. They project

that with the current increase of farm raised fish and

the use of wild caught fish to feed them that the other

feed industries (poultry, swine and dairy) will soon

not have any fishmeal for their diets. They went on

to say that the supply of fish oil would be limited even

sooner, as early as 2015 at the current growth rate

[3]. Whether this viewpoint is correct or not is still up

for debate.

The biggest question is, “What do we feed our poultry

and swine?” Commercial industry has no issues with

feeding ingredients like meat and bone meal, feather

meal, blood meal, and other domestic meat residues.

Meat type protein is our primary source of limiting

amino acids to satisfy our poultry’s needs. These

amino acids are methionine, cysteine and lysine in

soy free diets. These are the big three!

Without methionine, the birds will not develop cor-

rectly. You start to see runts, pecking and eating of

feathers, maintaining of small egg size for too long in

their lay cycles, poor immune system development,

and other issues. with a methionine deficiency. With-

out cysteine, the methionine won’t be properly uti-

lized by the body; think of cysteine like the methio-

nine bus driver. And without lysine, the birds just

won’t grow at a normal or reasonable rate.

When the goal of our farming practices is to try doing

something sustainable, we are constantly faced with

choices that really stink. Do we feed meat and bone

from domestically raised animals? How about feed

GMO’s with higher incident rates of E. coli, Salmonel-

la, cancer and disease to our pasture raised ani-

mals? Do we feed farm-raised catfish meal with the

same issues as commercial meat and bone meal? Or

feed more synthetic amino acids? Should we just

tolerate poor performance and slower growth rates?

Can we give in to economics over ethics? Unfortu-

nately life is full of tough choices, and it’s not always

as easy as right or wrong. The same can be said for

the use of fish meal in livestock production, and it’s

up to you to decide which side of the line you fall on.

Further Reading

[1] Sustainable Fisheries Partnership: www.sustainablefish.org

[2] Fish Information & Services: www.fis.com

[3] Fishmeal in Aquaculture: www.pbs.org/emptyoceans/fts/

fishmeal

Is Fish Meal Sustainable? —Jeff Mattocks and Casey Rogers

French sardine seiner. Photo by Jpbazard Jean-Pierre Bazard via Wikimedia Commons

http://www.sustainablefish.org

http://www.fis.com

http://www.pbs.org/emptyoceans/fts/fishmeal

http://www.pbs.org/emptyoceans/fts/fishmeal


In the Intermountain west we have a wide variation of

soil types, but all of it is highly erodible. Most of our

soils are clay/silt combinations that will blow all the

way to South Dakota in the robust winds of spring

and fall when most of us are preparing our fields for

planting.

Although no-till seeding is gaining momentum here in

the intermountain west, most fields are plowed,

disked, and leveled for potatoes, sugar beets, alfalfa

and pea, bean, and grain production. The winds

blow pretty much constantly here, between 4 and 22

mph depending on location, so topsoil erosion is a

big problem. Our soils also tend to be very thin,

young and undeveloped with minimal top soil, mini-

mal humus, and no nitrogen unless legumes are

grown. We specialize in rocks. We have sediment

rocks, granitic rocks, and lava rocks, which results in

very drought prone soils. In this era of warmer tem-

peratures, changing weather patterns resulting in

lower snow packs, and limited water resources, every

grain of topsoil is precious. So, cover crops are rap-

idly becoming the go to choice for minimizing soil

erosion, increasing humus, and developing additional

fertility.

The specific cover crop seed selection will depend on

what crop precedes the cover crop and what rotation

you plan after the cover crop. To get good cover crop

growth, it is important to give the crop at least a

month of growing season before the first frost. Here

in the intermountain west that is tricky since we often

have only a 90 day frost-free growing season. So at

5,500 feet, we plant our cover crops no later than the

first of August.

Many of the cover crop varieties are chosen for late

fall and winter forage here so that the cost of hay is

reduced or eliminated. I planted a 9 seed variety mix

last year the first of August in a ½ acre field I had

covered with about 30” of partially composted horse

manure and dried wood shavings. I was hoping that

the cover crop would further break down the shav-

ings and give my laying hens green forage through

the late fall and winter. We had unusually warm

weather into September and October and the cover

crop averaged 24” to 30” in height by the end of Oc-

tober. The weather continued to be unusually warm

into November with daytime temperatures above

freezing and nighttime temperatures in the 20’s until

the first week of December when the mercury

dropped to -25 degrees and stayed there for a week.

