What ever by products we have remaining from chicken processing day gets composted. 

We use an old peach bin with no bottom. In stead of throwing the old peach bins away we turned them into composting bins.

Our Composting Process
1. We put a hardy layer of wood chips, hay, or some dry carbon source on the floor of the bin first. 

2. We put in our chicken by products. 

3. We put a layer of wood chips / carbon on top.

4. We put a layer of finished compost on top.

5. We Stick a composting thermometer in the pile to record the temperature. We try to keep the pile between 120 and 140 degrees. At this range some sources say that nearly all pathogens are killed. 

6. When the pile starts to cool down such as fall into the "steady" range on the thermometer or below 120 degrees we will transfer the contents of the bin into an adjacent empty bin. The pile will go back into the "hot" range on thermometer.

7. We'll mix this compost with another fresh batch of chicken by products on our next processing day. Repeat the steps. And then the compost is left for sometime until the temperature has decreased significantly. At that point the compost will be ready for the pasture.

8. And the process repeats. 

Thanks for Reading!

    Possibly the last batch of this seasons broilers are done! The day started at 4:00 am. With a miner light strapped on my head I headed through the field on a tractor with no lights other than the one on my head in the dark. Loading the chickens didn't go so well and I wound up chasing about 15 escapee chickens for about 15 minutes. 
   The chickens were finally loaded up and I headed back to the processing area. 
Raising the price per pound by $1.00 has allowed me to hire help. I hired 4 helpers and the experience was night and day. Everybody was great. We processed all of the birds and parts by the end of the day. I even got the lawn mowed. I learned the power of delegation. 
    We also had several Vitality Pastures members and newsletter subscribers offer to help though scheduling didn't work out. It is great to know people are willing to help.
  The chickens are selling fast but we still have plenty of whole chickens, livers, hearts, necks, & feet. The necks and feet make excellent chicken stock and are a favorite among our Mexican American members. 

Thanks for reading,

Today Country Side extended Vitality Pastures and helping hand by allowing us to purchase of pallet of mainly hog feed on credit even when they themselves need every dollar right now because of recent construction of a brand new feed mill. 
Country Side has some of the best feed I know of and we appreciate their service. If anyone is in the need of organic feed or many other livestock supplements you can visit CountrySide Whether you need a bag or a pallet they can deliver. 
Thank You CountrySide!