I have a training/educational opportunity that some of you may be interested in.

PASTURED POULTRY WORKSHOP JUNE 2015

Who: Roy Ramey of Avalon Farms

What: Pastured Poultry Workshop 2015

When: June 8-10, 2015

Where: at Avalon Farms, 7583 Nine Mile Road, Lesage, WV

Why: Learn about all aspects of the pastured poultry operations from buying and raising chicks, to building portable infrastructure, to poultry slaughter to business and marketing your product.

Cost: $350 each. Military veterans, TSP Member Support Brigade, PermaEthos Class 001 members, PermaEthos Swales Workshop attendees, Wild Ramp Friends of the Market: all get $50 discount.

Contact Roy or Fran at 304-762-2125 or 304-208-1305 for questions about the event. Call the Wild Ramp Market at 304-523-7267 to register and pay. Please register by Friday, June 5 so we can make proper accommodations for everyone. Limit 20 people.

(Upon registering or if you send me your email, I will send a flyer with additional details about lodging/camping, meals, directions, etc.)


Additional details: This is a 3 day workshop at our farm where we raise pastured poultry in the style and methods promoted by Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. The workshop is designed for farmers or prospects who wish to build a profitable pastured poultry operation for a market in your community or for the homesteader or prepper who wants to raise the best food for yourself and family. We will share all of the real skills of raising poultry (including our early mistakes) so you can get up and running is short time with our proven methods and techniques. This method is completely scalable to meet your size requirements.

We will cover all of the day to day operational aspects of raising poultry from day-old chicks in a brooder, following them to a chicken tractor in the pasture and then processing them in home-built or commercial facilities on our farm. You will learn how to build a chicken tractor. You will participate as a class on building a tractor. You will go through the daily chores of moving, feeding and watering. You will learn how to process poultry for yourself or a market. You will participate as a class on processing a batch of birds. You will cycle a batch of birds from the brooder, out to the tractor. You will learn about handling (or not handling) the waste products. I will teach you all of the business aspects of the operation, including the cost of the birds, feed and all of the materials. I will cover how to market direct-to-consumer, through a local farmers market and to local restaurants. You can use these methods even if you do not own land. The infrastructure is portable. Each participant will get a whole chicken to take home.

Roy Ramey began farming as a youth growing up in Indiana until he moved to WV to attend college. Roy and his wife bought their own farm 7 years ago and have been raising animals every since then. He initially learned about pastured poultry from Joel Salatin at Polyface Farms and has attended workshops and processed poultry at Polyface. He has tailored the process and adapted a system to his particular farm conditions. Roy most recently certified in Permaculture Design, studying the science of natural systems of plants and animals and using them to our benefit in healing the land. He continues to learn from written and oral traditions about sustainable and regenerative farming. While he has taught formally at the collegiate level at Marshall University and in military environments, he also shares his knowledge of agriculture traditions and primitive skills outside of the classroom to adults and children alike.

Thanks. Roy Ramey