Young farmer helps her family

This is a great story about a teenager who decided to help her family by getting into the egg business. She wasn't sophisticated or knowledgeable about chickens -- that may have given her an advantage, she hadn't been taught this wouldn't work. She borrowed some money from her grandmother and is now the youngest Certified Humane chicken farmer in the country. Watch the CBS News video here.

When my daughter was in high school, her ag teacher told her how she'd have to hatch hundreds of birds to get any good ones, that it was very difficult, etc. etc. Since we had been successfully raising chickens for years, she knew the teacher was crazy, but that woman no doubt influenced a lot of others. So it's just as well this girl took on the project for herself. You go, girl!

Chanteclers

Developed as a distinctive Canadian breed, Chanteclers are a composite breed that thrives in cold weather. Their distinctive cushion comb and small wattles aren’t affected by cold weather. Winter temperatures as low as minus 32 C don’t faze them. Their plumage, a tight outer feathering over a thick layer of down, is as distinctive as the comb. It’s fundamental to their cold hardiness.

“It is a real down jacket!” said Gina Bisco of New York State.  “If you pick up a hen of some other breed, then pick up Chantecler hen, you really notice the Chantecler's thick, warm layer of padding.”

 

 Gina's Chanteclers don't mind the snow.

Check out the entire article in the December/January issue of Backyard Poultry magazine.

Although Chanteclers adapt to confinement, crowded indoor conditions are too warm for their cold-hardy constitution. Breeding flocks kept in warm climes will erode the breed's cold-climate adaptation. Warmer temperatures, whether natural or artificially provided to increase laying, will inevitably select birds that are adapted to warmer conditions.

“Chanteclers' looks result directly from especially cold-adaptive traits,” said Ms. Bisco.

That became an issue for Ms. Bisco’s flock of about 70 birds during 2012’s hot summer. Over the 13 years she has raised White Chanteclers, summers in central New York have been relatively cool with few days as hot as 90 degrees. The Chanteclers have tolerated brief hot spells without lasting signs of stress. The summer of 2012 brought consistently hot weather. It started early in the year, with temperatures frequently rising into the mid- to upper 90s. Despite their shady pastures, by late July the Chanteclers showed signs of stress, including periods of reduced laying, poor shell quality and early molting. Some were infested with lice, despite having dust baths available. Ms. Bisco attributes the problems to the heat and drought.

Her Chanteclers normally do well in summer on a diet of local whole grains supplemented with some minerals and kelp, along with their foraging for insects, worms and greens. But in 2012 the heat and drought dramatically reduced the forage quality, and the worms disappeared completely. When she supplemented the diet of one group of Chanteclers with a commercially formulated gamebird crumble, their egg shells improved dramatically. Guessing it might be the higher levels of phosphorous, she increased the dicalcium phosphate for all the rest of the chickens, and found their shells also improved. Many of the molting birds started laying again during their molt.

“When things are really unusual, you sometimes stumble on things that you didn’t know would work,” she said.

Chanteclers such as Ms. Bisco's that have been bred for many generations in cooler summer areas may be expected to be more stressed, less healthy and less productive if taken to an area with hot summers. Chantecler strains bred in areas with cold winters and hot summers, such as the Midwest states, may be expected to be better adapted to heat stress.

She finds her birds happiest in shaded woodlands of the hilly forest ecosystem on her New York State farm during warm summer weather. They spend their days ranging in landscape different from the sunny pastures that suit most chickens. Their white color blends well into the dappled undergrowth. So well, when she tried to show them off to a visitor, all he could see was an occasional tail disappearing under blackberry bushes and wary eyes watching the stranger.

“By the time we reached each pen, it looked absolutely empty,” she said. The visitor never got a good look at any of the 40 or more Chanteclers in that wooded area.

That visitor did get to see a couple other groups of Ms. Bisco’s Chanteclers that day. A group of older, more experienced birds emerged from the woods and some friendly youngsters who had been raised with plenty of human handling came forward.

