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The Pitchfork Pulpit By Joel Salatin Pitchfork Pulpit Pitchfork Pulpit

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different than for cows. Portable coops are

the name of the pastured-poultry game.

Small-scale, controlled poultry grazing of-

ten centers around some sort of portable

all-purpose structure, such as chicken

tractors with electric netting runs. At a

liberal 5 square feet per bird, even a 10-by-

10-foot paddock per day is plenty for 20

laying hens.

Anyone familiar with our farm knows

that we use and encourage portable chick-

en shelters for meat chicken production.

With poultry, it’s not enough to keep the

birds controlled — you have to also keep

predators out. That changes the game and

makes the portable accommodations com-

petitive with electric fencing systems.

When only a few larger animals are

involved, completely contained portable

structures are often more cost-effective

than electric fencing. My grandson’s ram

does well in a 10-by-10-foot lightweight

wooden corral on rubber tires. We call it

“The Rambler.” Even a 10-year-old can

push it, and it doesn’t require energiz-

ers, ground rods, or separate shelter. The

Rambler allows my grandson to use his

ram like a biological weed trimmer around

the yard, farm buildings, and homestead

without having to run electric wires.

With cows, whether we’re talking a

couple of beef steers or a milk cow, seldom

can a physical, portable corral system com-

pete with electric fencing because of the

size and strength of cattle — large animals

can tear up flimsy portable structures. The

sheer weight required to make a portable

corral strong enough to hold a sizable ani-

mal would make it cumbersome to move.

I don’t want to get bogged down in

electric fencing types; my purpose here

is to promote the movement of grazing

animals because it’s key to their health.

Here’s a rule of thumb: Cows generally

do fine with a single wire; sheep and goats

need three; pigs need two when they’re

small and are fine with one after they’ve

reached 150 pounds.

eye of the Grazier

The basis for all controlled grazing is the

animal unit per day. To know how much

to give them for a day, you need to know

how much forage is available. Developing

this sense is called the “grazier’s eye.” (The

cow is the grazer; you’re the grazier.) If

you’re moving animals every day and re-

cording how much area you gave them,

you’ll quickly get a good sense of how

much area they need for one day. The key

is to know how much area they got so you

can make a knowledgeable adjustment.

For example, if I give a cow 200 square

yards and she still has a lot left to graze af-

ter 24 hours, I’ll adjust the yardage down

the next day. If I decide to adjust her 200

square yards by 10 percent, then I’ll give

her 180 square yards the next day. If I ad-

just by 20 percent, she’ll get 160 square

yards, and so forth. Just eyeballing the area

and running fences by guess or by golly

won’t develop your grazier’s eye. This is

the technical part in which Allan Nation,

Greg Judy, Jim Gerrish, and Sarah Flack

specialize. (Find their books on Page 80.)

When it comes to the cows’ comfort,

there are two concerns: fresh, clean water;

and protection from sun and wind. As

far as water goes, I’m a huge fan of pipe.

Carrying water is time-consuming and

arduous. It’s not that expensive to run a

line and enjoy on-demand water. Shade

for your cows in these little paddocks

can be provided with nursery shade cloth

atop a simple Tinkertoy-type portable

structure. Just 20 square feet (a footprint

of 4 by 5 feet, and 5 feet tall) is more than

enough for each cow. That can easily be

built light enough to push around by

hand, like a glorified wheelbarrow.

Practice Magic, Daily

While controlled grazing involves

math and science, it also involves art-

istry. Essentially, you’re using a 4-legged

mower to prune and freshen up biomass.

The electric fence becomes the steering

wheel, brake, and accelerator on that

pruning instrument, which in this case

happens to be an extremely intelligent

and lovable animal.

Controlled or rotational grazing is like

magic when you start doing it. What

seems like a daunting amount of work

(“What? I have to move the cow every

day?”) actually becomes an enjoyable daily

practice. The animals respond to the fresh

salad bar, and that salad bar responds posi-

tively to their strategic pruning. Because

forage grows in an S-curve (see chart, Page

75), controlled grazing will enable you to

With a detailed paddock plan, you can mob graze a small homestead just like a large ranch.

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