Multipurpose

What is this?

 

Originally, we had several of those made as battery type brooders.  They are the brooders that are like condominiums. Space saver, yes.  But, hard to clean among other things.  

At the farm, we do litter type (on the floor) brooding, inside the poultry building....that works best for us.

The battery types are kept for emergency brooding, or works well  as isolation pens for chickens and even piglets......and is a seedling nursery, safe from predators ;)

Making Things Lighter

We have always been on the look out for ways and means to make work load lighter for our workers.  The recipe for making Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) seems easy of you will read it at 2kgs plants and 1k Molasses.  With that, you will harvest about 2.5liters of FPJ.  That amount is OK if you have a backyard of vegetables to tend and spray.  But if you are doing commercial farming of pastured chickens, we ferment about 20kgs of plants almost every other day.

Preparing for an instructional video on making the different concoctions, made me see how our staff is making FPJ, OHN etc on a close up view.  

I took photographs recently on a very sad moment and after that I told Doc Rey that it pays to get a professional photographer in times of grief.  I experienced and saw the sadness of everyone as you frame them in your camera's lens and create a subject.

To cut on time, we had gotten a shredder/chopper for the preparation of the materials for FPJ.  But now that I was taking photos and video for the movie we will make, I saw how difficult it was to harvest  and press the sludge to extract the FPJ, OHN etc, manually.  The OHN was very hot to the touch...imagine all that garlic, onions, ginger, chili etc.  Doc Rey commented on it too, and he was just seeing the photos and the raw videos.  He wasn't present during the harvest.

You just have to ask others, as surely, they have encountered the same problems.  How do we extract and press the sludge, aside from manually?  One said go to a machine shop and have a presser made.  One said they used an old washing machine that only the spinner is left working.  Bright idea!

I told my staff right away and she said she had thought about that too and that she thought of using the plastic net bags to portion them well so not to heavy load for the spinner and no mess as the sludge will be in the net bags.  Yes, just as Jojie said...spinner and net bags :)

Doc Rey keeps old things well...after I called him, he came back with an old , working washing machine.  They set it up high so it will be easy to harvest and drain from the hose.

Ask...don't be shy!  Natural farmers are very generous with time, effort and knowledge :)

We Can't Have Too Much Of Azolla

Check out pictures on instant holding areas for Azolla, using inverted mosquito nets.

You don't need a deep fishpond to multiply Azolla.  Shallow ponds are doable and cheap for this project.  Line them with thick pond liners, or used billboard tarpaulins.  Prepare the pond with your IMO and beddings.

We can't have too much of Azolla as it may be fed to animals, used as green manure, and shared with others :)

From Farm To Market

At any given time, I have about four or five pairs of comfortable rubber boots.  They can be worn the whole day without taxing my legs.  It is worth it to invest in good pairs of shoes that will protect your feet and legs when going through farms and interesting finds in wet markets.  

Snakes, flood waters, thorny bushes, entangling vines etc...we have to be protected.  As in all cases, better to be defensive rather than offensive :)

Be comfortable.  The bonus is you can still look good when farming.

Fill Her Up

How do I use an auto feeder?

See the opening on top? That is where you put the feeds.

There are several sizes. The smallest auto feeder can accommodate 5kgs. The advantage of using auto feeders is that the Sunshines don't get to scratch , play nor poo in their feeds :) Plus the most convenience of care taking in absentia...they are guaranteed to have feeds even if you are not around.

For now, we do the auto feeders inside the pens, and on the range. On the range, they have the choice to go to forage or grains. More often than not, they want to forage. Look at the photo above, they prefer to go outside :)

Air Conditioner

The big poultry buildings use large industrial fans, if they are not tunnel ventilated. That is to give air to the cramped up buildings.

In free range chicken raising, we want to make it comfortable for our chickens too. This size and type of fan is good to lower temperature and give good air circulation for housing and range alike. The rainy season may have started, but then it can get so humid. The fan blows out a very fine mist that cools the air.

Easy Way Out

Make it accessible and simple. It will benefit your caretaker and your Sunshines :) Your caretaker will not miss doing it if it is simple to do. The Sunshines will want to step out earlier and more often when they don't have to go through a maze to find that door.

It is very important that they have easy access to the range outside. That is where they go hunting for their food. That is where they get their exercise and develop their lean bodies.

Pick a design that will work for you. Depending on the materials used for your housing, there may be easier ways to do it.

Necessity

Water is one.

In our visit to Platinum Island Farm, we came from the top and as we were descending the road that leads us to the farm, I spotted this blue drum and told my company that we are near as I see a semblance of a water tank. You know how we have those blue drums as water reserve containers?

I forgot all about that sighting and when we were being toured around the farm and saw THIS! OMG...this was the small blue drum from the top!

You need water for everything...cleaning, feeding. You have to make sure you have a source of water all the time.

AANI Harvest Festival

AANI Harvest Festival: Farm in the park! July 16-18 at AANI Herbal Garden, Quezon Memorial Circle.

Fiesta ambiance with farm animals, zoo, barbecues, fruits, veggies, wine tasting, free seminars, music, gardening and cooking demos. Merrymaking, Agri and Aqua Kapihan etc.

This will celebrate AANI's anniversary.

There will be a seminar on Raising Sunshine Chicken:

Saturday, July 17, 8am, by Doc Rey :)

Free entrance. See you there!

Urban Food

Another topic on the nipple drinker....hahahhaha.....but then it is really practical and thinking out of the box may not be enough. So many usage and ways to use it.

We are spending a lot more time in our urban setting and wanted to have some free ranging Sunshines in our midst. Doc Rey started with seven chicks in May and targeted to harvest it in August. Having fun brooding and planning for urban set up. This is when you get assured that when given common sense care....they survive even when left for several days during brooding. Don't ape that. Only a vet's gut feel and experience can pulloff brooding in absentia!

