Final report for YNC08-029
Project Information
The purpose of this project is to explore the sustainability of raising laying hens in my backyard. For the last several years we have raised laying hens in a moveable A-frame. Through this project I want to improve on housing - making it habitable for four seasons and easier to move. I also want to demonstrate that even my 9-year-old sister is able to manage this enterprise, giving her this learning experience as well. Then we want to share this experience and show how it is healthful, profitable, and environmentally friendly.
We are always looking for opportunities to eat nutritious and healthful foods, at an affordable cost, and with no negative environmental effects. With the help of SARE I plan to bring this applied technology to my community of Perry and to demonstrate that even youths can contribute to sustainable agriculture in their own backyard.
Goals
- Explore how to sustainably raise laying hens in a way simple enought for a nine year old to manage.
- Share the research with other local students and donate books to our school libraries.
- Demonstrate that even youths can do sustainable agriculture in their backyards.
- Show how raising laying hens can be profitable, healthful, and environmentally friendly.
At my high school, I have taken accounting classes, and have learned how to manage a small business. By taking multiple Virtual High School classes, I have become very comfortable with typing and submitting assignments online, like I hope to do with the diary. This project will help to put into practice many practical skills I have been taught in the past few years.
As a junior in High School, I am planning on attending a liberal arts college with an emphasis in the sciences. My grandfather and great-grandfather were farmers all of their lives. Along with being an agronomy researcher, my father is also a farmer. By partaking in the NCR-SARE's Youth Sustainable Agriculture Grant, I will be able to combine my interest in the sciences with my heritage, as well as being given a glimpse into an occupation that I am interested in pursuing as an adult.
I believe that this research grant will give me an opportunity that I would not be able to partake in without the help of NCR-SARE.
Research
Background (previous experience)
- Gardening
- Making maple syrup
- Raising chickens
The Plan
My 9-year-old sister will actually manage the operation (caring, feeding, and collecting eggs). I will create a photo documentary and weekly diary of everything that goes in to making our backyard a source of sustainably produced eggs. I'll also carefully document all the costs and returns of the operation and create a spreadsheet budget.
Preparation
I will be using electronic formats for both the diary and keeping track of the expenses. As for the photo journal, I will also be taking pictures of the chicks, chickens, portable housing, etc. during all phases of the project. Materials that would be needed, I already have. I can take pictures with my camera and dowload them to my computer. From there, I can either print them or make them available to SARE to put on the internet for others to see.
My father will be my biggest source of information when completing my project. He is an NRCS agronomist with a strong background in sustainable agriculture. He is my biggest advocate in school, and will help me along in completing my project. Since I have been in grade school, I have run a small maple syrup business from my backyard. I believe that my experience will help with my backyard poultry project. I have a cousin who is an award-winning photographer who is willing to give me some tips for the photo journal.
Process
- Production
- Purchased ten Isa Brown day-old chicks in May
- Prepared for their arrival by crating their first home. We used a kiddy pool, filled it with residue from local seed processer, and layered the top with paper towels. We hung an adjustable heat lamp over the kiddy pool.
- We picked up the chicks on June 2nd from the local elevator
- Maintained these growing conditions
- Temperature
- 95 degrees the first week
- Decreased by 5 degrees F per week until ambient
- The heat lamp was also their source of light, and we would turn off the light for about .5hour/day, incrementally going longer without light so as not to shock them when they were ready for living outside
- Location
- In the corner of our garage without a draft
- Feed
- We fed them Gower Pellets until they started laying eggs
- We also added some vitamins to their water for the first three weeks
- Care
- During the first two weeks, our 9-year-old sister would check on the chicks almost every hour during the day
- Temperature
Observations and Timeframe
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- The chicks grew for almost 5 weeks before we had to add a small fence around the kiddy pool to keep the chicks inside, (they enjoyed flying up and perching on the side of the pool, but would sometimes fall off the side of the pool until we added the fence)
- When the chicks were 7 weeks old, we moved them to their outside house, an A-framed, moveable coop
- When they beagan living outside, they no longer required a light or heat source
- The chickens started laying eggs the end of September/beginning of November
- October 3rd, we switched their feed from grower pellets to layer pellets
- With the adaption of laying boxes to their coop, Ellen (the 9-year old) was able to collect the eggs with ease
Teaching and Learning
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- We have had numerous opportunities to share our experience with sustainable backyard egg production as well as with writing grants (see table below). We have received very positive feedback on the presentations from various sources (e.g. the middle school teacher wrote in a note "You ladies are a powerhouse! My kids are still talking about your presentation."). We also wrote several papers about our project/egg production for classroom assignments.
- Post Script: At the National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference, we saw a coop that we adapted for our use. The coop is winterized, has more convenient-to-access laying boxes, and will be moveable once we attach wheels.
| Date | Audience | Where | Total in Audience |
| November 3, 2009 | Mrs. Daly's Fifth Grade class | Perry Elementary in Shaftsburg | 25 students and one teacher |
| November 4, 2009 | Mr. Kiesling's Advanced Agronomy (FFA/agriscience) | Perry High School | 15 students and 2 teachers |
| November 7, 2009 | NCR-SARE Farmers Forum | National Small Farm Trade Show & Conference, Columbia, MO | 30 adults and a handful of children |
| December 16, 2009 | Mrs. Kittleson's seventh grade science | Perry Middle School | 29 students, one teacher, one principal, and one librarian |
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
The Outreach Plan
My two sisters, the ones who will be helping me in my project, and I will encourage others to raise chickens on a backyard scale. During the 2009-2010 school year we will make at lesat three formal reports, e.g. show-and-tell at elementary school, senior thesis at high school, presentation to Perry FFA, posting on school website, etc. I have alerted my high school's science department heads to this proposal and what is being offered by SARE. Along with these school reports, I would be available to give a live presentation to SARE on my findings.
Moreover, at the completion of the project we will make presentations at all three of the school libraries (elementary, middle, and high schools) in our district. These presentations will include a PowerPoint or other summary of our egg production experience. With SARE funds we will have purchased a copy of A Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow and copies of Profitable Poultry: Raising Birds on Pasture by Sustainable Agriculture Newwork which we will donate to the schools. [Editor's Note: The bulletin, Profitable Poultry, is available for free from SARE. See: https://www.sare.org/resources/profitable-poultry/ .]
For details on completed Outreach, see the section titled: Outcomes and Impacts.
Project Outcomes
Discussion
Through the project we brought sustainable agricultural production to our own backyard and have shared our experience with many others who might want to do the same. In the process we have learned many new things: how to write a research grant proposal, how to conduct a case study involving animals and their caretakers, how to keep records, and how to present research results. Moreover, the project has been a resume enhancer.