american pastured poultry producers association€¦ · rains like cats and dogs and the next month...

Issue 39 Late Fall 2005

American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

Pastured Poultry Workshop at Heifer International Ranch

By Karen Wynne

Arkansas extension agents and educa-tors and farmers from across the south-east took part in a 2½ day pastured poultry workshop this October. The workshop, held at the Heifer Interna-tional Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas, gave educators a detailed overview of the issues involved in pastured poultry production, from poultry nutrition and health to biosecurity to processing and marketing. The line-up included faculty and staff from the University of Arkan-sas, experienced pastured poultry pro-

Inside this Issue:

Executive Director’s Box 2 Director Information 2 President’s Letter 3 Volunteer Opportunity 3 Cold Hens 4 Profile: Dotson 5 Flu Common Sense 6 APHIS 7 Board nominees 8 VOTE! 9 Member survey 10 Bird Flu Protection 11 State Updates 14 Resources 18 Events 18 Purpose 20

Avian Influenza in Poultry J. P. Jacob, G.D. Butcher, F. B. Mather, and R.D. Miles

From PS38, one of a series of the Ani-mal Science Department, Florida Co-operative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Uni-versity of Florida. Original publication date April 1998. Reviewed June 2003. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

Avian influenza is a viral disease af-fecting the respiratory, digestive and/or nervous system of many species of birds. Avian influenza virus infection can occur in most, if not all, species of birds, both domestic and wild. Influ-enza viruses vary widely in their ability to cause disease (pathogenicity) and their ability to spread among birds. Wild species of birds usually do not develop clinical disease, but some in-fluenza viruses cause severe illness or death in chickens, turkeys and guinea fowl.

Clinical Signs The severity of the disease ranges from inapparent (mild) to rapidly fatal. Le-thal strains of the virus can strike so quickly, particularly in young chickens, that there may be no clinical signs other than sudden death.

Avian influenza viruses of low to mod-erate pathogenicity are identified regu-larly in the United States in the domes-tic poultry populations. Avian influenza virus is reintroduced into domestic poultry by migratory waterfowl, which are carriers of the influenza virus.

Clinical signs vary greatly and depend (Continued on page 12)

ducers and proces-sors, and some of our favorite AT-TRA employees. Experienced pro-ducers had an op-portunity to talk about their experiences in raising birds on pasture. Mike Walters, heritage turkey producer and breeder from Oklahoma, spoke about his production methods and the market for heri-tage turkeys. Matt John, poultry breeder and pro-ducer from Kentucky, talked about egg processing, breeding, raising, and showing 40 variety of birds, and poultry projects in his community. Craig Hertel and Steve Bator from Blackwater Farms in Mississippi described their trials and tribulations in establishing a USDA-inspected processing facil-ity and working with other growers to develop re-tail and wholesale markets. Ben and Stephanie Fouse from Grass Root Meats in Perryville dis-cussed their direct marketing strategies on their farm and at farmers markets and restaurants. The producer experiences helped demonstrate the chal-lenges involved in raising, processing and market-ing poultry on pasture. In addition to a number of talks, many of which

(Continued on page 15)

Heifer International’s portable pens were on display at the pastured poultry workshop.

2 American Pastured Poultry Producers Association Issue #39

H5N1. Is it all hype, this bird flu thing I keep getting calls about? A conspiracy to put small producers

out of business? Overreaction by a bored media or a distraction from real news? Wish I knew. What I do know is that poultry producers would be at a greater risk of infection than your everyday suburbanite if the virus ar-rives here, so it’s good to know what could hurt you. And whether you think bird flu is a real threat or not, your customers would probably like you to have concrete answers for their concerns. So, unfortunately, this has turned into the avian influenza issue. I hope it helps you get a handle on what the bug is, its symptoms, how it spreads, how to prevent its spread, and what steps you can take to deal with its real and its perceived threat. We will continue to research and stay on top of the issue, and answer the many questions we are just beginning to ask. Unfortunately, this issue is running late already (sorry, every answer just produced more questions!). Please check the website, www.apppa.org, for the most recent information, and, because we know that not everyone is a computer user, we will mail out


APPPA Grit! is published six times a year.

Voice mail/phone 256-751-3925 APPPA E-mail: [email protected] Executive Director and GRIT Editor:

Karen Wynne APPPA Grit!, the newsletter, is included as a benefit of membership in APPPA. Membership rates are $30 per year or $80 for three years for basic membership, $50 per year or $125 for three years for pro-ducer-plus, or $200 for a business membership (advertising in-cluded). To join APPPA, send check or money order made out to APPPA to:

APPPA PO Box 73

Hartselle, AL 35640

Information provided in this newsletter is believed to be accurate but readers assume all responsibility for ac t ions based on th is information. Classified ads for members are $5 per issue, up to 25 words, 25-50 words $10. Nonmembers add $5. Display advertising per issue is $20 business card size, $35 for a quarter page. For more information on ad-vertising in the GRIT, please contact us.

ditor’s box

APPPA DIRECTORS Thru Jenny Drake, TN ‘05 Kip Glass, MO ‘05 Brian Moyer, PA ‘05 Jeff Mattocks, PA '06 Jody Padgham, WI ‘06 Karen Black/ Robt Plamondon, OR ‘06 Charles-Laura Ritch, AL ‘07 Mac Stone, KY ‘07 David Smith, MD ‘07

Karen Black and Robert Plamondon (541)453-5841 (email preferred) 36475 Norton Creek Rd, Blodgett OR, 97326 [email protected] [email protected] Jenny Drake (615)683-4291 69 Cowan Valley Lane, Hickman, TN 38567 [email protected] Kip Glass (417) 732-4122 2169 N Farm Road 71, Bois D'Arc, MO 65612-2305 [email protected] Jeff Mattocks (800)347-1566 (The Fertrell Company), PO Box 265, Bainbridge, PA 17502-0265 [email protected]

Jody Padgham (715) 667-3203 2240 310th Street, Boyd, WI 54726 [email protected] Brian Moyer (610) 944-9349 96 Noll Lane, Fleetwood, PA 19522-8846 [email protected] Charles and Laura Ritch (256) 751-0987 298 Goose Pond Rd, Hartselle, AL 35640 [email protected] Mac Stone (502) 863-0086 3636 Paris Rd, Georgetown, KY 40324 [email protected] David Smith (410) 472-0738 16701 Yeoho Rd, Sparks, MD 21152 [email protected]

APPPA DIRECTORS - Contact Information Have a question? Call our board of experienced pastured poultry producers

and purveyors. And vote for the newest candidates profiled on page 9.