The cover crop froze and I opened the gate and let

the hens graze it. They thought they had died and

gone to heaven! They grazed that ½ acre all through

December, January and February in the cold with 2’

of snow sitting on it. They scratched right down to

the foliage through the snow for 3 months. When the

snow melted they went after the daikon radishes that

were 24” to 30” long and the forage turnips, which

were 6” to 8” in diameter. I do not use lights and their


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lay rate remained between 85-90%. Their yolks were

orange and the whites were not runny. I also fed a

wheat and cracked corn mix and a 19% protein pellet

from a local feed mill, but the hens preferred the

grains and the cover crop. Often I would not fill a 5

gal feeder with the 19% protein pellets but once a

month for 75 hens. And that was with temperatures

that hovered between -20 to +20 degrees for 3

months.

I moved the house and the hens to fresh pasture in

May, but not before they had picked that ½ acre com-

pletely bare of foliage and roots and bugs and worms

and anything else they could find. Their laying per-

centage never diminished. I have neighboring farm-

ers who plant cover crops for sheep, cattle and goat

forage as well, so I know they can be very success-

fully utilized for multiple species. The mix of cover

crop species is different, but the savings in hay and

labor costs is significant.

I would also recommend allowing the poultry to graze

the cover crop down to about 6” and then be re-

moved so that there is residue to either no-till drill

with a crop or pasture grasses or to be incorporated

into the soil for replanting.

The University of Idaho Research station and Exten-

sion have done a number of cover crop studies using

different combinations and measuring the amount of

dry matter harvested as well as soil tests to deter-

mine the increases in fertility and humus, but as far

as I am aware, the dry matter has not been tested for

the micronutrients poultry require, so eliminating sup-

plemental feed would not be a good idea. 16%

crude protein content is typical for cover crops

if legumes are included in the mix. So alt-

hough potentially your feed mix could be re-

duced in quantity or in protein content, these

computations have not been studied for pas-

tured poultry yet.

Unfortunately I did not do a soil test prior to

seeding the cover crop or after moving the

poultry, so I do not have any statistical verifica-

(Continued from page 11) tion of the improvements in my soil on this area. I

would definitely recommend that you do soil tests to

see the improvement in your soil. This area is to be-

come a market vegetable production area with a

greenhouse where I plan to winter my hens in future

winters, so I will be more scientific next time!

Our climates vary so much and our growing seasons

are so different across the country that it would be

best to consult with your local agricultural extension

office for information specific to your soils and sea-

sons, but I would highly recommend that you experi-

ment with this idea and see how you can customize

cover crops for your operation. It is a wonderful way

to hold and improve your soil, offer green forage

through the winter to your flock, and potentially save

on feed costs without losing laying production.

For more information about cover crops, SARE has

published a book: Managing Cover Crops Profitably,

which can be found at http://sare.org/Learning-

Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-

Edition.

Kathy Noble used a $500 APPPA scholarship (awarded in

2013) to host a pastured poultry workshop where one of

the topics was cover crops.

http://sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition




Ducks represent a promising pastured poultry

enterprise in terms of niche demand and premium

market prices. But that promise often fades after the

first processing has come and gone. A perfectly

raised duck can be ruined with poor processing

procedures. Over recent years, I’ve been refining my

duck processing.

When I first started processing, I followed Eli Reiff’s

recommended process, which was a cycle through

the scalder at 147 degrees Fahrenheit followed by a

dry pluck. Then the ducks went back to the scalder

for a second cycle followed by a second trip in the

plucker. The duration of the scald fluctuates based

on the age of the duck. For example, for an eight

week old Pekin, the first scald might be 90 seconds

and the second scald might be 60 seconds. A 21

week old Muscovy might run 120 seconds for the first

scald while the second scald might be in the 90-120

second range. Actual times are based on observation,

feel, and experience, which means you’ll fail a lot as

you either over or under scald.

Using Eli’s method, I estimate that about 1/3 of the

ducks I processed over a season were plucked nicely.

