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Sarah and William Rogers
help their mother, Laura, by filling poultry water containers
and tallying income and expenses, making the Kentucky operation
a true family endeavor.
- Photo by Gwen Roland |
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Most producers find alternative poultry systems make economic sense
because the cost of establishing them is low while the potential
for significant and steady income is high. However, much of the
growing interest is because these new systems also promote values
such as family cohesion, a clean environment, an outdoor lifestyle
and independence for farmers.
Family and Lifestyle Benefits
Joleen Marquardt, the Wyoming pastured poultry producer, held down
a variety of jobs off the farm, but realized a few years ago that
she was missing out on too much of her children’s lives. She
and her husband, Greg, who operate a dryland wheat farm, were juggling
child care with her various jobs.
“I like to work and contribute to the upkeep of the family,”
she said, “but I felt I was losing contact with the kids.”
Her pastured poultry venture changed all that.
“I kept one of my jobs because I can do it in the winter
months when we can’t raise chickens outdoors, but I focus
on broilers right up through Thanksgiving,” she said. She
can also focus on sons James and Jordan, and daughter Jessica, because
they work right alongside her now instead of waiting for her to
come home from town every evening.
“That’s the biggest benefit,” Marquardt declared.
“I work with my kids, and see them learn how to take care
of the chickens and work with customers.”
Considering what she used to spend on babysitters and travel, “I
didn’t sacrifice anything by starting this business at home.
In fact, in a couple more years I’ll probably be making more
than I could have any other way.”
Marquardt’s lifestyle resembles that of many other range
poultry farmers. Some stages are so labor intensive they can’t
be done in isolation, and families provide the most ready workforce.
Children with sufficient training can handle even the most difficult
parts of the process, including moving field pens or relocating
larger portable shelters with a tractor. They also can help dress
and package broilers, or collect and wash eggs.
Children provide help that is not only valuable to their parents
but also teaches them about careful treatment of animals and reward
for labor. Sarah Rogers, 10, and her seven-year-old brother, William,
handle watering chores for their mother, Laura Rogers, in Woodbine,
Ky., every day after school. While Laura Rogers moves the poultry
pens, the kids fill five-gallon buckets with water. They also check
on the chickens, gather them when needed and ensure pen doors are
closed each evening.
“They know we have to work on the pens every day, just like
homework,” said Laura Rogers, who has taught them how to keep
accounts using money they’ve earned from poultry proceeds.
“Best of all, they are learning that a family works best when
it works together.”
Labor
Wisconsin’s CIAS researchers, tracking labor on five pastured
poultry farms, developed a model where farmers spend 20 to 22 hours
per week handling a 1,000-bird supplementary enterprise, raising
chickens from chicks through slaughter at eight to 14 weeks.
As a 5,000-bird primary enterprise, annual net returns would average
more than $18,000 by the 10th year, involving a 35- to 42-hour work
week for six months of production.
Ohio farmer, author and lecturer Herman Beck-Chenoweth believes
farmers routinely undervalue the cost of their own labor.
“They should keep track of everything, from building pens
to reading and learning more about the process, to marketing, and
if it isn’t paying, they should do something else,”
he said, adding that it is important to ask a fair price for meat
and eggs while minimizing the amount of time spent on poultry chores.
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