Holly's Fresh Farmer

Live and learn, live and learn, learn, learn, learn…. brain hurts.

I don’t make rash decisions. I am not particularly ‘spontaneous.’ I research things…. to. the. death. 

When we first bought the farm: acquiring hens seemed like a no brainer. Chickens appear pretty straight forward compared to other livestock. They don’t try to eat you, you don’t need to groom them: you just feed them, give them a shelter, and collect lots and lots of delicious farm fresh eggs.

So I researched and researched. Hours on the computer, downloaded chicken apps, books, and forums later…. I learned a lot. Not that I remember much, as my memory is that of a goldfish… but I digress. I did discovered that the chicken breed holding the world record for the most eggs per year was called an Australorp. 

I researched some more. Australorps are docile, calm, large birds, quiet roosters, non-aggressive, good at foraging, and hardy. They seem perfect. 

I researched more… because, again, that is what I do. I found out that chickens from local breeders are healthier than chickens from large hatcheries. This is because the chickens from local breeders come from lines that are accustomed to the diseases and bugs in one’s local area. Makes sense. Now, I would rather not deal with sickly birds, so I opted to seek out a local breeder and purchase some ‘award winning australorps.’

‘Award winning’ sounds good right? However, I mucked up. My goldfish-memory forgot that I was not an avid chicken showing exhibitionist. I do not spend my days attending chicken shows where I show off my bird because she’s got one steller comb. I just need an australorp that lives up to it’s world-record-holding egg production status.

We have 20 australorp hens, and they are all the things they should be: big, calm, not aggressive, quiet, hardy and so forth. But they barely produce eggs. We went nearly two months without one! I looooove feeding and tending to 25 chickens, and then going to the grocery store to BUY FRIGGIN’ EGGS.

In all my research, what I missed along the way was the difference in laying abilities between hatchery and breeder birds. Hatcheries make eggs, that’s what they do! Lots and LOTS of eggs. They sell hatching eggs to people all over the world: boxes by the hundreds to thousands of miles away. It’s really quite impressive. Breeders, on the other hand, make pretty birds. Interesting statistic that I read…. an average egg amount from a breeder for a Rhode Island Red hen is about 170/year, and an average from its hatchery equivalent is about 250/year! So if you want egg producers, you want a hatchery bird. 

So I’ve placed an order: 25 australorp hen chicks, from a hatchery in Maple Ridge, will be joining the flock in March. Hopefully then, I won’t have to buy any friggin’ eggs.

Holly Hill Farm is Flooding

Holly Hill Farm:
-16.2 acres located at 2200 Park Road.
-Family owned & operated since the 1950’s
-Owned by the Denne’s (purchased from her grandparents in Nov. 2011)
-Farm is severely flooding due to inadequate ditching, poor ditch maintenance, and the municipal ditching layout of the subdivision.

Holly Hill Farm Progress & Future Goals

Progress:
-purchased property and spent over $60,000 in revitalizing it back into a working farm: we acquired farm status, rebuilt and built infrastructure, purchased farming equipment, acquired livestock (alpacas & chickens) etc.
-educated ourselves on farming techniques and possible successful ventures; met with farming consultant to set goals.
-networked within the community to build support and clientele
-established active and busy internet based communications (facebook page & blog)

-www.facebook.com/hollyhillfarmcampbellriver

-www.hollyhillfarm.tumblr.com

-sold out of our first batch of free-ranged chicken in 12 hours; have started taking pre-orders for pasture raised meat chickens & free-ranged eggs for this spring.

Goals:
-to provide local, fresh, healthy food to our community
-to provide students with educational opportunities to learn about their food
-to create a platform for other farmers and artisans to sell their locally created goods

Possible Ventures Include:

• pasture raised meat: poultry, beef, pork, rabbit
• free-ranged eggs
• market garden: vegetables, berries, herbs & fruit trees from both crop fields and greenhouse spaces
• pumpkin patch
• cornfield & maze
• raw & hand spun alpaca & angora fibre/yarn

*all animals to be raised humanely with no use of hormones or antibiotics

*all crops to be grown in an organic matter, without the use of pesticides

Our Current Devastating State: 

-three acres is completed under water all year long and another two is under water until the hot summer months. A 3.5 acre pasture field is now unusable. 