Eventually, I learned that processing ducks requires a

different standard than broilers, as you need to have

lower expectations. And to be fair, a lot of the

responsibility lies with the grower. The farmer needs to

know the age of their ducks, so they can be processed

at the right feather stage without pin feathers.

Unfortunately, getting production right requires more

than a few ducks.

Large volume duck producers, such as APPPA board

member Greg Gunthorp and farmer in Indiana, clean

the ducks by waxing them. They basically still scald and

pluck, but the process is finished with wax as the

polishing touch, so to speak. I started off the 2014

processing season thinking I would try to use wax

because I had a customer who wanted to do a decent

Art of Duck Plucking —Mike Badger


quantity of ducks each month. And I had given up on

Eli’s previously described method (sorry Eli!).

At first, I was very pleased with the results I had with

wax. I reduced my time in the scalder and the wax

appeared to really remove a lot of feathers. However,

the downsides were significant. Regulating

temperature via a turkey fryer, which I used for my

wax, was difficult. The large processors, like Greg,

use jacketed steam kettles to regulate temperature.

The wax was messy and increased clean up times.

Not to mention, I had to try to clean the feathers out

of the wax in order to reuse it. My enthusiasm was

short-lived when I realized that wax didn’t

compensate for careful production. Wax didn’t

compensate for ducks in full-on pin feather growth.

Sadly, my primary duck customer often held ducks

back on their scheduled processing day because of

insufficient weight gains or allowed multiple age

(Continued from page 13) flocks to commingle. I encouraged him to watch for

an increase in dropped feathers on pasture and

process when the ducks were ready, not based on

his “fresh duck” schedule. As a consequence, I gave

the farmer a lot of ducks that looked like they could

use a shave.

As the 2014 season finished, I gave up on wax and

revised Eli’s mechanical scald-dry pluck-scald-pluck

process with a scald-hand pluck-scald-pluck process.

Based on my observations, I’d say that it cleaned up

a higher percentage of ducks in that in-between

stage.

I found that ducks fell into three broad categories.

They either plucked as clean as a broiler or they

were peppered with pin feathers. But it’s the in-

between quality that sucks the most time out of the

processor. In between the two extremes, there’s a

duck that almost looks beautifully bare with the

exception of a few rows of pins that run along the

edge of the breast or perhaps the pins only show up

on the back with clean breasts.

From a processing standpoint, it’s this in-between

quality that has you thinking, “if I just remove this one

last pin everything will be ok.” The problem is that

there is always just one more pin to remove, and if

you fall victim to this line of thinking, you will be

beaten down. The next thing you know, you’re on a

pace to do one duck every 20 minutes and your duck

doesn’t look any better than when you started.

The procedure I’ve adopted appears to mitigate the

number of ducks I get in that in-between quality

stage, so that the results generally fall into the clean

or ugly categories.

Hand Plucked Duck

Using a 11-week-old Pekin duck in November as an

example, I scald the duck at 147 degrees for

approximately 120 seconds. While the ducks are

rotating in the scalder, I try to run my fingers through

the duck’s feathers to allow the water to penetrate

the feathers. Using at least a Playtex glove at this

stage will be more comfortable on your hands

because it will provide protection from the hot water.


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You know you’re at the right stage when you can

grab the feathers on the back of the duck and pull

them out by the fistfuls.

After this first scald cycle, I’ll stop the scalder and

keep all the ducks out of the water while I hand pluck.

I basically want to rip out as many of the feathers as I

can, especially the wing, breast, and back feathers. I

credit the Niche Meat Processor Assistance

Network’s (NMPAN) list serve for the hand plucking

tip. I find that scalding and plucking batches of four

ducks at a time provides a manageable amount and

is well matched to a 27 inch plucker. I do try to limit

my hand plucking to about 30 seconds per duck. You

can rip a lot of feathers out of a scalded duck in half a

minute.

At this point, there are usually large tufts of

unplucked feathers around the abdomen and neck

along with some patches of feathers still on the duck.

Depending on how well I did and how many feathers

actually came out, I’ll put them in the scalder for

another cycle, and as long as 60 seconds. I want to

get some hot water into the areas where I just

exposed to help remove the final feathers.

When scalding the ducks, be careful not to over

scald. The duck’s skin is less apt to tear as it over-

scalds, but it will start to get softer and visibly change

its texture.

