I was speaking with a man yesterday who used to run a chicken farm and his insight into a confinement chicken operation was very interesting.  He told me he initially took on the job because it promised only two to three hours of work a day, yet when the machines controlling temperature, water and feed broke down, it became a disaster. One thing I did note was how causal he was about the daily chore of walking through the sheds to remove the dead birds.  'Picking up six hundred when they're chicks is not too bad, but you know how long it takes when they reach 1.8 kilograms?'

I was amazed at how high the number was, but then again in a shed full of tens of thousands of chickens ... perhaps confinement chicken operations find these losses acceptable.

Needless to say, the gentleman was bemused at raising chickens outside, in moveable shelters and given fresh pasture to eat each day.  A feed ration without medications!  How do they survive?

I wanted to show a picture of what our feed ration looks like.

The ration comprises mainly of corn, wheat, lupins, soy beans and lucerne leaf.  Natural grain, free from medication, what's more simple than that?

I can fit around half a tonne into three large and one small ex-rubbish bins.  Its amazing how heavy they are when full.

While I have never operated an intensive chicken shed before, I know our system is better by a mile and I'm certain the chickens would agree with me too.