WOW, what a year for agricul-ture in general. One month it rains like cats and dogs and the next month or two it dry up to desert like conditions. Unfortu-nately these extreme weather changes affect our animals as much as it affects the plants they consume. The rains come the grass grows and the bugs hatch. Then the chickens are Happy!

The rain stops the grass turns brown and the bugs leave. The chickens are Depressed! I find the affects of weather absolutely amazing. The affects seem to touch all forms of life, plant, animal, fowl, fish and human. Seeing these affects often gets me pondering how to offset the affects of weather to try and reduce the hills and valleys of life. Some ideas that I have worked on are: Feeding minnows from the stream or bait store to my laying hens. They simple can’t resist a flipping min-now! This is an excellent moral booster for my laying hens when the grass is brown and the insects have gone into a brief dormancy. Also for the hens I have found that scattering some whole grains or cracked corn on occasion is also a treat that inspires them to start acting like hens again. I have even gone the ex-tent (a couple of times) of allowing some toddlers who don’t have exposure to chickens chase them around the yard for a while. This may sound unusual but it surely gets the hens blood pumping and causes some exhilara-tion. The broilers are not nearly as easy to get excited. And when they are in the 7th or 8th week of grow out you really don’t want to cause a heart attack on a $10.00 investment. However, on hot days a fine mist of water from a garden hose is not a bad idea. This will stir them a little and give them some relief from the heat as the water evaporates causing a cooling affect, Cheap Air Conditioning. I would only recommend for broilers during their last 3 weeks of grow out. Younger birds are still very susceptible to Ascites from the chill. You could also play with some whole small grains or cracked corn with the broilers in the morning or early evening to get the birds stimulated and motivated. Otherwise they may just lie there like the dim witted, lazy and unmotivated breed that they are! A little ex-ercise never hurt anyone or thing. Turkeys are just turkeys, and no matter what the weather they seem to be just happy to see you. Little do they know what you have planned for them? I have

never seen another non-domestic animal try harder to be like humans in my life. What is with these fas-cinating, curious and genuinely affectionate fowl? They stay out in the rain, snow, direct sunlight, 30 degrees, 90 degrees, tall grass, short grass, no grass or whatever the case may be. These birds show little to no signs of depression! It’s just not right, how can you go all the way through life Happy. They got a secret I wish I knew. So, Turkeys will be happy with anything you can think of or have laying around that is different for stimulation. I think best of all is go-ing buy a turkey call at the local sporting goods store and try talking to them. They love it, a brand new friend to talk to! I think the more time you spend interacting with your animals the more they respond, the less stress you will have and the more profitable you will be. All that time you spend will allow you to see things that you probably never noticed in the hustle and bustle of life. Also will allow you to see problems earlier and correct them before it is catastrophic. The old timers would often say “Take time to smell the roses”, well spending time with our chickens and turkeys may not smell like roses but it sure is re-warding. I learn more from observing and trying to understand them than I will ever get from a book! Jeff Mattocks

From Our President

WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET AWAY FOR A FEW WEEKS?

Winrock International and the Intertribal Agriculture Council are looking for a few good pastured poultry pro-ducers to volunteer for the Farmer-to-Farmer (FTF) Pro-gram, funded by the U.S. Agency for International De-velopment. The FTF program sends U.S. volunteers to Asia on short-term technical assistance assignments. Volunteers donate their time and expertise and the pro-gram covers the costs and makes all necessary arrang-ments. Covered expenses include passport, visa, air-fare, lodging, daily per diem for meals and incidental expenses, and required immunizations. U.S. based staff take care of all of your travel arrangements, and field staff in the host country provide in-country logistical support and act as a liaison between the volunteer and the host organization. Interpreters are provided when necessary. For more information, check out www.winrock.org/volunteer. You can visit www.indianaglink.com for in-formation about the Intertribal Agriculture Council.


Email: [email protected] Web: www.browerequip.com

Phone: 800-553-1791 Fax: 319-469-4402

CALL FOR SPECIAL PRICING

It's getting cold. What should I do about my hens?

By Robert Plamondon

As far as the hens are concerned, it's not cold until it's be-low freezing. When the hens are exposed to daytime highs below freezing, egg production usually plummets. How-ever, it has to get a lot colder than that before the hens' health begins to suffer.

During freezing weather, egg production and hen comfort will be increased if they have plenty of (non-frozen) water to drink. If you don't have piped water to the henhouse, I recommend using 10 qt. galvanized buckets as waterers. Fill them with warm water and take them out to the hens. Take the frozen buckets from last time back indoors with you. Galvanized buckets are good because plastic buckets split when they freeze and poultry founts are hard to open when they're partly frozen.

The hens will be warmer during the day if they exercise. They'll be warmer at night if they go to bed with a crop full of grain. The two can be combined by putting a thick

layer of loose hay or straw in their pen and scattering a light feeding of grain in the morning and a heavy feed-ing of grain in the afternoon. Around the turn of the century it was common to have a "scratching shed" at-tached to the henhouse, which was a substitute for range during the winter. The scratching shed was usually open-fronted (that is, walled on three sides only, with chicken wire on the fourth side), with a thick layer of loose straw on the floor. Grain is fed in the scratching shed, which is where the birds get their fresh air, exer-cise, and sunshine.