-the remaining pastureland is highly saturated and barely usable.
-our center creek, connecting Park Road ditch to Woodburn ditch, is severely overflowing and way beyond capacity. It used to be ten feet wide and is now roughly 250 feet in some sections.
-our creek’s bridge, and the only access connecting the two halves of the property, is submerged and unusable.
-bog vegetation is growing and pasture grasses are dying.
-infrastructure and fencing are under water/saturated and rotting away.
-Forty, 50 year old poplar trees have drowned a died.
-our 50 year old heritage barn, built by my grandfather, has water encroaching its perimeter.
-livestock are in experiencing hoof rot
-neighbours are also suffering: people are pumping out their basements, experiencing landslides, and dealing the mold and rot.

Main Reasons for Flooding:

1. Unmaintained & clogged lower Woodburn ditch between Spring Road and Island Highway. The water cannot leave as quickly as it enters.
2. Defective municipal ditching layout: the entire Holly Hill subdivision drains onto our farm. The water doesn’t follow the ditches, it blankets our pastureland. The water sits on our property like it is a giant detention pond.
3. Location: the farm is on a low lying section of land.

**The first two problems are fixable & need to be addressed**

Clogged Woodburn ditch, facing west & east

Potential Solutions:

• Campbell River’s ‘Integrated Stormwater Management Plan’

-a thorough assessment of the flooding issues in the lower Holly Hill’s area.

• “… the district has the opportunity to commence implementation of improved stormwater management efforts to enhance and maintain this [potential fish & other habitat] health while protecting property and life from flooding and erosion.” Pg 46; Stormwater management plan.
• Upgrading, cleaning, and maintaining the Woodburn ditch, annually.
• Assessing, and possibly replacing, the Woodburn ditch culverts
• Creating a detention pond
• Installing storm drains in Lower Holly Hills
• Diverting some of the subdivision’s run off down Park Road instead of across our farm
• Disperse the subdivision’s water away from Holly Hill Farm through adjusting the municipal ditching layout in the Holly Hill subdivision

Why Should you Help?
-To advocate for small business and agriculture

-To support Campbell River’s Agricultural Plan

-To help make Campbell River more self-sufficient and sustainable

-To allow Campbell Riverites access to fresh, local food produced by Holly Hill Farm

-To help Holly Hill Farm build community & education for the citizens of Campbell River

-To support the notion that an entire subdivision’s water runoff should not be the responsibility of a single taxpayer.

-To set a precedent that the Campbell River council members and city hall are supportive and willing to do whatever they can to help a struggling family and farm.

Holly Hill Farm is a Priority & Campbell River Agrees

A petition was conducted and over 200 citizens want the city to save Holly Hill Farm and stop the flooding.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-holly-hill-farm/

”Please help save the farm. This family is wanting to do something so beneficial to our community, and I support them 100%.” Lauren Schmelzle, Campbell River Resident

“I am vegan and need local food. I shop at courtney farmers market. Would like to shop here instead.” Suzanne Chickite, Campbell River Taxpayer

“The ditches surrounding this property don’t seem to be draining into the Woodburn area, like it is intended to. I love the idea of a farm in our neighborhood and hope that a resolution can be reached to prevent the flooding that is occurring on this and adjacent properties.” Doris Flinn, Campbell River Realtor

“This problem needs to be fixed, it has gone on way too long.” Michele Porter

“Do the right thing city of Campbell River.” Scott Wallis, Campbell River Small Business Owner

“The City of Campbell River is imploding from council down to its citizens, all squabbling over where to spend money, what businesses/industries to seek out, and who builds what. It is time to stop the insanity and start looking locally. We all talk the talk about shopping local but when it comes to local citizens who have the plan, the drive and the energy to do it, they end up having doors slammed in their faces. Come on Campbell River, we are driving the vitality of our community right out of here and into Alberta! This little farm will not save Campbell River from its economic woes, but I believe it will encourage more people to start small business, support the growing populace who want to purchase local organic produce and a place to educate our students on sustainable living. The end result, a community that is strong, happy and vibrant, not one that is disjointed and angry. Holly Hill is not the only farm within the community, and I am not going to suggest that it will be our saviour, but they are putting up the fight where others choose to give up and move on. Please stop slamming the door, maybe it will encourage others to move forward with their ideas. Respectfully, Robin Wocks” Small Business Owner

