New Chicken Schooners
- Laura Wayte
- May 20
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 7
Deck Family Farm has upgraded the raising of our Red Rangers and CRX chickens. Instead of living in short boxes which people had to lift to move each day onto fresh ground, the chickens now live in large "schooners" which are towed across the field by a tractor or truck.
Poultry Manager Ikaika Johnson is pleased with the new system. "The biggest reason we got it was to increase efficiency," he said. "It cuts down on labor and is easier on the employees doing the work."
Each schooner can house up to 600 birds and is moved onto fresh grass on a daily basis. It will be pulled through the field all summer long, taking a turn on ground that was previously grazed by other species. Once the ground recovers, yet another group of animals will rotate onto that field.
Other benefits to this method of raising chickens:
Better predator protection: The design is more stable and stronger than the previous system and predators cannot sneak under the perimeter walls or take advantage of a gap in the shade tarp.
The height of the interior makes it easier for a person to be inside caring for the animals.
The sides are adjustable to control the temperature.
It can also be moved using a truck with a winch, not just a tractor. As tractors can only be driven by employees with extra training, trucks give us more flexibility as to which employees can do the job.
It will soon have an automated bell water system which is a more natural set up, allowing the animals to drink from a pool rather than a nipple.
The schooner has a built-in system that prevents a bird from being run over by the walls when moving it, creating less handler error.