Next, the birds go into the plucker for a 15 second

dry pluck. Then, I’ll turn the water on in the plucker

and let them tumble for another 45 seconds or so. In

reality, there’s no minimum or maximum amount of

time the ducks can tumble around the plucker.

At this point, the ducks are plucked as good as

they’re going to get. This is the step where you may

be tempted to put the ducks back into the scalder if

you’re looking at a carcass full of pin feathers. I can

tell you not to do it, but you will try anyway because

you believe that just a little more time will loosen


A batch of clean ducks after they were scalded, hand-plucked, scalded, and mechanically plucked. They still require hand work to clean up some remaining feathers. Feathery neck skin is trimmed with a knife.


those feathers. But it won’t, at least not enough to

notice.

I like to add water to the scalder after each batch.

Keeping the water level up in the scalder helps

ensure a consistent scald between the batches. On

processing day, do ducks first, primarily because the

water will be cleaner. And clean water is better.

Time, Temperature, and Agitation

In the spring of 2014, several APPPA board

members presented a Diversifying Poultry with

Turkeys, Ducks & Guineas track at the Pennsylvania

Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA)

Conference. I’ve watched Greg Gunthorp’s

presentation on ducks several times, and there are

three processing takeaways that I’ve adapted to my

current procedure. Those critical points are time,

temperature, and agitation.

(Continued from page 15) If you have any experience scalding broilers, then you

understand the time and temperature relation that is

fundamental to the process. Every group of ducks has

the potential to require different scalding times, so it’s

important to pay attention and adjust in real-time.

That’s the art of the process.

The agitation part is easy to overlook. With broilers, a

rotary scalder or the manual dunking action is

sufficient agitation. But ducks have feathers that repel

water, so they need more agitation of the feathers so

that the scald water reaches the skin. By adapting my

process to ruffle some feathers at the beginning of the

scald and by hand-plucking, I ensure the scald water

reaches the feather follicles for longer periods of time.

I am definitely aware of the irony in my process.

Contrary to thousands of dollars in equipment, my

success comes down hand plucking.

Mike has been reluctantly honing his duck plucking skills

and realizes that the next batch of ducks may provide a

humbling experience.


Editor’s Note: You don’t need to operate an inspect-

ed processing facility to use this information, which

provides practical guidance into properly chilling your

poultry (see pages 20, 21, and 23 for specific ap-

proaches). This guidance document has been edited

for space. The full version can be found at

http://1.usa.gov/1sKQNGI and the USDA is accepting

comments on the guidance until mid-December.

What is the purpose of this Compliance Guide-

line?

This Compliance Guide contains information regard-

ing how establishments producing ready-to-cook

(RTC) poultry can meet the new chilling requirements

by implementing former regulatory time and tempera-

ture provisions that the final rule on modernization of

poultry inspection removed from 9 CFR 381.66 (b) or

by following the time and temperature chilling proce-

dures that FSIS approved under the Salmonella Initi-

ative Program (SIP). FSIS considers the former regu-

lations and procedures approved under SIP as “safe

harbors” that have been scientifically validated. Es-

tablishments may also choose to develop their own

validated chilling procedures that will effectively con-

trol the levels, and prevent the multiplication, of spoil-

age organisms and pathogenic bacteria.

New Regulations Effective October 20, 2014

9 CFR 381.66 (b) (1) (i). Each official poultry slaugh-

ter establishment must ensure that all poultry car-

casses, parts, and giblets are chilled immediately

after slaughter operations so that there is no out-

growth of pathogens, unless such poultry is to be

frozen or cooked immediately at the official establish-

ment.

9 CFR 381.66(b) (1) (ii). Previously chilled poultry

carcasses and major portions must be kept chilled so

that there is no outgrowth of the pathogens, unless

such poultry is to be packed and frozen immediately

at the official establishment.

9 CFR 381.66(b) (2). After product has been chilled,

the establishment must prevent the outgrowth of

pathogens on the product as long as the product re-

mains at the establishment.

9 CFR 381.66 (b) (3).The establishment must devel-

op, implement, and maintain written procedures for

chilling that address, at a minimum, the potential for

pathogen outgrowth, the conditions affecting carcass

chilling, and when its chilling process is completed.

