Evaluating A Started Turkey Business as a Buyer and Seller - PPT095
Release Date: 09/27/2019
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and Pastured Poultry Flocks
Pastured Poultry Talk
I have a conversation with Chrislyn Wood, DVM, about the threat of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and pasture raised flocks. Dr. Wood is a veterinarian with USDA APHIS and she is involved first hand with HPAI monitoring and response efforts. We cover a lot of ground, including historical observations, risk assessment, disease identification, and prevention.
info_outline
The Days of Wholesale Pastured Chickens are Over for Greg Gunthorp
Pastured Poultry Talk
Greg Gunthorp joins the show to talk about his decision to step away from pasture raised chickens. Covid plays into the story, of course, but the challenges started long before this virus came to be front page news.
info_outline
Turning a 20 year chicken hobby into a farm with Cynthia Capers
Pastured Poultry Talk
Cynthia Capers, Heniscity Farm in Tennessee, shares her 20+ year journey from hobby chicken keeper to farm. Twenty years ago, the sight of six Black Australorps brought tears to her eyes. Today, she's serving her community through egg sales, chick sales, and pullet sales.
info_outline
PPT114 - Small Layer Flock Profitability
Pastured Poultry Talk
I answer a listener question, "How can I make my small laying hen flock more profitable?" With feedback from the community, insights from The Fighting Farmer, and personal experience, we dive deep into ways to prosper from your small flock of laying hens.
info_outline
Perdue Acquires Pasturebird
Pastured Poultry Talk
Perdue acquires Pasturebird and becomes the biggest producer in the space. I unpack what it means on this episode and walk through some history.
info_outline
Maintain Production with All In/All Out Rotation for 5,000 laying hens
Pastured Poultry Talk
Listener Chris asks how to utilize an all-in/all-out pullet replacement strategy without duplicating infrastructure while maintaining egg production. To help answer the question, I share insights from Mark Harrison and Dave and Ginger Shields.
info_outline
Community Q&A Plus a Monologue on Heritage Poultry's Role in Pastured (PPT109)
Pastured Poultry Talk
I close out the pastured poultry training series with a live streamed Q&A between Terrell Spencer from The Fighting Farmer and myself. We went live on Facebook and fielded questions from our listeners, and this episode of the podcast includes an edited version of that conversation. If you want to watch a replay of the stream, find it on . Before we work into the questions, I offer some thoughts on heritage poultry's potential role in pastured community. APPPA has recently started to focus on breeding specific topics and offers monthly livestreams on breeding. Check out . We cover a...
info_outline
Feed Management Tips to Reduce Waste & Maintain Egg Production
Pastured Poultry Talk
In Pastured Poultry Talk episode 110, farmer Matt Steinman discussed how he used fermented feed as a solution to waste and fines. While fermentation can be a viable solution for some people, it's not the only way to deal with fines. This episode unpacks those options.
info_outline
Is Fermented Feed Worth the Time for 1,000 hens?
Pastured Poultry Talk
Farmer Matt Steinman (Foothills Farm in Sedro-Woolley, Washington) and Dr. Louisa Brouwer (technical advisor on the trial) share the results of a SARE-funded trial that sought to understand the economic impacts of feeding fermented feed to laying hens. The trial compared a dry feed, wet feed, and a fermented feed and then determined the net difference across to the bottom line.
info_outline
Community Q&A PIus a Heritage Poultry Monologue
Pastured Poultry Talk
I close out the pastured poultry training series with a live streamed Q&A between Terrell Spencer from The Fighting Farmer and myself. We went live on Facebook and fielded questions from our listeners, and this episode of the podcast includes an edited version of that conversation
info_outline
Turkeys are one of the most adored birds in the pastured poultry community with a strong emotional tie to family Thanksgiving; however, they can often be challenging to raise because they require more time and attention than a chicken. Those challenges often see high mortality rates or farmers who opt out of turkeys all together.
There are at least two possible solutions to the turkey raising woes. The first is to get better at turkeys, but turkeys arrive on farm in one of the busiest times of the season, so it's not always that easy. The second possibility is to purchase started turkeys from another grower. In addition to the opportunities, this podcast episode will focus on the math and marketing of 6 week old started turkeys.
How much does it cost to raise a turkey for 6 weeks?
As producers, we spend a lot of time focusing on cost of production, and with young turkeys those costs are evident from day one. The cost of day old turkey poults is all over the map and can range anywhere from $6 to nearly $9 for a day old poult. Badger's Millside Farm resold day-old sexed old turkeys poults for $5.50 each.
The high poult cost from commercial hatcheries is made worse with mortality. The first calculation I share in the podcast episode is refactoring poult cost to account for the first week mortality. If I purchase 20 poults for $6.43 and have 10% mortality in the first several days, I'm left with 18 turkeys. The new cost per poult becomes $7.14.
I look at feed next. If you feed 8 pounds of certified organic feed at $0.42 / lb., you end up with $3.36 per turkey in feed cost for six weeks. The feed cost is not all that dramatic when placed in the context of poult cost and labor. If you source a non-organic feed at $0.25 / lb., the feed cost would become $2.00 per bird.
Next up is labor. I calculate an example of $15 / hr. for 15 minutes a day to arrive at a $8.75 per turkey in labor.
Put it all together, and the cost to raise 20 turkeys is $19.25 per turkey ($7.14 + $3.36 + $8.75).
This example doesn't factor in bedding, grit, electricity, infrastructure costs, or mortality after the first five days.
The comparison is simple from this point. Badger's Millside Farm sold 6 week old turkeys (fed organic feed) for $16 each.
There are a couple reasons why your cost would be higher than $16. I raise more than 20 in a batch. My flock mortality was 4% and I did not pay a retail cost for poults.
Marketing Started Turkeys
The best leads came through existing channels, either through exising customers or word of mouth. To sell some of the started turkeys I raised on spec, I tried Facebook Ads and Craigslist. Facebook has never been a good marketing channel for me to find pastured poultry growers, and that hypothesis continues to test true. I spent $30 in advertising to make one $64 sale. Definitely not worthwhile.
The Craigslist ad received less than 1/3 of the responses, but it reached my target audience - pastured poultry farmers, which is different than people who raise a few birds. My Craigslist ad generated $160 in sales. As you can see, we're talking small numbers of birds in these channels.
I'm taking interest for 2020 day old poults and started turkeys through my farm page, Badger's Millside Farm.