I was walking out to the chicken coop in the early morning, a pail of seeds and cracked corn swinging on my left and my right hand raised to shade my eyes. The sun, just a few degrees above the trees, hit the dew-drenched grass and sent spears of bright light into the air. It was like a white fireworks: busy, slightly chaotic, riotous.

But the air was soft around my ears. The loudest sound came from my rubber boots swishing through the tall, wet grasses. What a difference from last year, when drought reduced our fields to short dry bristles that cracked underfoot.

The chickens must have heard me – they stirred noisily as I approached the coop. There was clucking, and more…a crow. A new sound! Our small flock of free-range chickens is 12 weeks old, and the young cockerels were practicing scratchy welcomes to the day.

I spread organic oats, wheat, and cracked corn on the grass outside the chicken coop before opening its door and lowering the ramp. What a ruckus as birds pushed one another to get to the grain! They cackled and shoved for about five minutes. Then, they were done. Just like that, they turned their backs on whatever middlings remained and headed out in search of fresh clovers, insects and frogs. (Yes, frogs.)

At sometime during the day, the chickens will wander over to the cows. I move the cows from one small field (a paddock) to another every day so that they can harvest their day’s meal: fresh grasses, weeds, herbs, clovers. Despite these frequent relocations, the chickens never fail to find them and feast on the flies that pester the herd. Dave and I had thought the chickens would help keep down fly larvae, but have been delighted that the flock is so effective at insect control directly on the cows’ faces, legs and bellies. A wonderful – natural – symbiosis.

Early fall: a beautiful time of year. I look forward to walking visitors through our fields, to observe our cows and chickens, and to talk about how we – farmer, livestock, and consumer – can work together to re-imagine and re-establish a more healthful food system.

Sylvia Burgos Toftness

Mad. Upset. Determined.

Our farm is in rural Wisconsin. Although we’re just 70 minutes from the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro, predators are everywhere: coyotes, wolves, bear, hawks, eagles, owls, weasels, muskrats, badgers, fox, raccoons, possums, stray cats and the occasional house dog turned hunter when allowed to roam the countryside. It’s amazing any livestock or songbird makes it. The challenge is made even greater when you raise animals on pasture – wide open spaces where threats lurk under leaves, in borrows beneath the grass, and in the skies above.

Although we sometimes hear packs of coyotes yipping close by, we’ve never felt threatened by them. Our cows are big, strong and stand down any canine that comes near. It’s amazing to watch them line up and prepare to charge. It’s also why don’t permit visitors to bring dogs to the farm. Keeping these species away from one another is better for the cows and safer for the dogs.

When we told friends that we planned to free-range chickens this summer, many said “Hawks are going to be the problem.”

They were right. They were more than right.

When we started our tiny trial two months ago, we thought we’d see a 10-15% loss. Not so. At first, we thought the hawk sitting in the dead tree at the center of our farm was our only concern. And so, we watched. Then my husband brought out the binoculars and noted that it was a juvenile. One of two, as it turned out. Two young red-tailed hawks. We spotted the two adults a couple of days later. Then, one hot afternoon I counted seven raptors wheeling above our north pastures. As of today, half of our small flock is gone. Devastating, aggravating, frustrating, infuriating.

So, what to do? In truth, many farmers have found numbers of alternatives to free-ranging their flocks. Some enclose the chickens, turkeys or ducks within large wired-framed boxes or pens that are pulled over the fields once or twice a day in order to give the birds access to fresh grass. Other farmers have the chickens spend nights in a coop. During the days, the poultry scratches through grass and enjoys fresh air in an enclosed run. Both strategies protect the birds from flying predators. I used a portable pen last year with my tiny flock of ducks. The birds were safe, but they became habituated to the pen and the feed I provided twice a day. They refused for forage.

Free-range birds, on the other hand, are aggressive self-feeders. They go after practically anything that moves: frogs, flies, worms, small snakes, moths, beetles and ticks. They forage through grasses, weeds, and the herd. Yes, they actually pick the bothersome flies that bedevil my bovines. While I’d read that chickens would help clean pastures of fly larvae, I hadn’t expected them to mingle and mix with the moos. They do, and the cows have come to expect it. In fact, the adults lower their faces to be groomed. This is a boon because there are several types of flies that attack cow faces, eyes, bellies and legs. The flies are more than just irritating. They can cause cattle to lose weight and develop long-term health problems such as pink eye, which can lead to blindness.

Dave and I want to free-range chickens again, but the current approach is, to say the least, not working well. And so, my 3-step proposal:
2014 Purchase and begin training a livestock guardian dog (LGD) puppy
2015 Use the portable coop (Dave built it on an old boat trailer) in conjunction with electric-net fencing and a string-web canopy. The idea is to create a large circular pen with the electric-net and then criss-cross the area with either twine or plastic fish line to deter hawks from swooping down. This pen would be moved as needed to provide the chickens with fresh grass and insects. (Others have tried this with success.)
2016 Rely on the trained dog to defend the chickens.

The Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) is a category of working dog that includes breeds from numbers of countries around the world. The breeds with which we’re most familiar in the USA are the Great Pyrenees (France/Spain), Meremma (central Italy), and the Akbash Dog and Anatolian Shepherd (both from Turkey). I’ve know about LGDs for several years, but only in connection with safeguarding goats, sheep and cows. Would a LGD, also called Livestock Protection Dog, guard poultry?

When I broached the idea to some friends, they were – let’s say – a bit skeptical. In fact, one said I’d have to find a dog that can fly. Well, not willing to give up, I searched out farmers and ranchers experienced with both chickens and LDGs. And wouldn’t you know it, there are several Facebook groups devoted to these working dogs.

When I posted my problem on the Learning About LGDs FB page, I immediately got over a dozen responses. Many described similar experiences and offered great advise. In a nutshell: yes, LGDs work well with free-range poultry; LGD required lots of training; and, the dog should be at least 18 months old, and preferably 24 months old before being left on it’s own to guard the chickens. Do I buy the puppy this year and start training, use netting next year, and finally rely on the LGD the following year?

When I put the idea to my husband David, he wisely brought up another point. While it would take two years to train the puppy, this dog would be a working partner for another 10+ years. Lots to consider.

Sylvia

Sometimes we stand together quietly – me and the cows. The air is still and filled with green smells: grass, hay, leaves, fresh herbs. I lean against the metal gate and watch as some stroll from one patch of fresh grass to the next, others recline and chew their cud, and calves run in what looks like a game of tag.
It’s what grass-fed/grass-finished cows do every day, every growing season.
It’s late summer, time for harvest. On Thursday, Dave and I loaded two beefy steers (altered males) into our “new” cattle trailer. It’s an investment we made this spring so that we could transport our cattle as calmly and humanely as possible.
Dave discovered it along-side a back road. “For Sale” the sign read. When we pulled over to take a look, we immediately saw the bashed-in back end. An auto accident, said the owner when she came outside to chat with us. Yup, a section of the frame was bent and the back sliding door was crumpled and pulled off the runners. A mess. But was it a salvageable mess?
Dave had a friend – a master welder – take a look and estimate the repair cost. Based on that, we purchased the trailer and set about to repair and paint it. It still looks used – the dents are easy to see – but it works really well.

It was about 6:30 in the morning, and the sky was heavy when we walked to the barn and loaded the cattle into the steel trailer. It took no more than 10 minutes. We then drove 30-miles to our USDA-licensed, family-owned custom meat processor in nearby Woodville, WI.
After a life on open pastures, in full sunshine, in the company of their herd, our beeves traveled 30 miles. They were spared growth hormones, sub-therapeutic antibiotics, months in crowded feedlots, and a final drive of up to 1,000+ miles to a massive processing plant.
I won’t kid you: raising 100% grass-fed beef isn’t easy, and it isn’t without physical and financial costs. There’re weekly fence repair, annual fence replacement, improvements to the handling facility, and building better water systems. Two years of drought were followed by this year’s deluge. Both conditions – dry and drowned – ruined large portions of the hay we’d hoped to store for winter feeding. This roller-coaster weather also drove hay prices up from $35/bale to over $65-100/bale.
This is farming. Hard and often unpredictable. Yet, Dave and I remain committed to grazing our beef cattle (and not feeding grains or corn) because grass is what cattle are designed to digest. Grazing is healthful to the herd, restores soil and protects groundwater, produces beef of high nutritional value, and contributes to the economy and vibrancy of our local community.
As a girl growing up in the Bronx, I never would have imagined that I’d care a wit about a beat-up cattle trailer. But that 12-year-old who volunteered at the ASPCA and the cattle woman I am today share a basic value – the wellbeing of the animals put into our care.

What: Deep Roots Radio interview with Chuck Abbott, Ag Insider journalist.
When: Saturday, Sept. 6, 9:00-9:30AM Central
Where: Broadcast and streamed live from the studios of WPCA Radio, 93.1FM and www.wpcaradio.org
Why: The Internet, social media, emails and water cooler conversations are all about the latest hype, scare or boast about America’s food and the system that produces it. Where’s the truth, and how do you find it?
This Deep Roots Radio conversation features Chuck Abbott who posts daily on the Ag Insider. A project of the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN), Ag Insider is available free of charge. Abbot brings three decades experience as a Washington-based Reuters commodities correspondent and as national farm editor for United Press International.
I hope you’ll tune in.

Sylvia