It's summer..or spring!!?? And our new open-air coops

The bee's are buzzing, chickens are excitedly cackling as they find worms in the dewy grass...it must be spring!! Or summer...is anyone else confused about this weather? 21 above one day, snow the next.... For the most part, we have had more nice days than not. Not only do the birds enjoy rummaging in the grass, they also love suntanning and relaxing too!

Anna's bantams Mimi, Momo, Esmerelda and Lily, foraging in the green grass

Huey, snoozing like a happy duck in the sun

All this warm weather also means more work outside.

Daniel working hard while I take photos :P

Our guardians also are inspectors, making sure our coops are all up to snuff

The photo that the Donkeys are in reveal the page/chicken wire than Daniel tacked all around the coop. It is buried 6 inches into the soil at the bottom- this is to prevent night time predators from digging their way into the coop. The last photo shows the finished coop (more like finished-ish). It still needs a few more doors and things done inside it- nest boxes, breeding pens etc. We have decided that chickens benefit more from having extra ventilation than from too much insulation. We will be keeping our birds in this coop year-round.

The open-air coop

We`ve already retrofitted one building to look like this, with the south-facing wall completely comprised of page wire.  So far it has worked really well. The air ALWAYS smells fresh, even when the birds have lived in there for a month. Nothing is dank or smelly. This is due in part that the birds spend all day ranging outside. But also due to the fact that the fresh air is circulating at all times, keeping everything fresh. No stale air, no build up of moisture or rot. (When the birds roost at night, they actually poop A LOT). Additionally, we have seen absolutely no illness in our birds. The dank air and nitrogen build up is more often than not the cause of respiratory illnesses and other diseases in traditional insulated coops and crowded barns. With our system, we haven't had a single sneeze, sniffle or swollen eye. This makes me feel really good about what we are doing.

You might ask, but what about the winter? You do know we live in Alberta, where -20 is common? We are very aware of that. You have to know we care very much for the well-being and comfort of our animals. That being said, we have specifically and carefully chosen the chicken breeds that we raise with one specific factor in mind- cold hardiness. Our Chanteclers, light Brahmas and Buck-eyes are all known to handle winters very well. They have the tiniest, flattest combs and wattles, so in turn they don't normally get frost bite. Frost bite is the most major concern when it comes to over-wintering birds.

A Comb by Any Other Name:Comb types: (A) single, Plymoth Rock; (B) pea, Brahma; (C) strawberry, Malay; (D) cushion, Chantecler; (E) walnut, Silkie; (F) buttercup, Buttercup; (G) V-shaped, La Fleche; (H) rose, Hamburg.

Read more: http://www.grit.com/multimedia/image-gallery.aspx?id=1344&seq=25#ixzz1uxim7H4k

 As the above image shows- D show the cushion comb that Chanteclers have. See how it is small and flat against the head? This means it will not get frostbitten. Any of the ones, especially image A or F,  show a tall comb with thin fleshy appendages- these are extremely susceptible to being frozen off, causing discomfort to the birds. We also raise the buck-eyes and Brahmas which have B, called a pea comb, also a small flat comb against the head.

 Second, a concern that many producers have is not even to do with the birds, its to do with the eggs and water- both of which can freeze in the cold temps. We have decided we would rather lose a few eggs, but then have a very low-input system for raising our birds, where we feel they also have a higher quality life. Also, its not a big deal to change out the water when it freezes. We visit the coops anyway twice daily at least, to check in on the birds, feed them, etc. The  savings (no building to heat, easier construction) and most importantly the fresh air for the birds outweighs any other cons that we have thought of.

In order to partly compensate for the lack of insulation, we will put a barrier of straw bales around the inside of the coop which will provide a little bit of insulation as well as more protection from the elements (wind mainly). We also plan to construct insulated nest boxes, both for the added comfort for the bird, and to prevent the eggs from freezing.We will keep you posted on how this works out- it's a little bit unorthodox, but that's how we roll.

We also have 200 chicks and 100 turkeys showing up in the next two weeks. These, in addition to the ones that we have been busy hatching out since January, will comprise the shares for the fall of 2012. We certainly have our work cut out for us. These little guys will first go into a heated brooder, and then when they begin feathering out, we can also have them out on the grass. We know of people who have little chicks out on the grass from day 1, and we really would like to do that- but it kind of depends on our time and supplies available if we can accomplish that in time or not. Otherwise, we will use our barn for now and work on an outdoor set-up for the future.

