Extension Report

Baldwin County Office

302A Byrne Street

Bay Minette, AL  36507

Telephone (251) 937-7176 or

928-0860/943-5611 ext. 2222

FAX (251) 937-7285

Ken Kelley

Regional Extension Agent/Animal Science

March 16, 2010

Want To Learn Something About Chickens And Goats?

There are two really good opportunities coming up for you to learn a little something about backyard poultry and marketing goats. The first opportunity will be a backyard poultry meeting in Robertsdale on March 23. This meeting will take place at the Farmer’s Federation Building, which is located directly behind the ALFA insurance building on highway 59. The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. There will be three poultry science specialists from Auburn there to talk to us about all of the nuisances of raising backyard poultry.

Dr. John Blake will discuss getting started with backyard poultry. This discussion will include how to choose, house and manage your backyard poultry. Dr. Joe Hess will then discuss feeding the backyard flock. This is an extremely important aspect of backyard poultry that is often overlooked by beginning backyard poultry folks…until there is a problem. Dr. Ken Macklin will then discuss diseases of the backyard flock, including how to recognize and treat common diseases. He will also discuss the importance of biosecurity in a backyard flock. This aspect of backyard poultry is often not considered in our backyard poultry game plans, but is one of the greatest preventative methods for controlling disease issues that we can use. 

This meeting is free to anyone who would like to come. There will be snacks at the meeting provided by local feed vendors. If you have any questions, then just shoot me an email and I will try to address your questions (kellewi@auburn.edu ).

The other really neat opportunity for producers is a meat goat marketing meeting that will take place in Livingston, Alabama. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Mississippi State University Extension Service are partnering to present the Marketing Sheep and Goats for Meat Production Conference on Saturday, April 24. This event will be held at the Alabama Onsite Wastewater Association Training Center located on the campus of the University of West Alabama in Livingston, Alabama from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Domestic demand for goat and lamb meat is on the rise in the United States. While the nation was once a major exporter of chevon or cabrito (goat meat), import companies now meet most of the demand for chevon and more than 40 percent of the demand for mutton (lamb). Alabama Extension and its partners are working to increase the number of sustainable goat and sheep enterprises in the Southeast. 

The Marketing Sheep & Goats for Meat Production Conference will focus on available marketing channels for sheep and goats; the type of animals desired for various markets and seasons; and how to evaluate animals based on health, growth, body condition and other factors.

Guest speakers will include Roy Higdon, Mississippi State University Extension Service; Dave Garcia, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Orlando Phelps, USDA; Michael Gunn, National Resources Conservation Service; James Buckenya, Alabama A&M University; Charles Batten, Sunbelt Goat Producers Cooperative, Incorporated; Terry Hutchen, University of Kentucky Extension Service; J.C. Holt, Alabama A+ Cooperative, and Maria Browning and Robert Spencer, Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

The Marketing Sheep & Goats for Meat Production Conference is open to producers, marketing coordinators, dealers, graders, 4-H leaders, county judges, students, veterinarians and Extension staff who are interested in learning more about marketing small ruminants.

While there is no registration fee for this event, all participants are asked to preregister for lunch. For additional conference information, please visit http://www.aces.edu/urban or contact Dr. Maria Leite-Browning at (256)372-4954.

I would highly encourage you to take advantage of these two meetings if you have any interest in either of these two subjects. Both of the meetings that were mentioned have speakers who are highly thought of in the industry, and will deliver pertinent, usable information.

The last thing I want to mention is something that all of us extension folk harp on all the time…yep, soil samples. If you have not pulled your soil samples already, please take the time to do that. Soil samples are the best spent money that we have on our farms. Whether you are raising cattle, cotton, or a garden…you should pull soil samples. Without soil samples, you are just guessing at what to put out there (and so is your extension agent by the way, when you call him). Fertilizer and lime are too expensive to guess at, and so is your time. If you don’t pull a soil sample, then you can’t optimize your production …and in fact, you can hurt your production. You can also put out soil amendments that are not needed, and as we are all trying to be good stewards of our environment, we don’t want to add anything that doesn’t need adding. Please give your extension office a call if you have questions about soil samples. We have folks with expertise in home grounds and gardens, row crops, pasture and forage, etc., etc.., and we would be glad to help.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to send me an email kellewi@auburn.edu) or give me a call at 251-238-0373.

Email address: kellewi@aces.edu

Phone number: 937-7176 or 943-5061, 928-0860, ext. 2222

The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture is an equal opportunity educator and employer.