What Enterprise is Sustainable for Me?

Chicken

To evaluate how well this enterprise aligns with your farm's agronomic, marketing, financial and management resources, answer these five questions. Then, calculate your score.

Using a scale from 0 to 100, scores indicate your farm's likely success with an enterprise.

The following questions are relevant to pastured production.

Chicken Sunset

The icons link to resources you can use to answer these questions.

QUESTIONS
HELP ME ANSWER THIS
1. Based on the number of broilers you anticipate producing, do you have adequate access to processing capacity and a market for the meat, and do you have sales skills?

Yes
No


2. A brooder provides a climate-controlled environment to hold broiler chicks until they’re ready to go outside on pasture. Do you have a space with rounded corners that you can convert into a brooder capable of keeping chicks dry and warm using a heat lamp?

Yes
No


3. Operations new to raising broilers may experience bird mortality rates that reach 10% to 30%. Are you willing to introduce practices — examples include selecting appropriate stocking rates, using predator deterrents, providing needed ventilation in housing structures and cleaning indoor spaces regularly — to keep broilers healthy and safe?

Yes
No


4. If raised on pasture, then broilers must rotate from paddock to paddock regularly to ensure they have fresh forage and manure doesn’t build up on pastures? Do you have suitable pasture paddocks and the time needed to follow a strict pasture rotation schedule?

Yes
No


5. Broilers will consume seeds, forages and bugs while on pasture, but grazing reduces pastured broiler feed use by just 5% to 25%. Therefore, broilers will require feed to balance their diets with the appropriate protein, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. Are you willing to invest in feed needed to satisfy broiler nutritional requirements?

Yes
No


Your ResultsX
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Respond to the questions for an enterprise. Each question touches on a key factor that affects an enterprise's sustainability on your farm.
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Icons to the side of questions direct to other decision tools that share detailed information about a question's topic.
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After completing all questions for an enterprise, calculate your score. A pop-up page will share your results. Scores closer to 100 suggest the enterprise would align well with your farm. Scores closer to 0 suggest the enterprise would not fit as well, based on your responses to the questions.