Attempts to warm henhouses with the hens' body heat usually fail. The hens produce so much moisture in their breath and droppings that restricted ventilation is at least as likely to lead to condensation and frostbite as warmth and comfort.

I live in a very mild climate where it's very rare for day-time highs to be below freezing for more than a few days running. My housing is very open and is highly venti-lated. Cold snaps reduce egg production but the birds remain healthy and active. My reading indicates that open-front housing is suitable for winter quarters even in New England. Higher egg production can be obtained with heated quarters, but it rarely pays.

Egg production can be maintained if the hens can be convinced to eat enough to cover both their need for warmth and egg production. Feeding wet mash (pouring warm water over the feed trough at the rate of about 1 quart per 100 birds) will increase feed consumption for 1-2 weeks before the birds get jaded. If you normally feed mash, a light feeding of pellets on top of the mash once a day tends to increase the birds' interest in feed.

Never let the hens run out of feed in cold weather.

Use of lights to extend the day helps the hens to eat more feed in cold weather, since they rarely leave the roosts to eat in the dark. (See also my write-up on lights in an issue of my newsletter.)

The use of lots of glass in a henhouse causes the tem-perature to go through enormous swings in the course of the day, and is probably a bad idea.

Robert Plamondon answers many other questions on his website, www.plamondon.com. While you’re there you can learn all about raising laying hens on pas-ture, subscribe to his free poultry e-newsletter, and even buy a book or two about chickens from Norton Creek Press.


DDOTSONOTSON F FARMARM ANDAND F FEEDEED

Distributors of Fertrell Poultry Nutri-Balancer

and the complete line of Fertrell Products.

Also Available : Certified Organic Hay

Dotson Farm and Feed

2929 N. 9th Street Rd. Lafayette, IN 47904

Ph 765-742-5111 cell 765-404-9826 Fax 765-429-5601

Fertrell

Business Profile: Dotson Farm and Feed

When I spoke to Gordon Dotson this fall, he had completed his last cutting of organic hay for the season. In central Indiana where they are located, the Dotsons can usually get four good cuttings off their hay fields. While a lot of the mixed timothy, bromegrass and red clover hay is distributed lo-cally, the bulk heads east to Pennsylvania where organic dairies put it to good use, especially in the winter months. A droughty summer made a big impact on the yield, but has allowed for good quality hay. Gordon and Luita Dotson’s business, Dotson Farm and Feed, has evolved over time, starting as a landscape maintenance business in the late 1960’s and adding 80 acres of hay in the next dec-ade. Increasing hay production balanced out the loss of landscaping clients in the recession in the late 1980’s; at the same time they began supplying Fertrell products to local farms. Their son Steven came to work a few years later and the three have

Company: Dotson Farm and Feed Location: Lafayette, Indiana Product line: Fertrell poultry feed, supplements and fertilizers and certified organic hay Years in operation: Since 1967 Contact information: 2929 N. 9th Street Rd. Lafayette, IN 47904 Phone 765-742-5111 Cell 765-404-9826 Fax 765-429-5601 Business Philosophy: Integrity is first, then fast efficient service and fair pricing.

been working together to provide their customers with quality products. “Integrity is first, then fast ef-ficient service and fair pricing on products, ” Gordon says of the Dotson’s business philosophy. They also work hard to provide their customers with any information they need. “If we don’t know, we get an answer,” Gordon says. The Dotsons can share organic production information from years of experi-ence. Back three or four decades ago when there were not a lot of organic resources available, Gordon relied on books by Ruth Stout and Rodale to guide him. Now he is happy to share that information with other producers; certified organic growers in the area are still relatively few. What do the Dotsons have to offer pastured poultry producers in the area? In addition to certified organic hay, they provide local producers with a wide variety of Fertrell fertilizers and poultry feed and supple-ments. They also do soil testing (always good to do before you buy fertilizer!). Feed supplements include Poultry Nutribalancer, Sea-Lac fishmeal, feed cal-cium (aragonite), kelp meal, Probios, Direct Feed Microbials, and booster packs. These are all formu-lated to provide balanced nutrition for feed mixes or supplemental nutrition for stressed birds. If you don’t know what you need, the Dotsons are always avail-able to answer your questions. If they don’t already know, you know they’ll find out.


First, let's talk about Avian Influenza, aka "bird flu." Bird flu is a family of diseases caused by versions of the influenza virus. Some are more serious than others and some spread better than others. New versions are always appearing and very few are much of a threat outside the area they originate in. The same family of diseases that cause human flu, but a version people can get is rarely a problem for birds and vice versa. There are three possible levels of threat with any bird flu outbreak: 1. All versions of bird flu infect birds, but very few can infect non-bird ani-mals (including humans). Bird-only versions are a threat to birds (some are more lethal than others and/or more lethal to some types of birds than others), and to the livelihoods of those who raise such birds, but no threat at all to human health. 2. Every once in a while a version of the bird flu changes enough in a very specific way (influenza viruses are renowned for being constantly chang-ing and evolving) so that birds can pass it to humans and those humans get sick (and perhaps even die, de-pending on the version and the care they receive). This is cause for con-cern to folks who come in direct con-tact with infected birds, but not a threat to the general public. 3. And once in a very rare while a version of bird flu changes enough more so that humans can not only catch it from birds but can pass it to other humans as well. If the symp-toms the version causes are extreme enough this is a huge public health problem. Remember: This last step in evolution of a flu is VERY RARE.