“Their concern with treats overcame what wariness they'd developed by that age,” she said.

Cross stitch livestock

I've been using the ALBC Historic Rare Breed Animals cross stitch patterns. I stitched the Dominique hen and rooster on the front of a denim jacket, and the Light Brahmas on the back.

For a friend's Christmas present, I stitched the Mammoth Jackstock on a pillowcase. There aren't many people who would appreciate a donkey, but I knew she would. She has a donkey who looks a lot like this one.

Because pillow cases come in pairs, I stitched the American Bronze Turkey on the second one. She and her husband can take turns.

I use waste canvas to make it possible to stitch any design on to any fabric. 

Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch

Frank Reese lays claim to The Oldest Continuous Breeding Flock of Standard-Bred Turkeys in America. I can't help but wonder where his flock stands in relation to flocks around the world. Are there flocks that have been continuously bred longer than his? My imagination conjures ancient flocks in England or Spain, but I don't know of them. Anyone who knows, please contact me!

He writes this description of his operation and the birds he keeps:

The Mission of Good Shepherd Ranch is preservation of Standard Bred poultry

Life time member of the American Poultry Association and Master breeder

The hatchery and breeding birds are certified by the National Poultry Improvement Program (N.P.I.P.) through USDA

2013 Poultry sale list of hatching eggs, chicks, poults, ducks and geese:

All poultry at Good Shepherd are standard bred birds raised to meet the Standards of the American Poultry Association. Frank Reese has been raising, breeding, hatching and showing poultry for of 50 years. All the poultry raised at Good Shepherd can be trace back to known old American flocks. We have no factory genetics on our farm. All the birds, chicks and egg being sold are for breeding stock and not for just egg and meat. The main reason for selling our birds is to help people get started breeding and raising their own birds. We work very hard to keep our standard bred poultry at the highest of level for standard bred poultry meat production and eggs production. Many people are now calling standard bred poultry heritage poultry today but their real name is standard bred.

1. Barred Plymouth Rock of the Ralph Sturgeon strain. Got my first Barred Rocks in 1956 from Ralph from Ohio. Barred Rocks were King of the farm and meat world for over 50 years.

· Hatching eggs are 24 dollars a dozen

· Day old chicks for breeding stock are 5 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 4 dollar each over 100

· Grown breeding stock 25 dollars and up from there depending on quality.

2. White Jersey Giants are pure Golda Miller strain. Have had Giants since 1962

· Hatching eggs are 30 dollars a dozen

· Day old chicks for breeding stock are 6 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 5 dollars each over 100

· Grown breeding stock 25 dollars and up from there depending on quality.

3. Dark and White Laced Indian Game Cornish are pure Tommy Reece strain. Got my start in Cornish in 1994 when Tommy Reece passed away.

· Hatching eggs are 30 dollars a dozen

· Day old chicks for breeding stock are 6 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 5 dollars each over 100

· Grown breeding stock 30 dollars and up from there depending on quality.

4. New Hampshire got my first New Hampshire back in 1956 from a friend of the family. My strain of New Hampshire’s is the old meat strain.

· Hatching eggs are 24 dollars a dozen

· Day old chicks for breeding stock are 5 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 4 dollars each over 100

· Grown breeding stock is 20 dollars each and up from there depending on quality.

5. Columbian Wyndotte I have been working for years to make and improve my own Columbian Wyndotte. With the help from the late Cecil Moore I feel I have come up with a very good Columbian Wyndotte.

· Hatching eggs are 24 dollars a dozen

· Day old chicks for breeding stock are 5 dollars each for fewer than 100 chicks and 4 dollars each over 100

· Grown breeding stock 25 dollars and up from there depending on quality.

6. Bronze turkeys from Norman Kardosh, Rolla Henry and Cecil Moore. I got my first turkeys back in 1958 from Norman Kardosh and kept them ever since. The standard Bronze is the King of turkeys and cannot be beat for a fine heritage turkey.

