1. Where do you buy point of lay hens from?
Previously.
Peak pullets - Lohmann Browns
Nulaid - Lohmann browns
Currently.
Rosendal Farm – Paarl - Amberlink Whites.
2. What medicine / vaccinations are required, how often and cost?
We vaccinate every 3 weeks with a combined Newcastle(NBD)/Infectious Bronchitis(IB) vaccine that we spray onto the birds with a back pack sprayer.
Vaccine is R276 for 8 (8000) so R276.
Vaccination cannot be done in isolation from blood samples - Pathcare R960 every 3 weeks.
We take this 10 days after vaccinations, and check the titers for NBD and IB before the next vaccinations.
We also administer, apple cider vinegar to the drinking water (7 litres per 1,000 litres) in the 3 days leading up to full moon, for worms, as this is the time worms are most active.
3. At what age do you get your birds and how long do you keep them for?
We get our birds at point of lay which is 19 weeks.
We keep them for 64 weeks which means we cull them at 83 weeks of age.
So every 16 weeks we are getting new birds.
4. Where do birds go on rainy days? All in the Eggmobile?
They are free to go where the want, they usually still roam about
unless it's very heavy rain then they, seek shelter in/under mobiles.
5. How much additional feed do they get?
This is entirely dependent on the lushness of your pastures. The more legumes you have the less they eat. We are averaging, over the year, 135 grams per hens per day of the laying mash.
6. Are standard laying pellets sufficient or do we need special mix?
The hens are on a 85% non GMO laying mash that is made for us by Profile Feeds in Paarl. Try to avoid GMO at all costs as this keeps your hens free of the carcinogen and mineral chelator, Glyphosate.
7. Do you sell old birds as free range meat?
The meat is very tough and there is not much of it off a laying hen. We usually sell them live off the farm. If we do slaughter some we make chicken broth, or sell them as stock birds.
8. Where do you sell old birds or what happens to them?
We sell the to small businesses who then resell the hens in the townships.
9. Do you have issues with birds eating own eggs? If so, how do you prevent
it?
We don't, we don't prevent it. Hens will only eat eggs for two reasons. 1. Eggs are left in the nest boxes all day which then causes one to be damaged and once this happens they will eat it (we collect eggs 3 x a day) and 2. The laying mash that you are feeding them is deficient.
10. How do you keep one flock apart from other and prevent flock from going
back to yesterday's patch?
We keep them separate with fencing. We use bonox or veldspan. It must be the 150mm and the ideal height is anything over 1.2 metres. They will always go where the grass is greener, hence no going backwards to old patches with no grass. It is critical that the Eggmobiles are moved daily.
11. How close do flocks get to another? Do they run side by side? How do you
prevent them from mixing?
Fencing, as above. The sometimes move side by side.
12. Are birds' wings clipped or are fences high enough?
Not clipped, the fences are 1.2m average. They cannot fly over these fences.
13. What is the mixture of the pasture (types of grasses, legumes, etc)
We plant 18 varieties of grasses and legumes. All perennial plants. List and planting density in the same blog posting as this document.
14. Do you trim the pasture in any other way or only cattle grazing after
birds?
Only our animals trim our pasture. Cattle and chickens graze equally heavily.
15. Would grazing sheep on pasture after birds work?
Not immediately after, birds really hammer the pasture. Having multiple species graze is a good idea though as their parasites don’t harm the other species.
16. What type of irrigation do you use (drip, tinkies, cannon)?
We use normal, sprinklers NaanDanJain, 15 metres by 15 metres spacing. This is for blocks under 20 hectares. As soon as you go larger don’t install anything but a centre pivot as neither cattle nor Zulus can break a centre pivot. It is also much easier to manage. 60 hectares is the most cost efficient.
17. Do you add additional fertiliser to pasture?
Only if there is enough money in the budget. Talborne makes the best organic fertiliser. However in time the chickens and cattle will add enough manure of their own to the pastures.
In order of priority when you plant new pastures spend your money as follows. Timing of the planting is the most important. (See the Farmer Angus blog for more details here) Work the soil with a Yeoman Plow. Amend the soil with minerals according to the Albrecht analysis done for you by Brookside Labs. Add Talborne fertiliser and don’t forget your timing of planting.
One additional soil amendment we apply is the BioDynamic 500 horn manure field spray which encourages microbial life. To balance this fertility preparation out we also spray the BioDynamic 501 horn silica spray.
18. Where can we get an egg sorter/classifier and what is cost?
We bought ours from Movosa Spares in Johannesburg. Google should be able to help you find them.
19. How often do you collect eggs? 1x, 2x per day or continuously?
3 times a day, every single day.
20. Do you mark/label individual eggs?
No. We mark eggs packed daily, with date on box.
21. Are eggs priced the same regardless of size?
Currently yes, but not going forwards.
22. How many daily FTE's are required per eggmobile (or how many birds can one worker manage)?
One worker can handle 4 mobiles. (280 x 4) = 1120 birds.
23. Is the floor of the Eggmobile only expanded metal or do you add solid floor on top?
All mesh.
24. Do you provide heating in colder periods? Our nights can go to -5º and
below 5º is common in winter at night. Daytime would be >15º most of time.
We don't.
25. Do you provide lighting?
Yes. A chicken is stimulated by light to lay and so we extend normal daylight in winter, to keep total light at 15:30hrs. The light intensity cannot be more than 8 lux as hens have very sensitive eyes.
26. Can we push for 300 birds per mobile?
No, we stick to no more than 280.
27. What are the nest/laying boxes lined with?
Must be painted black. The boxes are filled with Sawdust and then two handfuls of diatomaceous earth which keeps their skins parasite free. Staff need to understand that these nest boxes need to be kept full of shavings/sawdust all the time otherwise eggs break on the exposed wood of the nest/laying box.
28. What do the numbers in the Eggmobile numbers PDF stand for?
They refer to various items that are listed in the plans
29. How do they drink?
They drink from bell drinkers which are gravity fed.
30. What are the solar panels and battery for?
To control the lights as per point 25 above.