Some Buck-eye chicks

Thanks so much for reading, until next time...

Heritage Breed shortage in Canada

This is our first turkey egg, from our naraganset hen. We're very excited about. Our happiness is mixed with sadness though... We've recently discovered that the 2 Canadian hatcheries can't supply the older "broad breasted bronzes" that was the closest ones to heritage available. Wow! Major wrench in our plans. We can still get broad breasted bronzes, but it will be a new, faster growing type. Not what we're going for. This means 2 things to us.

Firstly, we'll be working so much harder to get where Daniel and I want to be. It's always been our goal to have our own breeding stock and have our very own chicklings (a very technical word, for cute baby birds) of heritage breeds. Now it'll just need to happen so much sooner than we expected. Remember that first, beautiful egg from our hen? We're going to need a lot more of those.

Secondly, it is a sobering reminder of how today's food production system relies so heavily on commercialization. Many of these awesome birds are getting much more difficult to obtain. Rochester just doesn't have them because of a salmonella outbreak, but, the fact of the matter is that fewer and fewer hatcheries are carrying heritage varieties.

A lot of the heritage breeds are disappearing because they're not considered commercially viable. As in, they don't grow fast enough. That scares me.

Here are some reasons why we need to give a damn about heritage creatures from chickens, ducks and turkeys to pigs and goats:

1) have a good balance of flavor, and growth ( slower growth is much better for the animal)

2) they're self-sufficient, meaning they are willing and able to go out and about and forage (for ex, commercial meat birds are bred to grow so fast they actually out grow their skeletons)

3) they can naturally mate ( especially apparent in turkeys, commercial turkeys have such large chests they are physically unable to mount a hen, that sucks!)

4) have more genetic diversity

If you're interested in learning more about heritage breeds, check out the following links:

http://albc-usa.org/

http://chb.skytoneprinting.com/

http://www.rarebreedscanada.ca/

2012 Duck and Turkey shares now for sale!

Duck Share:

Back in October Daniel and I purchased 1 mother and 20 ducklings. We, with the help of the mother duck of course, have been raising them with the intent of keeping them as a breeding flock. We are thrilled with how healthy they are and how fast they are sizing up. Once the ducklings are mature and laying eggs, we will leave those eggs under the new mothers. With a little bit of luck and lots of care, we will have a new batch of ducklings! These are the ones that we will then raise for our 2012 shares. (Christmas dinner, anyone?)

Our ducks are being raised in a compassionate way. They have lots of space. This includes plenty of outdoor space during the summer and winter-they really like scooping up mouth-fulls of snow in the winter. They also have enough space inside their cozy coop for the days when they feel lazy. We also inspect them daily to ensure that they are healthy and happy.

As you know, we manage our farm with the CSA system, meaning we will be pre-selling "shares" of meat for the year 2012.

If you would like to secure yourself a duck, (or two, or three) please contact us and we will put you on our list.

Here are the details:
You can email us to be put on our waiting list now.
We will sell the duck shares as they hatch. So, as soon as they are hatching (early spring) we will email you first and you will pay a deposit of $15 dollars, which secures you your very own duck. We will then proceed to raise these ducklings. Once they are finished, and have been butchered and frozen (at a provincially inspected facility), we will bring them to a pre-determined delivery point. Upon delivery you will pay $3.75 a pound. We will be able to deliver anytime in the fall- perhaps in time for thanksgiving and or Christmas 2012.

Turkey Share:

The turkey shares will function similarly, except we will not be able to hatch our own in the spring. Instead, we will be taking your names on our waiting list now and then purchasing as many poults (baby turkeys) as we need in the spring from a hatchery (. We will then raise these turkeys and sell them in the exact same fashion as the ducks. So, email us now to be put on our list. Then we will be accepting the $20 deposit in March 2012 when we are ordering the turkeys. We will then proceed to raise these turkeys, and they will be ready in time for thanksgiving- or Christmas 2012 (your choice! the Christmas turkeys will end up being slightly heavier).

All our meats (ducks, turkeys and chickens) will always be butchered at a provincially inspected facility. They will also be butchered close to the delivery date to ensure freshness.