The establishment must incorporate these proce-

dures into its HACCP plan, or sanitation SOP, or oth-

er prerequisite program.

9 CFR 381.66 (e) Air chilling is the method of chilling

raw poultry carcasses and parts predominately with

Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection: Amendments to Chilling Requirements NEW REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILLING READY-TO-COOK POULTRY


air. An antimicrobial intervention may be applied

with water at the beginning of the chilling process,

provided that its use does not result in any net pick-

up of water or moisture during the chilling process.

The initial antimicrobial intervention may result in

some temperature reduction of the product, provided

that the majority of temperature removal is accom-

plished exclusively by chilled air.

Former Regulatory Provisions That Have Been

Removed That May be Followed to Meet New Re-

quirements

Establishments can meet the new chilling require-

ments by implementing the former regulatory time

and temperature provisions that the final rule on

modernization of poultry inspection removed from 9

CFR 381.66 (b). Below are the former regulatory

provisions that an establishment can continue to im-

plement to meet the regulatory requirements. FSIS

(Industry News continued from page 17) considers these provisions to be “safe harbors” that

will meet the new regulatory requirements. Under the

new regulations, establishments producing RTC poul-

try that choose to use the former regulations must

incorporate these procedures into their HACCP sys-

tem (HACCP plan or Sanitation SOP or other prereq-

uisite programs). These procedures will prevent the

outgrowth of pathogens. As under any other proce-

dures in a HACCP plan, Sanitation SOP, or other pre-

requisite program that is addressing pathogens, they

will also need to continue to monitor those operating

parameters and maintain documentation showing that

they are following these procedures.

Former provisions that FSIS considers to be safe

harbors:

A. All poultry that is slaughtered and eviscerated in

the official establishment shall be chilled immediately

after processing so that the internal temperature of

poultry carcasses and major portions weighing under

4 pounds was reduced to 40 °F or below within 4

hours of processing; carcasses weighing 4 to 8


temperatures for carcasses above in paragraphs A

and B. Any of the acceptable methods of chilling the

poultry carcass may be followed in cooling giblets.

G. Poultry washing, chilling and draining practices

and procedures must be such as will minimize water

absorption and retention at time of packing. The

establishment must provide scales, weights, identifi-

cation devices and other supplies necessary to con-

duct water tests.

H. In air chilled, ready-to-cook poultry, the internal

temperature of the carcasses shall be reduced to 40°

F or less within16 hours.

Alternative Chilling Procedures Granted under

Salmonella Initiative Program (SIP) waiver(s)

Under the Modernization of Poultry Slaughter final

rule, establishments will no longer need waivers of

the regulatory provisions of 9 CFR 381.66 to use al-

ternative approaches for chilling poultry.


pounds, within 6 hours of processing; and those

weighing over 8 pounds, within 8 hours of processing

unless such poultry is to be frozen or cooked immedi-

ately at the official establishment. Once chilled, poul-

try to be packaged and shipped is to be stored at 40°F

or less.

B. During further processing and packaging opera-

tions, the internal temperature of the poultry carcass

may rise to 55°F, provided that immediately after pack-

aging, the poultry is chilled to 40°F or placed in a

freezer. Any poultry held at the establishment in pack-

aged form longer than 24 hours should be held in a

room at a temperature of 36°F or lower. These times

and temperatures ensure no bacterial outgrowth oc-

curs before the package leaves the establishment.

C. Only ice produced from potable water may be used

for ice and water chilling, except that water and ice

used for chilling may be reused in accordance with

9 CFR 416.2(g). Major portions of poultry carcasses

(as defined in 9 CFR 381.170(b) (22) may be chilled in

water and ice. The ice must also be handled and

stored in a sanitary manner.

D. Poultry chilling equipment must be operated in a

manner consistent with meeting the applicable patho-

gen reduction performance standards for raw poultry

products as set forth in 9 CFR 381.94 and the provi-

sions of the establishment’s HACCP plan.

E. Previously chilled poultry carcasses and major por-

tions must be maintained constantly at 40° F or below

until removed from vats or tanks for immediate

packaging. Such products may be removed from the

vats or tanks prior to being cooled to 40° F or below,

for freezing or cooling in the official establishment.

Such products must not be packed until after they

have chilled to 40° F or below, except when the pack-

aging will be followed immediately by freezing at the

official establishment.

