Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
Bill Gibson is no stranger to chickens. He has been around chicken houses since he was five years old and grew up working with his father, Dale Gibson, who raised cattle, hay and chickens on the family farm in Pinetta, north of Madison, Fla. Together they have Gibson and Son Farms.
When the younger Gibson graduated from the University of Florida, he took over the chicken house operation. The younger Gibson says chicken house operation has changed quite a bit since those early days. Greater use of automation has made chicken farming much easier and more productive. Gibson operates four large chicken houses, each holding approximately 25,000 birds. Gibson has four other houses that are currently undergoing modernization in order to meet standards set out by Pilgrim's Pride, out of Live Oak, Fla. Pilgrim's Pride is the company with whom Gibson is contracted to raise chickens for meat consumption. With the new houses and the newer automation systems, Gibson is able to more effectively monitor vital aspects such as the temperature of the houses. In the past, this was a constant challenge, especially in the hot summer months, when temperatures inside the houses could easily reach well over 100 degrees, which could be dangerous for the chickens. Now, Gibson is able to control those temperatures so they never rise above 74 degrees. The feeding of the birds is also automated, giving Gibson much more control.
Gibson contracts with Pilgrim's Pride, who supplies the chickens and the food for the birds. "Pilgrim's Pride sends us the birds when they are about a day old," said Gibson. "We raise them for six to seven weeks and then they are sent back to Pilgrim's Pride for processing. There's about a two-week turn-around period when we get the houses ready for another group of birds, then we do it again." Gibson says that Pilgrim's Pride offers incentives for healthy birds who meet the standards set out by the company. "Each cycle we strive to be the top producer in the area," said Gibson.
Gibson is a 2004 graduate of Madison County High School. When not tending to the chicken houses, he is an Environmental Manager with the Florida Department of Health. He is married to Kelsey and the couple has a six-month old daughter named Harper.