2001 Annual Report for FS01-141
Pastured poultry production
Summary
As farmers in Kentucky begin to diversify their operations and move away from tobacco production, they are looking for options that will provide high net income per acre. Many small farmers with access to limited acreage are interested in, and beginning to produce, pastured poultry for meat and egg production; particularly for retail sales. As these farmers begin to market their chickens, turkeys and eggs, they are facing a challenge of how to differentiate their outdoor pasture-raised products from commercial poultry products. Farmers see and believe that their product is superior, but need some data to back up their health and nutrition claims. They can receive much-needed higher retail prices by providing healthy, beneficial, pasture-raised food products to an expanding health-conscious customer base. Consequently, more research on pastured poultry is needed in the South.
I propose to raise pastured poultry for meat and egg production during the spring and summer of 2001 in Central Kentucky. I intend to work with Austin Cantor, Professor of Poultry Nutrition, University of Kentucky to analyze the specific grasses, legumes, grain, weeds, insects, etc. that pastured poultry consume in their diet when foraging on Kentucky pastureland. I will provide Dr. Cantor with 16 broiler chickens over the summer from June through October for him and his staff to dissect and analyze to determine what was consumed. From this laboratory analysis, Dr. Cantor will be able to provide a more exact diet that broiler chickens consume when given free-range access to Kentucky pasture. If the nutritional analysis of our pastured poultry meat and eggs indicates that southern pastureland, particularly Kentucky pasture, is of benefit in the diet of poultry, this information will be of interest to nutrition-conscious consumers.