· Hatching eggs are 5 dollars each for less than 4 dozen eggs and 4 dollars each egg above 4 dozen

· Day old poults are 10 each for less than 100. Their 9 dollars each for 100 to 300 and 8 dollars each above 300

· Grown breeding stock starts at 100 dollars each and up from there depending on quality.

7. Narragansett turkeys from Norman Kardosh, they were Norman’s favorite turkeys. Got my first Narragansett in 1966

· Hatching eggs are 5 dollars each for less than 4 dozen eggs and 4 dollars each egg above 4 dozen.

· Day old poults are 10 dollars each for less than 100. Their 9 dollars each for 100 to 300 and 8 dollars each above 300

· Grown breeding stock starts at 100 dollars each and up from there depending on quality.

8. White Holland is a sport of my Bronze as they were first made 150 years ago. Large self –breeding white turkeys with brown eyes. I worked with Norman Kardosh over a number of years to make a good White Holland.

· Hatching eggs are 5 dollars each for less than 4 dozen eggs and 4 dollars each egg above 4 dozen

· Day old poults are 10 dollars each for less than 100. Their 9 dollars each for 100 to 300 and 8 dollars each above 300

· Mature breeding stock is 100 dollars each and up depending on quality.

9. The Blacks were kept at Danny Williamson’s farm for a number of years and Danny did a great job of keeping size up and a good black bird.

· Hatching eggs are 5 dollars each for less than 4 dozen eggs and 4 dollars each egg above 4 dozenl

· Day old poults are 10 dollars each for less than 100. There are 9 dollars each for 100 to 300 and 8 dollars each above 300.

· Mature breeding stock is 100 dollars each and up depending on quality.

10. We do have smaller amount of breeds we are working on at this time to help save and preserve.

Rose Comb White Leghorns, Blue Andalusian, Rose comb Ancona, Dark Brown Leghorn, Buff Leghorn, Rose Comb Minorca, White Faced Black Spanish, Silver Laced Wyandotte, White Cornish that are Lou Straits old line, Golda Miller’s pure line of Black Jersey Giants which I got from Golda the first time in 1960 and Sadie Lloyd’s line of Bourbon Red Turkeys If there is a breed you’re looking for please let us know and we might be able to help you find a good old line of that breed. It is always best to buy poultry from a known breeder who has work hard to preserve and maintain an old line of poultry.

11. We also have Roger Stanford’s line of Rouen ducks, Gerald Donnelly’s line of Aylesbury ducks, Rolla Henry’s line of Dewlap geese both gray and buff and Roger Stanford’s line of African geese. Please contact us for pricing.

It is always best to come to the farm to pick up your birds. Give us a chance to teach about the birds you are buying. If you wish us to ship live birds we will only ship by air. The flight must be a direct flight to a major airport with no flight changes. You will have to pay to have us drive them to the airport and the cost of shipping.

Contacts for information about birds

Frank R. Reese Jr.

730 Smoky Valley Road

Lindsborg, Kansas 67456

785 227 3972

turkeys@ks-usa.net email

www.reeseturkeys.com website

www.heritagechef.com website

Devon Reese

620 664 1778 phone

coolbeans9091@yahoo.com email

Ryon Carey

620 245 7469 phone

sandzen@sbcglobal.net email

Out of the city, on to the farm

Getting started with Barred Rocks! More photos are posted on the Facebook page. 

Eric Kurhi ekurhi@mercurynews.com

of the San Jose Mercury News  wrote about Hollyhill Hummingbird Farm in December:

CUPERTINO -- Up in the hills above Silicon Valley, past the point where sewer lines give way to septic systems and city lights no longer wash out a starry sky, Dave West is living the simple life.

There, next to the in-law unit where the former aerospace consultant lives on his parents' 10-acre homestead, a trail has been carved out of a steep hillside. It winds past planter boxes sprouting with winter crops, a chicken coop and a hopyard, fruit trees and mulch piles until it reaches a plateau, where West hopes to someday install a "Last Supper table" so picnickers can soak in the sunset.
Welcome to Hollyhill Hummingbird Farm, established July 2011.