“Supporting our community to preserve a piece of Campbell River’s History that is trying to instill values long lost in our society today, should not be a question! Shame on you City Counsel for  funding  ”curb appeal” instead of community appeal. A town that supports each other and supports ideas that will benefit our community for years to come need to be a priority and not placed on the back burner any longer!” Amanda Klassen, Campbell River Taxpayer


“It seems a lot of time and money was spent creating the Campbell River Agricultural Plan, and developing ideas for expanding local agriculture. Well, here is a local farm trying to make a real go of it. Want to see local agriculture grow? Do something real to support it, instead of a bunch of talk. This is an opportunity to show the community that the City of Campbell River really is serious about supporting farmers. Or at the very least, not totally screwing them. Thank you.” Rebecca Berry, Campbell River Resident

“We cannot afford to lose another local food provider! My family suffers from severe food additive allergies and rely on our local farmers to buy as much as our food as we can.” Tammy Johnston

“This is a very sad thing to have happen to a very beautiful farm.” Kym Hansen (Farwell)

“I support anyone trying to improve my hometown. Holly Hill is trying to provide healthy local food and educational opportunities for the children.” Clayton Wilson

“There is nothing quite like local business! Look what this does to the global footprint. It is small but a beginning. Maybe our chickens will not be flash frozen from Taiwan (Janes), perhaps we could buy some household goods some day that are not made in China (thanks Walmart), and maybe someday we will eat local seasonal foods year round and just treat ourselves once in awhile to those southern fruits and veggies that we love but have absolutely no idea how they stay fresh for 2 months! I hope that the City of Campbell River is able to rally round this family and any others who are affected by the flooding.” Gail Allen

“I lived on Rainbow Road for 7 years and every winter drove by this soggy farm and watched the ditches on both park and woodburn flood, ( sometimes dangerous to drive on) this needs to be fixed. - a family farm here with plans to be open to the public would be HUGE for CR.” Deanna Collins, Campbell River Realtor

“An improvement along Woodburn Road and Park Road is long overdue. Flooding is not acceptable. Some tax dollars spent on this end of town is long overdue.” Bridgit Grant

“Please save the farm from this ridiculous flooding.” Dominique Caron, Campbell River Taxpayer

“This incredible family run farm is a pillar of the community, and gives back in so many ways. It would be a devastating loss to everyone if it were to be destroyed. Please help!” Jessica Cavers, Supporter of Agriculture & Small Business

“We need to help these people! What they are trying to create is so important for all of us.” Tandrea Rowan, Campbell River Chiropractor

Anonymous asked: I don't have a question, but as I have said before, I lived on Spring, I lived at 2453 Spring road, we backed on to your property, I used the what I believed to be a horse trail from Park rd to Woobburn most of the days of my 17 years on that street... I built a horrible draw bridge, a fort and a swing that crossed that horrible ditch you are talking about, and to my knowledge that ditch was cleaned once for sure, maybe twice... I'm sorry you have this battle

Thank you for your concern :) I am optimistic that a solution will occur (hopefully in my lifetime haha). The mayor came by for a visit, and the Mirror newspaper is writing a story about it. I also heard back from two council members, and I plan on attending the council meeting to express my concerns further. I think with diligence, the city will help us out. Even a little bit would make all the difference! I hope one day you can come visit, and you won’t have to swim to make it to the barn!

Oh the water. So-much-water. Our poor family farm is being washed away.

You see, our 16.2 acre family farm is located at the base of a substantial subdivision called ‘Holly Hills’. Not only is the farm located at the base of this hilly subdivision, but it also lays at the base of another higher altitude area heading toward the coastline: thus, we are in somewhat of a ‘valley,’ in the greater scheme of things. My grandfather bought, and further created, this beautiful subdivision back in the fifties. He left our 16.2 acre farm as exactly that, a family farm. It housed barrel racing, cows (that broke free and wandered the highway,) and horses that spent afternoons walking around the neighborhood with kids on their backs. It had fruitful gardens and green pastures. Oh the stories I’ve heard about this piece of land and it’s residents. It’s a farm that houses my history: from my grandmother’s experiences, to my mother’s, to mine, and to my daughter’s. 

