There are a number of steps in the process and I know that the best way to learn is to go through it in practice.
Its the second pilot that we have done. The first started with 30 day old chicks. This on started with 200.
Other than the scale what did we do differently this time.
1. We got the day olds from a proper supplier, not the pet shop in Korsten
2. We used better waterer's and feeders,
3. We made food available constantly and not three times a day as we did in the first pilot.
4. We had the chickens processed by a small abattoir - Christo Els near Uitehage. - He did a great Job.
5. We fed the chickens a lot of greens - especially - Duckweed, which I scooped from pond alongside.
7. We were able to pasture the birds a little with mobile pens.
I am happy about the following:
- The quality of the birds was very good. I enjoyed them and we received a lot of compliments
- The price was respectable. - about the same as a (cheaper) Woolworths chicken
We had some problems that I would like to fix next time:
- The number of chicks we lost in the brooder stage - (bad housing)
- We could not get un-medicated feed
- We could not pasture the birds as much as we would like
I am busy think about the next step. But I quite enjoyed learning from this one.
