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.

We also dig into some processing wisdom and reality. Greg talks consolidation and Bill Gates. We dig deep and cover a lot of interconnected ground.

Cynthia Capers, Heniscity Farm in Tennessee, shares her 20+ year journey from hobby chicken keeper to poultry farmer. 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, pullet sales, and community education. She's incorporated poultry into their rural bed and breakfast and has become an integral resource in her community.

As a black farmer reconnecting to the land and rediscovering her ancestral roots, the journey isn't easy, but Cynthia is right where she needs to be inspiring those around her. She brings the power of chickens to life.

In the show we cover:

• Her exposure to animals in an urban environment
• Incorporating chickens into the B&B
• Covid challenges
• Eggs as the answer to hunger
• Connecting to the land and honoring Mother Africa
• Importance of friends and support
• ...and more

Resources:

Heniscity Farm on Facebook

Nashville Scene Article: Black Farmers Feed Their Neighbors and Connect With Their Ancestors.

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.

The answer divides into three sections: management, pricing, and markets/marketing.

Ask your questions at https://pasturedpoultrytalk.com/contact.

Perdue acquires Pasturebird and becomes the biggest producer in the space. I unpack what it means on this episode and walk through some history.

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.

The simple answer to the Chris' question is that infrastructure is required to maintain production. Listen in as I discuss the details.

In Pastured Poultry Talk episode 110, farmer Matt Steinman discussed how he used fermented feed as a solution to feed waste and fines. While fermentation can be a viable solution for some people, it's not the only way to deal with fines.

The problem with fines accumulating in your feeders instead of the birds is that that the chickens miss key nutrients, and they waste feed. The lack of nutrients cause behavioral problems and reduced production. The feed waste costs you money. Soy-free feeds tend to contain more powder and compound the issues with fines.

In this episode I detail a few approaches to dealing with the wasteful fine feed dilemma, which essentially comes down to not adding old feed on top of new feed and avoiding using a bulk feeder. When you use a bulk feeder, you trade convenience for management, and it can compound the problem with feed waste, fines, and overeating (which I don't cover in this episode).

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.