Because of the simple topography of our location, Holly Hill Farm has always struggled with a minor flooding issue. In the past, my grandfather had the ditching system cleaned annually to prevent massive floods, which helped greatly. As more houses were built in the subdivision, and more water was used and dispersed of, the flooding became worse. Culverts were put here and there, and eventually, the entire Holly Hill subdivision drained into our farm, and it still does. 

So there lie the first two problems: topography and being the subdivision’s waiting pool. These two issues are okay IF the water can LEAVE your property. In our case, it barely can. There are two culverts, back to back, exiting our property in a ditch along ‘Woodburn Road’; however, they are both undersized and often completely underwater. Furthermore, there is potential fish habitat, as this ditch connects with our lovely estuary. Fisheries allows a window of opportunity, from the end of June through mid September, when ditch adjustments can be made without disturbing any potential habitat. This window of opportunity has never been utilized by the city. In fact, from our understanding, the city has not maintained, cleaned, or dug out this ditch in the past twenty or so years. I can’t confirm this, as I was 9 twenty years ago, but take a drive down Woodburn Road and see what you think. What the city is consistent about doing? Mowing the ditch each spring/summer,  and then leaving the clippings in the ditch to further clog it up. We believe that Fisheries has recently broadened their guidelines for dealing with any potential-fish-baring ditches. The city informed us that they sent a proposal to council to address this area; however, the city cannot do anything without budget approval from the council. So here we sit, waiting, and getting wet.

Originally, Holly Hill farm was four pasture fields: each measuring about four acres. This was further divided by a ten foot wide ditch cutting the property in half (this ditch was dug, by my grandfather, as a favor to the City to help the drainage issues: long before I was alive.) The western portion of the property experienced the most intense flooding each winter, so much so, that the pastures would need to be closed off and not utilized until the summertime. Eventually, my Grandfather was given permission from the City of Campbell River to have these eight acres filled to raise the land out of this flooding area. Over ten years, and countless truckloads, about seven acres was raised up about eight feet. This solved one problem, but emphasized another.

Prior to filling half the property, the 16.2 original acres acted as a giant sponge. It absorbed the majority of the water coming from the Holly Hill’s subdivision: giving the water a place to sit while it slowly left the property. When you place seven acres of fill onto this giant sponge, the ‘sponge’ doesn’t quite work the same. Now only eight unfilled acres act as the sponge. Which begs the question: why must Holly Hill Farm be a sponge?

You see, it is not the amount of water coming into the property, it is the pace at which it comes and leaves. If water moves quickly into the property, and quickly out, then no flooding occurs. Our issue is that the water moves onto our property at a gushing speed, and then leaves at a snails pace. Add to this, last year the city addressed the inadequately flowing ditches on one of roads in the Holly Hill’s subdivision, Spring Road. This means that water flows even faster onto our farm than ever before. 

The result: three acres is completed underwater all year long, and another two is under water throughout the winter months. The remaining three acres of pastureland is a muddy mess. The water doesn’t follow the ditches, instead it moves along the pasture; blanketing it. It inhibits growth of pasture grasses and causes dangers for our resident horses and alpacas. The fencing posts rot away, the 50 year old poplar trees lining our creek have drowned and died, and our creek’s bridge is completely submerged. The constant water causes bog vegetation to grow that inhibits sunlight from reaching the soil and drying it up: further emphasizing the problem. Our heritage barn, built nearly 50 years ago, is next in line for drowning. Neighboring houses are pumping out their basements each winter and fighting mold. Where a horse riding ring once lived, bringing such joy and excitement to a neighborhood, now is washed away and gone forever. If this continues, the entire pasture side of Holly Hill Farm, the only fertile soil we have, will be lost. 