F. Giblets should be chilled to 40° F or lower within

two hours of the time that they are removed from the

inedible viscera, except that when the giblets are

cooled with the carcass from which they were drawn,

the giblets should be subject to the same time and


Below are examples of common alternative proce-

dures implemented by establishments that participat-

ed in SIP. Because these alternative procedures

have been validated under the SIP program, any es-

tablishment producing RTC poultry may choose to

implement the alternative procedures and incorporate

these scientifically validated procedures into their

HACCP system (HACCP plan or Sanitation SOP or

other prerequisite programs). These procedures will

address the outgrowth of pathogens and no further

scientific validation is needed. However, as with any

procedure in a HACCP plan, Sanitation SOP, or oth-

er prerequisite program that addresses pathogens,

establishments will need to document that they have

executed these validated procedures to operate as

intended within their establishment.

Alternative procedures to chill young chicken car-

casses immediately after processing so that the

internal temperature is reduced to 44°F or below

(Continued from page 19) in six hours at the chiller exit. Under these alter-

native procedures, the internal temperature may

rise to a maximum of 55°F during further pro-

cessing provided that immediately after packag-

ing the poultry is placed under refrigeration that

promptly lowers the internal temperature to 44°F

or less, and that temperature is maintained until

shipping. Under these procedures, poultry held

in packaged form in excess of 24 hours may be

held in a room at a temperature of 40° F or less

and poultry to be shipped from the establishment

in packaged form needs to be maintained and

shipped at 44° F internal temperature or less.

Procedures for time and temperature as the criti-

cal limit (CL) in the critical control point (CCP) to

chill young chicken carcasses immediately after

processing so that the internal temperature is

reduced to 45°F or below in 16 hours. Under this

alternative procedure, after chilling, the internal

temperature may rise to a maximum of 60°F dur-

ing further processing provided that immediately

after packaging the poultry is placed under refrig-

eration that promptly lowers the internal tempera-

ture to 45°F or less until shipping. Under this pro-

cedure, poultry held in packaged form in excess

of 24 hours needs to be held in a room at a tem-

perature of 36°F or less.

Procedures to maintain previously chilled young

chicken carcasses and major portions so that the

internal temperature is 44° F or below until re-

moved from vats and tanks for immediate pack-

aging. Such products may be removed from the

vats or tanks prior to being cooled to 44° F or

below for freezing or cooling in the official estab-

lishment. Under this alternative procedure, such

products may not be packaged until after they

have been chilled to 44° F or below, except when

the packaging will be followed immediately by

freezing at the official establishment.

Procedures to chill giblets, major portions, paws,

and parts to 44° F or less within 4 hours from the

time they are removed from the inedible viscera.

You may find this document online at

http://1.usa.gov/1sKQNGI .


needs of different types of fowl. Unfortunately, it’s

possible for feed mills to take advantage of the de-

mand for GMO-free and organic feed without truly

understanding the nutritional needs of the poultry

market they are serving.

So when customers using non-GMO or organic feed

call the hatchery with chick health issues, I recom-

mend that they give their chicks free choice of kelp

and add a vitamin packet to their water every now

and then as a precaution against inferior feed.

Countless of our customers have overcome health

issues by adding vitamins to the water.

Here at Freedom Ranger Hatchery, we are commit-

ted to serving the needs of our naturally-minded cus-

tomers. In fact, our hatchery recently started offering


Our family’s Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, hatch-

ery mails chicks across the United States every week

during the spring and summer months. Because we

offer a great non-heritage breed for pastured poultry,

our customers typically care about both the health of

their chicks, as well as the health of those who enjoy

the meat they grow. We have, however, noticed that

when customers call the hatchery due to chicken

health issues, the majority of the issues seem to be

related to the use of non-GMO or organic feeds.

As I’ve researched this issue, I have discovered that

many of the smaller feed mills across the country—

although run by fine folks—do not always have the

resources to do a good job with the demand for or-

ganic or non-GMO feed. Many of these companies

have one feed mix for egg layers, broilers, ducks,

geese and game birds despite the different nutritional

Improve Flock Health with Kelp and Vitamin Supplements —Arthur Detweiler


We had already lost two out of four high tunnels. Our

main hydro lettuce house (150x37 feet) had already

lost its roof in Fay. The sides were seriously

stressed. We roped down the hundreds of pans. It

was now Friday afternoon, and the wind was picking

up. We have old milk tanks as reservoirs in outlying

pastures. The forecasted direction of the storm had

many at risk of being carried off. They needed to be

filled for weight. Unfortunately, much of their access

would be compromised with downed trees and prob-

ably only accessible by foot in the very near future.