The current version of bird flu every-one is talking about is in stage 2. Stage 3 hasn't yet happened and MAY NEVER HAPPEN with the correct version, even if it makes it to North America. Experts pretty much agree that “someday" the current version of Avian (bird) flu, or another version yet to appear, will get to North America. But "someday" could be next week(unlikely), or 20, or 80 years from now. No one has any way of know-ing when it will happen or if this ver-sion is the one. So what will happen if this version (or some other version) makes it to North America? First: Remember it HASN'T HAP-PENED YET with the current ver-sion. But IF a stage 1 or stage 2 type of Avian flu makes it to North America(most likely via migratory birds who are carriers, but don't tend to get sick enough to die, but it could also come in with imported live poultry that are not quarantined/ tested properly) what do we need to worry about? 1. The government may tell produc-ers in a certain area or areas (such as those where migratory birds tend to land) that they can't keep chickens (or other poultry) outdoors -- perhaps for a certain period of time. There is no evidence this will be of any help in slowing the spread of bird flu, but government officials will be under a lot of pressure to DO SOMETHING. You may decide keeping your poul-try inside sounds like a prudent thing to do in certain situations even with-out a government order. It is always a good idea to think about the whats, whens, and hows before the situation occurs. 2. If a Bird Flu is actually found in an area (either in wild birds or in domes-tic poultry) the government may de-cide to kill each and every domestic

Bird Flu Editorial: A Common Sense Approach by Jean Nick, Happy Farm Kintnerville, Pennsylvania Posted on APPPA’s producer plus egroup 11/3/2005

bird residing within a certain number of miles of the outbreak, including many that are NOT infected and even entire flocks without a single infected bird -- to protect all the birds outside of the target area. This is tra-ditional containment of an agricul-tural disease and has saved countless billions of dollars of loss in many types of animals (whether it is the best way to do it is open to discus-sion). Tough on a few producers, lifesaving for the industry in general. I'm not sure that any person has the power to stop federal or state from killing domestic birds if the proper orders have been issued; and whether the wording of order might provide exemptions for birds that have no contact with the outside or not. So, yes, authorities might show up on your farm and bag all your birds and take them all away. Any eggs you have should be exempt, so perhaps you could recover that way? Having a plan for such an eventuality may be worth considering, especially if poultry are a big part of you liveli-hood. 3. If your birds get sick/die from flu or something you think might be flu you needless-to-say have a big farm problem and may be at risk of getting sick yourself. Knowing what symptoms to look for, how to keep yourself well, how to get the professionals in fast, and having the resolve to do it are probably im-portant things to find out and think through BEFORE anything happens -- and good general advice since there are other disease that can strike poul-try once in a blue moon that are very serious. If a version of bird flu gets to stage 3 anywhere in the world it WILL be in North America before you even hear about it and we are all in serious trou-ble. Keeping your immune system in top notch shape, perhaps exploring alter-native treatments for the flu, and be-ing prepared to stay at home and



away from crowds for a period of days or weeks may increase your chances of getting through it. Getting a "flu shot" will NOT help prevent you from getting the bird flu. Why are authorities telling various groups of people to get a flu shot then? So that people who are more likely to catch human flu will have less of a chance of getting run-of-the-mill human flu AND thereby there will be fewer chances of a person suf-fering from people flu coming in con-tact with a bird with bird flu or a hu-man with bird flu caught from a bird. Scientists think that last situation MIGHT allow the two types of germs to get together and make baby germs that would be a stage 3 bird flu. So how worried am I? Not real worried. This year's Bird Flu is still in stage 2 and probably will not make it to stage 3. I will be prepared to care for my family as best I can if it does make the jump, but don't plan to worry about something I have no control over. The stage 2 version has yet to make it to North America and may well not make it here at all. We will monitor it's movement and keep calm and encourage others to do the same. If it stays stage 2, but does make it to North America, I'm still optimistic. My chickens are in top notch health and have strong immune systems. We feed a high-quality feed that in-cludes probiotics (Fertrell nutribal-ancer). Our farm isn't high risk as it doesn't attract wild waterfowl to land most of the year (we might consider fencing to keep the wild geese that come to a neighbor's fields for a few weeks in the winter off our land). We will have other plans in the back of our minds but not dwell on them (like we have a spare tire in the car but don't think about using it).

USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services Your Friendly Neighborhood Trappers

www.aphis.usda.gov/ws

This federal program works (in part) to reduce problems with livestock predation, including assisting with trapping and controlling predators and wildlife-borne disease. For more information on how they can help you, visit the web-site above for your state contact. Or, if you’re not an inter-net user, call the APPPA office and we’ll find it for you.


BRIAN ALDRIDGE - Missouri Brian and Trudy Aldridge have raised pastured layers for several years, selling eggs from a self-serve refrigerator on the driveway. Over the past few years we have added pastured broilers to our farm and worked to improve effi-ciencies with the layers. The biggest surprise that we en-countered was that we don't need to educate the buyers nearly so much as we had assumed. We always sell out of chicken and eggs and are therefore focusing our atten-tion on improving efficiencies while increasing volume. We sold over 1,000 broilers in the past 12 months, double the volume from the year before. We are planning to double this number again next year. Our farm-based busi-ness includes in-season vegetables, fall decorations, fire-wood, straw, hay, and year-round pork by the cut, whole and cut-up chicken, eggs, feeder pigs, and live laying hens. Quick background--Brian is a Computer Systems Analyst with a lot of experience (20 years) in developing business partnerships, pre-sales meetings, project management, small team leadership, writing, speaking, and of course technical problem solving. The pastured poultry "movement" has benefited from many visionaries who challenged the status quo, returning to production, proc-essing, sales and marketing methods used by our ances-tors, while improving those methods with modern tools, equipment, and knowledge. JENNY DRAKE—Tennessee Jenny Drake is the founder and co-owner of Peaceful Pastures, located in Lancaster, TN. She and her husband Darrin direct market all natural beef, pork, lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, duck and goose. Peaceful Pastures en-tered into pastured poultry in 1994 with a few laying hens as a method of natural fly control. That same year, they produced 200 Salatin style broilers. Now they market 1200-1500 chickens per year, 200+ turkeys, 100+ ducks and 50 geese; they also maintain a flock of 200 layers. Products are sold via their web site, CSA and 2 health food co-ops. Jenny is a former inspector and is HACCP certified. Jenny would like to see APPPA expand to reach out to the backyard/pleasure flock owner as well as to consumers and chef. She also plans for more interest in waterfowl production. Jenny is currently APPPA board secretary.

