Solberg on Soil: Barn Raising for Pastured Poultry

Lori Benson (from left) Jim and Audra Chamberlin, Kent and Linda Solberg, and Mat Nix.

SFA members and friends Lori Benson and Jim and Audra Chamberlin came together under the initiative of Mat Nix to help Linda and I remodel our winter chicken coop on Oct. 22.

Pastured poultry have a number of benefits for pasture-based livestock operations (if you can manage the predators). A few benefits of poultry include the high-nitrogen manure readily utilized by pasture plants; aid in cattle manure cycling; and preying upon herbivorous insects, such as grasshoppers, that compete with ruminant livestock for forage.

Many thanks to our “barn raising” crew!

The finished poultry barn.