So between the farm’s location, the subdivision’s water run off, the neglected ditches and the undersized culverts, we have been witnessing acres upon acres of our family farm disappearing into a flooded, bogged-out mess. My question is why? Why must Holly Hill Farm disappear? Why won’t some simple measures be taken to help our family farm? What kind of ecological impact is the neighborhood’s run off having on our farm land? When someone washes their car, do our horses drink the soapy old water? What about the fish? Bird life? What about our goals to supply our little town with healthy, fresh, hormone free fruits, vegetables, and meats? 

The city of Campbell River knows there is a severe problem as they compiled a 72 page assessment of the issue and published the ‘Campbell River Storm Water Management Plan.’ It’s solution: maintain the ditches annually and wait for a ‘developer’ to buy Holly Hill Farm and be forced into funding a total overhaul of the ditching system. This makes sense, if Holly Hill Farm were going to be developed into a subdivision. Well, Holly Hill Farm is not owned by a developer, and we are not going to sell to one. We are a family farm and will remain one. So I hope the city can come up with an alternative solution.

The city of Campbell River also spent money on what they call the ‘Agricultural Plan.’ Again, this is another plan where the city of Campbell River is supposed to support the building of farms and assist in making them successful. I thought Holly Hill Farm was indeed… a FARM. Where’s the help and support? Ultimately, it sadly comes down to money and priorities. The city is not rich. I understand this. The city clearly wants (and probably needs) money from a developer more than wanting to support an up and coming farm. A farm that can supply the town with health, education, and community. It is very sad.

What’s the most ironic thing? —Holly Hill Farm doesn’t even have a water service entering the property!! We use rain barrels and have a friendly neighbour who fills up a water trough for our animals. There are no hoses or taps in sight.

Oh, and did I forget to tell you that the ‘Storm Water Management Plan’ proposed that the entire subdivision be taxed extra to pay for improvements to this draining system in the early 2000’s? Did this happen? If so, I wonder what happened to that money?

So yes, we’re in deep water (har-har). We’ve got big plans and ambitious goals, but we take two steps forward then ten leaps back.. and get sucked into a three acre BOG! I have contacted every single council member, the mayor, the two newspapers, two engineers, the city’s operations manager & transportation manager, plus our neighborhood association. I have dropped letters off throughout the affected areas, written letters to the city, and had city employees walk the property. I am not about to stop. The council needs to approve the budget to address the Woodburn and Park Road flooding crisis. Holly Hill Farm and neighbors are a priority. I hope someone out there will come to our rescue and save us from drowning.

So we made chicken babies, and IT WORKED! They are happily chirping away in my kitchen as I type! As mentioned in my previous post, creating baby chickens is a tricky endeavour: much more difficult than creating human babies (and less fun.) Although, I should clarify that I am speaking of ‘creating’ human babies, not ‘delivering’ them… obviously. 

So here’s how things progressed….

Everything was going swimmingly. Day one through eighteen had passed with the eggs gently shifting from side to side on the automatic egg turner. The temperature and humidity were holding steady, and things were easy. Then day nineteen came. Time to increase the humidity and prep the eggs for hatching. We removed the egg turner, and softly placed the eggs on their sides within the incubator. To increase the humidity, we filled all the water troughs as per the instructions. Problem one occurred: the humidity was not high enough. We got creative and added additional containers full of water. This still didn’t fix the problem. Then we added wet cloths to the containers, propped up on spoons, and viola, the humidity was perfect.

Now, my husband is a pessimist…. like the kind of pessimist that thinks a depression is going to hit, and we’re going to be forced to live in the woods, eating cans of old tomato paste. I, on the other hand, have more of the ‘everything will be fine’ mentality: hell, we know how to raise chickens now, so we’ll eat them instead of the tomato paste. So naturally, Husband was certain that we’d end up hatching one or no chickens. A hatch rate of 50-85% is normal, so I assumed we’d hatch out 86%… cause, why not?

Day 21 hit. Problem two occurred: condensation heavily built up on the window and within the thermostat. This didn’t seem to be such a big deal because everything was still functioning properly. Then something miraculous happened: an egg moved! It rocked back and forth, side to side, like a little baby chicken was INSIDE AND COMING OUT!!! Yahooooo!!! Shortly later, another egg had a small crack. Fancy chicken people call this a ‘pip’. That ‘pip’ turned into a hole, and sure enough, one could spot a teeny, tiny, little beak trying to poke its way out! Those fancy chicken people call this stage ‘zipping.’ 