BRIAN MOYER- Pennsylvania Brian and his wife Holley have been raising pastured poultry for eight years. They raise 5000 broilers, 200 lay-ers, grass fed lamb and goats on their 27 acre farm in Berks county. Chicken, eggs, lamb, goat and goat cheese

Board Nominees are marketed through 2 CSA's, restaurants, farmers markets and at the farm. Brian, along with other board members, has been working to create regional subgroups of APPPA to help members with pastured poultry education and find ser-vices such as feed and processing. Brian is the founder of the Skippack Farmers Market and has managed this market for 5 years. He has also worked other local pastured poultry producers to provide product for larger customers not only to meet but create a demand for pastured poultry products. Brian is currently APPPA board vice-president. ELI REIFF—Pennsylvania

Eli and Kathleen Reiff and their six children live on 56 acres in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania. There they operate a custom poultry slaughter plant, where they slaughter 40-50,000 birds each year, and pasture a small flock of laying hens, broilers and turkeys, plus 24 sheep, and 14 beef cows. Their Salatin-style poultry pens serve as a demonstration of the system for customers that bring their birds for slaughter. Eli also sells affordable pluckers and scalders through their Poultryman, LLC, business. Eli would like to encourage the establish-ment of custom processors throughout the country in order to help expand the number of pastured poultry producers.


APPPA BALLOT For Board of Directors (2006-2008) The current Board of Director members are listed on Page 2. The terms of Jenny Drake, Brian Moyer, and Kip Glass expire this year. New directors are elected for a term of three years. Please vote for three directors. Please cut out this page, fold, staple or tape, stamp and mail to the address pre-labeled on this ballot. Don’t forget to fill out the other side! Ballots must be received by December 15, 2005. We will announce the results in the Winter 2006 issue of GRIT!

fold here and tuck in

Fold here and tape on bottom

APPPA PO Box 73

Hartselle, AL 35640

Place Stamp Here

Board candidates—PICK 3 Your Vote

Brian Aldridge

Jenny Drake

Eli Reiff

Brian Moyer


How many family members are involved in your operation? _____ How many other people do you employ (temporary, part-time, or full-time)?_____ How many (if any) members of your household farm full-time? ______ What do you raise? □ Laying Hens □ Broilers □ Geese □ Ducks □ Guineas □ Turkeys □ Game Birds □ Heritage breeds □ Other livestock □ Row crops □ Fruits and vegetables □ Other _______________________________________________________________ How many birds do you raise each year (approximate)? ______________ Is poultry your main farm enterprise? □Yes □No Is your poultry production integrated into the other parts of your farm? □Yes □No How do you process your meat birds? □ I don’t raise meat birds □ Process on farm □ Custom processed off-farm □ Processed at a State/USDA inspected facility Where do you market your poultry products? □ To friends and family □ Customers come to the farm □ Farmers market □ CSA □ Restaurants □ Grocery/ health food stores □ Wholesale □ Other _________________ What sort of resources are you looking for? Please check all that apply and star the most important ones.

Do you use a computer? □ Yes □ No How often? □ Hourly □ Daily □ Weekly □ Monthly □Rarely If yes, do you use the internet? □ Yes □ No Email? □ Yes □ No What does APPPA do best? What does APPPA need to improve? What should APPPA’s top priority be for 2006?

Help us help you! We would like to know a little bit more about our members and what they need from APPPA. These surveys are anonymous and confidential – this information will be used only to help us tailor our efforts here at APPPA headquarters. Thank you for taking the time to fill this out, and feel free to add additional comments or call us at 256-751-3925. We understand that not all our members raise pastured poultry. If you don’t, please let us know what you do and what fuels your interest in APPPA and in pastured poultry.

____Home processing ____Legal issues ____Regional workshops/ conferences ____Poultry nutrition ____Pastured poultry publications ____Marketing ____Business planning ____Pasture and soil management ____Watering/feeding/housing systems

____Connections with other producers ____Producer profiles ____Sources for equipment and supplies ____Current events related to poultry ____Breed ____Biosecurity/ disease control ____Customer fact sheets/ newsletters ____Other__________________________


WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PROTECT YOURSELVES AND YOUR BIRDS FROM BIRD FLU AND OTHER DISEASE?

Interpreted by Karen Wynne: These biosecurity tips have been gleaned from the Food and Agriculture Organizations’s Animal Health Special Report and the World Organization for Animal Health- More information is online at www.fao.org/ag/againfo/home/en/home.html and at www.oie.int/eng/AVIAN_INFLUENZA.

Preventing the movement of a disease on or off the farm is the basic idea behind biosecurity. Disease can travel via ani-mals, humans, and equipment. It can travel between farms, at the local processor, With the awareness of how disease moves and by taking measures to prevent these methods of transmission, you can make a big step towards protecting your flocks, your farm and your family.

Transmission through humans: People coming on and off the farm can carry disease on their clothes and shoes and even on their bodies. You can control this by:

♦ Control access to the area where your animals are kept ♦ Have clean protective clothes and boots for people that

do visit the birds ♦ Wash off all dirt from boots and use a disinfectant bath ♦ In the best case scenario, off-farm visitors and workers

should shower on the farm before visiting areas where birds are kept, clothes used on the farm should remain there, and workers that live off the farm should not keep their own poultry

♦ Check on your feed and water sources regularly to prevent contamination.