"Originally, I was just trying to produce all my own food," said West, 31, who added that the plan involved enough food for eight people -- himself, his parents and a couple of close relatives plus a little extra to give away. "But once I got going, I started loving it more and more and came to the conclusion that this is what I want to be doing, full force."

After Craigslist ads ("Free Eggs, Free Education for kids, Free Homebrew for Adults!"), Facebook posts ("If you like beer and chemistry, please be our Yeast Master!") and plain, old-fashioned word-of-mouth exposure, more than 200 people came to the farm to learn about gardening, sustainable living and the symbiosis of life. More than 25 of them returned as volunteers to help grow the farm and West's vision.

His vision is

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threefold: maintain an ethical and symbiotic relationship with life; educate people on how to do the same; and keep a balance with the community without sacrificing principles.
"A lot of people come out and they get excited," West said, standing near an electrified fence that protects his flock of 18 Plymouth barred rock hens (good for both eggs and eating). "They feel the energy in what we're doing."

West's life wasn't always so bucolic. After graduate school at UC Irvine, where he obtained a double major in aerospace and mechanical engineering, he clung to a dream he had held since childhood of one day helping humans colonize Mars -- or at least create some kind of DNA repository on the Red Planet.

"Like a Noah's Ark," he said. "I grew up in the Cold War era, and I'm still a little scared we're all going to nuke ourselves someday."

But the jobs he got, for the Army, the Navy, NASA or Boeing, more often than not involved advancing machines of death, West said.

"Everything was geared toward war," he said. "Aircraft, drones, improving jet engines."
West said he was not particularly proud of the projects he was involved in and, besides, "most of my life I worked on things that I was not supposed

Barred Plymouth Rock chickens at Hollyhill Hummingbird Sustainable Farm in Cupertino on Dec. 5, 2012. (Patrick Tehan/Staff)

to talk about. And I like talking."

So when the consulting firm he worked for let him go, it was time for a new field. Like the one behind his parents' home, where he grew up as a kid, where the coop that West caught a "wet egg" from a hen when he was 4 still stands.

West was "pretty mad at society in general" after losing his job, and was trying to become more self-sufficient. But when he looked into what he needed for his chickens and his crops, he saw a cycle: The chickens get the vegetable dregs, they eat the insects, and they in turn provide the manure to feed the plants.

"Everything seems to need everything else," he said. "And there's no need for chemicals or fertilizer."
Such are the lessons taught in the biweekly tours offered at the farm along with down-in-the-dirt farming tips.

Master gardener Lisa Fink, a 26-year-old who works for the Santa Clara Public Library, offers a helping hand for those without naturally green thumbs.

"A lot of times they're interested in it, maybe they grew up doing it, or maybe they don't know where to start," she said. "They often have a desire to connect back with nature."

Other volunteers include a brewmaster who was once a key member of a startup company bought by Logitech, a nurse who serves as a child education specialist, and some with earthier callings, such as an expert weaver.

Volunteer Davinder Kapal, a 25-year-old substitute teacher from San Jose, was the first to answer the original Craigslist ad, driven because he wanted some eggs and to see how West incorporated chickens on the farm. He has been a steady presence since.

"I like to see how everything comes together," he said. "I want to see it taken to the next level."
West said that next level will be further expansion at the present site, and maybe down the line moving to bigger digs elsewhere if a benefactor is found. For now, he relishes the lessons he's able to teach through the land.

"My real hope is that I affect the children the most," he said. "I want kids to grow up thinking how things could be different, how farming can integrate everything, so they can change things later.

"From adults, I want them to go home and grow more vegetables."

Chicken hero

Here's a good news story to start the new year from a local television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Guardian has video.

MILWAUKEE –  A Wisconsin couple says clucks, not fire trucks, helped them escape a blaze at their home.