The wind was building, and it was getting dark. The

start of round 2. DING!

Then it blew and intensified. Dogs blowing off chains

kind of stuff. Anemometers were disintegrating at

about 120 knots. Here we go. Hang on. We are ab-

solutely exhausted. We are well into this live event

which requires constant monitoring to relieve wind

pressure in order to try to keep our heavy limestone

roofs on. The leeward side of the house must be

completely open and adjustments made with chang-

ing wind direction.

The generator tractor had to be constantly monitored

for obvious reasons. Power is critical in these condi-

tions. Water has to be pumped, refrigeration running.

If any of this goes down, it is not good; it can actually

be life threatening.

The eye then arrived. What a lovely evening! There

were stars with barely a breath of wind. Spectacular!

It’s time to haul more fuel and do a quick check for

anything else that has let go. Then shutter the old

leeward side and open the old windward. Brace your-

self. It’s round 3. Forget the bell, it has already start-

ed. Our routine includes cat naps, constant mopping,

towel duty, a few more screws in a rattling door and

prayer. At about 3 am, another tornado must have

been very close as the whole house shook. The

house is 12" masonry. When the bed started to jump

around, I really thought it was over. I have never

been so terrified in my life. I have been in serious life

(Continued from page 3) threatening situations before, but never have I ever

felt so vulnerable. A nimble mind is critical. I am truly

glad to be alive.

We continue to assess. We continue to plant. The

three lambs born in the height of the storm are doing

well. We are strained to the max. We have lost our

fall CSA. We have about lost it all.

Looking back, we are so fortunate. No one was hurt.

No one insures this stuff.

I am forever grateful for everyone who flew in to help,

prayed for us, kept us fed, our fabulous team, those

who kept us rolling mechanically, delivered critical

fuel, extended credit, and spoke kind words. The list

is endless.

May God be with you all.

Sincerely, Tom Wadson,

APPPA President


Renew Membership (Renew at apppa.org or return this form with your

check.)

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APPPA, PO Box 85, Hughesville, PA 17737-0085

chicks that come from a parent flock whose diet has

been strictly regulated to insure no GMOs have been

consumed. The fact is, however, that high-quality

GMO-free or organic poultry feed mixes require addi-

tional knowledge, skill, and commitment from feed

providers. We are honored to know companies that

do a great job mixing feeds with quality ingredients

that deliver the protein and nutrition that growing broil-

ers require. However, we need more feed mills that

are committed and capable to delivering a quality

product.

Arthur Detweiler

Freedom Ranger Hatchery

www.freedomrangerhatchery.com


Producer Marketplace To place an ad, email [email protected] or call 888-

662-7772.

New Featherman Pro Plucker

Previously used to process 7 birds for a demo. Pluck-

er sits in Hughesville, Pennsylvania. Asking $900. Will

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Contact [email protected] or (570) 584-2309.

Red Sex Links

Pastured, healthy 7 month old hens laying at about

90%. $15 each. Seattle, WA. Contact Brent 360-

793-1239

GMO Feeding Trial Many of you have asked for a follow up regarding our

GMO/Non-GMO feeding trial in July. We have a lot of

great production data to share from the trial, but we

found ourselves waiting several months for our lab-

work. The lab results are back now and we’re trying to

make sense of the data. We won’t rush the analysis

just to meet a deadline, but we won’t suppress any

results either. Most likely, we’ll end up with more

questions and less answers. Check Issue 85 in Janu-

ary.

If the number printed above your address is #84 or earlier, renew by mailing the form

on page 23 or renew online at www.apppa.org.

APPPA PO Box 85

Hughesville, PA 17737

PRSRT STD

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Permit #203

178 Lowry Rd, New Holland, PA 17557

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Specializing in hatching guinea keets, bantam silkie chicks, Muscovy ducks, and Khaki Campbell ducks.

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