Transmission through equipment and supplies: Disease can be carried on trucks, trailers and tractors as well as cages, feeders, and other things that have contact with birds. Reus-ing or buying used equipment can increase the risk. Con-trol this by:

♦ Cleaning and disinfecting! Remember that materials like wood are porous and harder to disinfect.

Transmission through animals: Disease is most commonly brought in when infected animals are introduced to a flock. Prevent this by:

♦ Keep your animals healthy with balanced feed and clean

water. Minimize stress. ♦ Make sure that animals introduced to the farm are healthy. ♦ Quarantine new animals in separate areas and either use

separate workers in each area or handle the quarantined animals last.



on many factors including the age and species of poultry affected, husbandry practices, and the inherent pathogenic-ity of the influenza virus strain. Clinical signs may include:

• ruffled feathers • soft-shelled eggs • depression and droopiness • sudden drop in egg production • loss of appetite • cyanosis (purplish-blue coloring)

of wattles and comb • edema and swelling of head, eye-

lids, comb, wattles, and hocks • diarrhea • blood-tinged discharge from nos-

trils • incoordination, including loss of

ability to walk and stand • pin-point hemorrhages (most eas-

ily seen on the feet and shanks) • respiratory distress • increased death losses in a flock The clinical signs of avian influenza are similar to those of other avian dis-eases. Avian influenza may be con-fused with infectious bronchitis, infec-tious laryngotracheitis, fowl cholera, and the various forms of Newcastle disease.

Typical history, signs, and lesions may be suggestive of mild forms of avian influenza. Confirmation of a diagnosis is by serologic testing and virus isola-tion and identification. Because viru-lent strains of avian influenza are con-sidered to be exotic to the United States, they are reportable to the USDA. Virulence level is evaluated by virus isolation and controlled labora-tory challenge of experimental chick-ens.

Postmortem Lesions Lesions vary greatly depending on pathogenicity of the virus, age of the bird, type of poultry, etc. Lesions may

(Continued from page 1)

include swelling of the face and area below the beak. Removing skin from the carcass will show a clear straw-colored fluid in the subcutaneous tis-sues. Blood vessels are usually en-gorged. Hemorrhage may be seen in the trachea, proventriculus, beneath the lining of the gizzard, and throughout the intestines. The lining of the gizzard may be easily removed.

Other areas likely to show swelling and hemorrhages include the muscle along the breast bone as well as in the heart, gizzard fat, and abdominal fat.

Young broilers may show signs of se-vere dehydration with other lesions less pronounced or absent entirely.

Serotypes There are many different strains (serotypes) of the avian influenza virus. Some of the highly virulent strains evolved from milder strains following repeated chicken to chicken passages. The avian influenza virus has been shown to mutate at an extremely high rate as it serially infects poultry. Chick-ens are not the normal host for avian influenza, so the virus they pick up from other birds has a tendency to mu-tate and become pathogenic. In 1994, an avian influenza outbreak in Mexico started out mildly, but mutated into a "killer" virus that decimated many poultry flocks. This same scenario had occurred in the northeastern United States in the mid-1980s. Today, ex-treme biosecurity precautions prevent spread of the virus to the United States and neighboring countries in Central America. Current research efforts on avian influenza are directed toward understanding why and how mildly pathogenic viruses become highly pathogenic.

Transmission Infected birds shed the virus in fecal and oculo-nasal discharges. Even though recovered flocks shed less virus than clinically ill flocks, recovered flocks will intermittently shed and should be considered infected for life.

Waterfowl (wild and domesticated) are

the primary natural reservoir of influ-enza viruses. Wild waterfowl usually do not show clinical signs, but they can excrete the virus for long periods of time. In addition, waterfowl can be infected with more than one type of influenza virus. Detection is further complicated by the fact that they often do not develop a detectable antibody response after exposure to the virus.

Influenza virus has been recovered from water and organic material from lakes and ponds utilized by infected ducks. Co-mingling of these birds with range-reared flocks is a factor in some outbreaks.

The avian influenza virus can remain viable for long periods of time at mod-erate temperatures, and can survive indefinitely in frozen material. As a result, the disease can be spread through improper disposal of infected carcasses, manure, or poultry by-products.

The disease also can be easily spread by people and equipment contaminated with avian influenza virus. Avian influ-enza viruses can be transmitted on con-taminated shoes, clothing, crates, egg flats, egg cases, vehicles, and other equipment. Any object located on an infected poultry farm must be consid-ered contaminated and should be com-pletely cleaned and disinfected before it is moved from that premises. Clothing worn on an infected farm should be laundered.

Insects and rodents may mechanically carry the virus from infected to suscep-tible poultry.

Influenza virus has been isolated from turkey eggs suggesting vertical trans-mission, although typically the virus kills the embryo. There is little or no evidence of egg-borne infection of poults. However, eggshell surfaces can be contaminated with the influenza virus, and thus are a means of transmis-sion.

Avian influenza viruses have fre-


Avian Influenza in Poultry


quently been isolated from clinically normal, imported ex-otic birds. These infected birds are a potential threat to cage birds, wild birds, and poultry.

Live-bird markets are a reservoir of infection. Such markets serve as a focal point for gathering and housing many spe-cies of bird. These facilities are rarely cleaned or disin-fected.

Treatment There is no effective treatment for avian influenza. How-ever, good husbandry, proper nutrition, and broad spectrum antibiotics may reduce losses from secondary infections. It must be remembered that recovered flocks continue to inter-mittently shed the virus.

All buildings should be cleaned and disinfected after an in-fected flock is removed. The poultry litter or manure should be composted before application to cultivated lands.