Before we knew it, they were big already and ready to range :) We get so excited as we get to see them only on weekends in Manila.

We thought that if the farm used nipple drinkers...then why not in the city? Very logical when no caretaker. In smaller setting, you need a smaller water receptacle too. Doc Rey was figuring out how to insert the PVC pipe at the back. I said why not remove the faucet and insert thru that hole.....two heads are better than one!

The water container was set on a hollowblock. It was the right height for now. As they grow, you adjust the height of the pedestal.

Yes, Doc Rey also has an auto feeder for them now. My fruits and vegetables are shared with the Seven Sunshines!

My neighbor saw it and thought about raising some and encouraging the community. I really hope so....Yes, people can take care of their own for food. Start with how many chickens you can consume in a month.

Be There And Observe

Doc Rey is spending a couple of days in the farm. The rains have started to come and he wants to see the flow of work and the water.

The roofs of the housings aren't leaking, but the monitor seems too high and the opening is taking in rain. He made some adjustments. The caretaker just said the houses were leaking.

Some portions near the ranging areas were collecting water. Move ranges? Nope. Landfill. Some shovels of gravel on the area and no more paddles.

Make things easier to haul things....use a hand tractor with a cart, to ferry supplies among ranges.

Rain was so strong today. Doc Rey had a 4X4 with him and was very confident. By dinner time, he calls that he got stuck! Laughs and said that he didn't think the mud will be a problem. There was no need for any pull. He stepped out and placed a rock under his tire.

That's it. Be present and observe. Only way you can solve problems. Remote control is OK only when you know the movements and can picture the scene. Being told of a problem when you are clueless to history and guessing won't work for the long haul.

Auto Feeders

When you are growing, sometimes it is not best to add manpower. I believe in a few good men :) Rather than add labor, decrease work load.

Such was the case in the farm. Recently we need to develop a new area for ranging, at the same time the load of grow out Sunshines in the farm increased to almost triple because of demand. As per previous posts, you have read by now what steps we took in making life easier for the farm helpers.

Why auto feeders? Initially, it was to make feeding easy. You just fill up the auto feeders and that will take care of the adlibitum needs of the chicks. More often, they still want to play outside in their range. Note that most are outside?

What additional benefits?

1) The chicks were not stepping nor scratching on their feeds. No wastage. The auto feeders are hanging and the chicks can't reach the feeds to play and waste.

2) See the beddings of the housing? Clean, because no feeds gone astray.

PS: For the nipple drinkers' advantages:

1) No cleaning for waterers. Boy, that takes a lot of time and effort!

2) So convenient to just open the faucet. Our water is from our own deep wells.

3) No wet floors too, as no waterers are upturned.

Add to that the ease in rearing free range colored broilers! Am not saying that all you have to do is sit to watch the Sunshine Chicks. You have to give it a lot of TLC for it to be robust and ready to face the open range in 21days.

Pro Active

We always think of ways to make it easier for the farmhelp to cope with the ever increasing workloads. Goes with either growth or you get more work when you are lax and you always go back to fix things :(

I want to think that we are always busy because we are growing.

Our ranges have the nipple drinkers as water system for the Sunshine rangers. I don't know why we haven't done it for our brooding area and houses too??? We were meeting on how to make things lighter for labor and talks about motorized curtains so you just flick a switch, auto feeders even in houses, additional water pumps installed, solar panels for lights...and of course why not nipple drinkers in all houses!

A drum is attached to a faucet outside the housing. You just have to open the faucet to let water into the drum. If you need to add some concoctions to your drinking water, it is easily done in this drum. Water is dispensed when the chicks peck on the nipples. As a bonus, they have a perch.

Habits are hard to break and there are still waterers placed inside the housing. The farmhelp will stop doing that once he is convinced that he isn't being eased out of his job.

Eventually we will go into mechanized feeding system for the Sunshines. Not really to get rid of farmhelp...it is so for them to do other things that machines can't do...like plant vegetables and trees :)

To Each Its Own Housing

The designs of housing/pens can be adapted from big ones to small ones. You may have it in concrete or in wood. Fixed and posted firm, or movable structures.

Depends on what is convenient and easy for you to handle. Your needs should be met so that it will be a doable project.

For me I like brooders that are in cages. It seems easier for me to clean and pullout trays that catch their waste. Brooding bulbs are for me so I don't need the heat from the beddings. Doc Rey wants litter type. He sees it more convenient to scrape the beddings in one big load. Also, he likes preaching about the heat and moisture sponge from the beddings used. For smaller scale, the most practical will be Jojie's Crib (search on that topic in this blog).

Housing on the range, I like portable pens, or semi movable ones. It gives me the flexibility to be fickle minded and ever changing and change locations....much like moving a loveseat and a candlestick around the house. I don't think its expensive to be constantly changing, as you learn and amend designs, materials and locations with time. You need to change anyway as it wears :)

Location: Brooders have to be near water and electricity source. Water is most important. I like it near the caretaker as he has to give 25hrs attention, 8days a week.....at least for 22days :) Ranging: Anywhere fresh, a lot of grasses, clean air....

When ready to slaughter, we move it near the road/driveway - transport logistics.

Making Life Easier

Often been asked about choppers/shredders. The ones out in the market before were very expensive stuff but useful to have around as it allows you to concentrate on other issues other than personalities when you have a lot of manpower.

At PHP35,000, this is a good buy. 6.5hp and shreds 500kilos/hour...not bad :)

If you have little space, then cut and carry should be it for your Sunshines. A chopper will be handy for you. Making your fermented fruit and plant juices will be sisiw now wehhhehehe.

Solraya will be carrying this and may accept orders from you.