Dennis Murawska, 59, said a pet chicken named Cluck Cluck woke his wife Susan Cotey, 52, with loud clucking from its cage in the basement two floors below about 6:15 a.m. Thursday. The couple's two cats also were running around the main floor.

Murawska said he had been half awake but didn't know about the fire because the smoke alarms hadn't gone off. He realized something was wrong when his wife got up.

"The chicken gets quite vocal when she gets excited," he said.

Cluck Cluck came from a nearby farm in Alma Center, about 135 miles east of Minneapolis, Murawska said. When the chicken began wandering over to his house, his neighbor said he could kill it because it wasn't producing any eggs. But Murawska felt sorry for Cluck Cluck because she had a mutated foot and decided to keep her. He fed the bird and built a coop, and then his wife let Cluck Cluck into the basement on cold nights.

"I spent way more money than I ever should've," Murawska said by telephone. "I guess it paid off."
The couple escaped, and firefighters found the chicken in its cage and one of the cats alive in the basement. Another cat hasn't been found and is presumed dead, Murawska said. The couple and their surviving cat checked into a Black River Falls hotel, while Cluck Cluck is staying with the neighbor who used to own her.

Alma Center Fire Chief Jeff Gaede said the fire started in the attic of the attached garage and was not suspicious. The house was a total loss, but it could have been worse -- if not for the chicken.
"We are used to hearing about a dog or cat or something, but we never heard of a chicken waking up a resident for a fire," Gaede said. "That's pretty amazing."

United Poultry Concerns points out that industrial chickens don't have adequate protection from fire:

The story of Cluck Cluck, a hen whose loud cries alerted her grateful family to a fire in their Wisconsin home on December 28, thus enabling them to escape, has resounded around the world. Reporters love this story, and rightly so! But Cluck Cluck’s Heroism with its Happy Ending and shower of praise also echoes the cries of tens of millions of chickens and turkeys on farms throughout the United States whose clamor upon sensing a fire in their houses is totally ignored by their owners, who refuse to install even minimal fire protection equipment, claiming it would cost too much. They prefer to let the birds burn alive and collect the insurance and taxpayer reimbursement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On Dec. 20, 2012, 25,000 turkeys burned to death on a farm in Virginia. Last May, 500,000 hens burned to death on a farm in Colorado. Last June, 14,000 turkeys burned to death – 7,000 in North Carolina and 7,000 in Minnesota.

When we learned in July 2012 that the National Fire Protection Association, “the authority on fire, electrical, and building safety,” had proposed an amendment requiring all newly-constructed farmed animal housing facilities to be equipped with sprinklers and smoke control systems, and that the agribusiness lobbies had successfully joined forces to defeat the proposal, we filed our own Appeal and gave testimony at the NFPA’s Meeting on the proposal on August 7 in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Though the agribusiness lobby won the first round, we will continue to fight for a NFPA provision mandating that fire protection equipment be installed in all farmed animal housing facilities. Nothing shows more starkly their total lack of compassion and accountability than the refusal of farmers and farming corporations to install basic fire protection equipment in the buildings they trap their animals in. If the alarm cries of one single hen could be heard two floors from where the Wisconsin family lay sleeping, imagine the sound of many thousands of birds trapped in their cells, and nobody listening as they scream, burn, and suffocate to death together.

Happy New Year!

2012 was a great year and I'm looking forward to an exciting, interesting year in 2013.

Big changes I saw were in the arena of increased awareness of heritage livestock generally and poultry in particular. Reports of lack of jobs and lack of food make me see a connection: Get more people growing better food! I'm convinced we are on the right path.

How to Raise Chickens came out in 2007, when few people considered keeping chickens at all. Since then, they've become the mascot of the local food movement and everyone I talk to either keeps a few hens or knows someone who does. So much has changed that a new edition was needed. The second edition will be available January 21 in bookstores, Tractor Supply stores and other outlets.

It's got lots of new pictures and updated information. It's a smaller, conventional book size, but the photos are still large and beautiful. More to come!