Prevention A vaccination program, in conjunction with strict quaran-tine, has been used to control mild forms of the disease in commercial chicken and turkey flocks. With the more lethal forms of the disease, however, strict quarantine and rapid




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STATE UPDATES

Kentucky Producers Join Forces Kentucky pastured poultry producers have been working to improve oppor-tunities for processing and marketing. They recently formed a statewide group, New Traditions Poultry. Come to Louisville in January for the SSAWG conference to learn more about what Kentucky producers are up to. The Latest on Maine Processing The State of Maine worked with the Federal Government to create a tem-porary arrangement with "producer-processors" (site inspection for 1000-20,000 birds per year of their own production, for instate sales under the USDA FSIS 20,000 bird exemption) to allow for custom processing for small producers (fewer than 1000 per year) This allowance waives the re-quirement of processing one's own birds, BUT the State requires grower participation in some form the proc-essing, for the sake of not appearing to be just a custom slaughter arrange-ment that evades federal inspection. This special arrangement may con-tinue until such USDA inspected processing options exist within a given radius. Thanks to Steven Bibula for the information. If your group is planning to meet this winter or if you would like help in organizing a meeting in your area, please contact the APPPA of-fice so we can help spread the word!


Extension agents, poultry producers and other folks with strong stomachs saw on-farm processing in action at the Heifer processing facility (left). They compared the on-farm slaughter method to the state-inspected mobile processing unit from Kentucky (right).

will be expanded on in coming issues of Grit!, par-ticipants toured Heifer’s ranch and pastured poultry operation. The ranch acts as a meeting place, dem-onstration farm, and education center. They raise turkeys and chickens in portable pens and have an on-ranch slaughter facility. Participants were able to see the portable pen system and eggmobile in ac-tion. Participants also compared the ranch’s process-ing facilities with the mobile processing unit used by some producers in Kentucky. Everyone had the op-portunity to assist in the processing (although not too many were eager to jump in). The workshop was sponsored by Heifer Interna-tional, University of Arkansas, and the National Center for Appropriate Technology, with funding from a SARE grant. It is the first of a number of workshops being held in the south in the effort to improve the knowledge base of local extension agents and others on pastured poultry production. You can look forward to workshops in Texas, Missis-sippi, and Kentucky in the coming year. We will of course let you know the details!


Mike Walters brought a variety of heritage turkey breeds from Oklahoma, where he breeds and raises around 1000 birds each year. (SSAWG has produced a great video on his operation -See Issue 38 for more information.)

Pastured Poultry Workshop


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depopulation of infected flocks remains the only effective meth-ods of stopping avian influenza. The success of such a program depends, of course, on the full cooperation and support of the poultry and allied industries.

With the realization that there is a reservoir of influenza virus in wild waterfowl, every effort must be made to prevent direct or indirect contact between domestic poultry and wild waterfowl. Persons han-dling wild game (especially water-fowl) must change clothes com-pletely and bathe prior to entering poultry houses.

It is very important to prevent the spread of this disease into the United States. It is very easy to spread avian influenza on clothing and through human contact. Do not visit or go near any poultry flocks unless proper biosecurity actions are taken.

Conclusions Specialty or hobby-type flocks have an increased risk for direct or indirect exposure to avian influ-


The poultry owner is the first line of de-fense in identifying outbreaks of avian influenza. If birds develop signs of avian influenza, or if exposure is suspected, im-mediately notify your state poultry offi-cials.

enza because of their contact with wild birds and other poultry. These flocks are commonly mixed and mar-keted through a live auction market distribution system where proper sani-tation is not always practiced. This system mixes various types of stressed poultry and has been a key link to avian influenza outbreaks in commercial flocks.

Avian Influenza in Poultry


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any urgent updates. We have put a committee together to address these bird flu issues as they arise, and hopefully we can work together to come up with the best solutions for pastured poultry producers and stay ahead of the game. And please, on a very different subject, vote for your new board members. The APPPA Board may be a vague notion in your mind, but they do important work that helps move the organization and industry forward. And also please fill out the questionnaire on the back of the ballot, so that we can know more about what you need to know. Have a good Thanksgiving, enjoy the winter months and the longer evenings and the planning for next year. If you get bored, you can always write an ar-ticle for the Grit! Karen

Editor’s Box (Continued from page 2)


Resources APPPA 256-751-3925 www.apppa.org Alternative Transfer & Technology to Rural Areas (ATTRA) 800-346-9140 (English) 800-411-3222 (Español) www.attra.ncat.org www.sustainablepoultry.ncat.org Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education www.sare.org Center for Integrated Ag Systems www.cias.wisc.edu Free Range Poultry www.free-rangepoultry.com

USDA Agricultural Marketing www.ams.usda.gov Food Safety Inspection Service www.usda.gov/fsis FDA HACCP Information www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/establishment_specific_information/index.asp

December 5-10 - Indianapolis, IN The 2005 Acres USA Conference 800-355-5313 512-892-4400 www.acresusa.com The annual Acres U.S.A. conference sets the standards for innovation and learning. It is where you find farmers and consult-ants from every side of eco-farming who come together to share their experience and expertise. Attend the non-stop event, learn the latest in cutting-edge technology and methods, and return home ready to make your farming operation the best it can be.

January 19 - 22 - Louisville, KY New Location! SSAWG’s Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustaining Family Farms and APPPA regional meeting www.ssawg.org or call the APPPA office for more information The premier conference in the southeast for small farmers and sustainable agricul-ture! This year the conference will include a one-day pre-conference workshop on pastured turkey production, a half-day pastured poultry farm tour including Ken-tucky’s famed mobile processing unit, another half-day tour of a diversified farm that includes pastured poultry production, and sessions on pastured poultry and other very useful information. Sign up now to guarantee a spot in the workshops and farm tours. We will host a regional AP-PPA meeting at the conference this year - stay tuned for details! January 18-20 - Tucson, AZ Growers Marketing Forum: Farm to Fork ag.arizona.edu/ceac/extension/shortcourse001.htm 520-626-9566 The University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) presents the first Growers Marketing Fo-rum for vegetable and specialty crop growers. Start this forum with a tour to a state-of-the-art greenhouse tomato produc-tion and packing facility and continue with topics ranging from branding and packaging to competitive entry into mar-

APPPA membership

by state and country

Nov, 2005

AL 8 AR 4 AZ 3

CA 15 CO 6 CT 3 DC 1 FL 7 GA 6 IA 9 ID 3 IL 15 IN 17 KS 6 KY 6 LA 7 MA 10 MD 9 ME 7 MI 15 MN 10 MO 15 MS 5 MT 4 NC 14 ND 1 NE 3 NJ 3 NV 1 NY 41 OH 21 OK 1 OR 8 PA 54 RI 1 SC 5 SD 3 TN 7 TX 18 VA 22 VT 3 WA 12 WI 31 WV 5 Canada 5 Ireland 1

Venezuela 1

Subscribe List Serves at egroups.com DayRangePoultry PasturedPoultry APPPA Pro Plus (membership required) Robert Plamondon’s Poultry Newsletter www.plamondon.com/nortoncreekpress.html

UPCOMING EVENTSUPCOMING EVENTSUPCOMING EVENTS

♦ Keep other animals out of the areas where you keep poultry, including wildlife, cats, dogs, and rodents.

♦ Use the “all-in-all-out” method, where everything, including birds, feed and equipment, is brought into the system at once, and kept separate. All animals are removed and processed at the same time. This method allows equipment and facilities to be disin-fected and old feed to be removed before the next batch is brought in.

What cleaner works for preventing avian flu? Soapy water. From the FAO Animal Health Special Report: “The avian influenza virus is more simple to destroy than many viruses since it is very sensitive to detergents which destroy the fat containing outer layer of the virus. This layer is needed to enter cells of animals and therefore destroys the infectivity. The virus survives well in water and simple washing may assist the virus to enter into areas where it is picked up by other birds. Therefore any washing to remove contamination should always be with detergents (soapy water) or specific dis-infectants. “

BIOSECURITY (Continued from page 11)


UPCOMING EVENTSUPCOMING EVENTSUPCOMING EVENTS

kets ranging from restaurants to wholesale to retail; and what you need to know about each. January 27-29, 2006- Syracuse, NY 24th Annual Organic Farming and Gardening Confer-ence -Cooperation: with Nature, Neighbors and Local Economies www.nofany.org 607-652-NOFA Come to the NOFA-NY conference for a variety of great workshops and networking opportunities. Plan on attend-ing Saturday for an informative session, Understanding Avian Flu, with Dr. Benjamin Lucio, Director of Cornell University’s Avian Disease Program at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center. Then stay for an APPPA Regional Meeting after dinner. February 2-4, 2006- State College, PA 15th Annual Farming for the Future conference 814-349-3856 ext 7 www.pasafarming.org One of the biggest sustainable agriculture conferences in the Northeast. Plan on attending the one-day workshop on heritage poultry breeds taught by the American Live-stock Breeds Conservancy.

Please contact APPPA at [email protected] or 256-751-3925 to include your pastured poultry-related event.

MARK THE DATE! APPPA ANNUAL MEETING

LA CROSSE CENTER, LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23 AT 7 PM

in conjunction with the 17th Annual

Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference Feb 23-25, 2006

More than 130 Exhibitors! Over 45 Workshops! Last year’s conference attracted more than 1800 people, including farmers, educators, students, government workers, and others interested in organic agriculture.

Sign up for the Organic University on the 23rd, which will provide a

full-day course on pastured poultry production taught by a team of experienced producers from across the country

(aka the APPPA board).

715-772-3153 [email protected] www.mosesorganic.org

Look for registration materials in the mail. Online registration will be available in December.

APPPA STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The American Pastured Poultry Producers Association

(APPPA) is a nonprofit educational and networking organization dedicated to encouraging the production, processing, and marketing of poultry raised on pasture.

APPPA exists to facilitate the free flow of creative ideas. Member producers are encouraged to consider all poultry species and all pasturing models, assuming personal responsibility for adapting ideas and models presented through APPPA.

APPPA passionately embraces humane, people-friendly, environmentally-enhancing, pasture-based production models. While we respect the freedom of others to engage in industrial confinement factory farming, we believe our approach is superior.

APPPA assists both producers and consumers to transact business with as little government intervention as possible. APPPA does not discriminate in membership or programs based on the business size of producer or consumer. Realizing that production models must be profitable to be successful, APPPA's interests include processing, packaging, cooking, marketing, and any other topics related to pastured poultry enterprises.

APPPA's world vision is to see pastured poultry adopted as the model for environmentally, emotionally, and economically sensible poultry production. This vision includes decentralized food systems, farmstead-sized processing, and as much interaction as possible between producer and consumer.

(Adopted by the APPPA Steering Committee, August 27, 1997)

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS DETAILS ON PAGE 22-23.

APPPA GRIT! PO Box 73 Hartselle, AL 35640

All the indicators point to pastured, home processed poultry as one of this century’s best family farm enterprises. Pasture Poultry Profit$ by Joel Salatin.

December 5-10, 2005 - Indianapolis, Indiana The 2005 Acres USA Conference January 18-20, 2006 - Tucson, Arizona Growers Marketing Forum: Farm to Fork

January 19 - 22, 2006 - Louisville, Kentucky SSAWG’s Practical Tools and Solutions for Sustain-ing Family Farms and APPPA Regional Meeting January 27-29, 2006 -Syracuse, New York NOFA-NY Annual Conference and APPPA Re-gional Meeting February 2-4, 2006 - State College, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture Annual Conference Feb 23-25, 2006 - La Crosse, Wisconsin APPPA ANNUAL MEETING in conjunction with the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference

Next Issue of Grit— January 2006. Deadline December 1

american pastured poultry producers association€¦ · rains like cats and dogs and the next month...

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