One by one, egg after egg began cracking and zipping, and then it finally happen: our first baby chicken hatched! This riddled excitement through our house: family members were stopping by to see! (Clearly my family has too much time on their hands). Nonetheless, it was a very exciting and neat experience. The toddlers, big kids, and grandparents all found joy in seeing the little birds appear out of those eggs. Nature is pretty amazing.

Que the ‘jaws’ music: problem three hit! The condensation built up inside the thermostat caused the thermostat to malfunction BIG TIME. It was mis-reading the internal incubator temperature by twenty degrees! This meant the heater was constantly on, causing the inside of the incubator to reach a disastrous 104 degrees! I think 105 kills just about anything, so this was bad, BAD news. What to do, what to do!?!?

Baby chicks need to stay inside the incubator for at least 24 hours after hatching. This allows them to fully absorb their membrane from hatching, and get coordinated enough to get to their food, water, and in and out of the heat. We only had one hatched, a few more zipping, and the incubator was going haywire. We put a secondary thermometer inside to correctly monitor the temperature, and every time it would hit 102, we would unplug the incubator and let it drop to 98 degrees. This was not ideal. We also removed one of the extra containers of water to decrease the humidity and hopefully minimize the condensation.

We thought of helping the others hatch, but google told us it is nearly impossible and can take up to six hours per egg/chick (we had 16 eggs!!). So we just kept on unplugging and luckily, after a few hours, the thermostat kicked back in and started reading the temperature properly. This chaos ensued the next day as well, with the thermostat mucking up: stressful!

In the end, we hatched out 11 of 16 eggs! Today is day 23 and they have just been moved to their temporary brooder on my kitchen counter. This brooder has no shavings and pebbles in their waterer (to avoid choking and drowning, respectively.) After a few days of close supervision, we will move them to their permanent brooder in our garage. It is bigger, filled with shavings and will be their home until they reach 6-7 weeks. Then they will head to our farm and live out their days free-ranging and causing a muck over there. That about covers it, no more time for blogging, must go check on my babies!

Chicken and egg farming is surprisingly more difficult than I originally thought. Tons of people have chickens, it seems that everyone can raise them, eggs cost pennies to buy… chicken farming must be simple. W>R>O>N>G.

You have to combat the sneaky predators such as racoons, mink, and large flying birds. I’ve done more chicken surgery in the past year than I would have liked. Plus, you have to fight off teeny blood-sucking pests too: mites. These things are revolting. Go ahead, itch your head. Free-ranging chickens makes things even more difficult, as they tend to piss off your neighbours and put the “why did the chicken cross the road” question into practice. Note: the answer is… because they are kind of retarded. Free-ranging makes chickens that much more susceptible to predators, and also gives the opportunity for them to poo on every single inch of every single thing… all of the time. Also, chickens add another dynamic to your other free-ranging livestock. They will try to steal your alpaca and horse food, and they will lay eggs in your hay. They can also spread their disgusting teeny blood-sucking pests onto your large livestock by simply being near them. 

With all that said, poultry has the best food-in to meat-out conversion than any other animal. Add to this the fact that eggs are an essential part of most people’s diets, and chicken keeping becomes a must. So if you’re going to keep chickens, you’ve gotta keep the right ones: this we have learned well.

We started chicken farming with the assumption that all chickens, from reputable local breeders, are created equal in regards to their overal health and susceptibility to disease. This is because local chicken lines have developed their own antibodies to fight off local diseases. This is very true; however, some chicken breeds are much more dependable than others.  

The four breeds we currently have are australorps (20 hens, 2 roos), orpingtons (2 hens, 1 roo), dorkings (2 hens, 2 roos), and americanas (2 roos). Our australorps and orpingtons are big, healthy, calm birds. They are not aggressive, except for my prick of a rooster, and they rarely jump the fence. They also are not picky about their roost and will always go inside. Their large size makes them less likely to be pecked off by eagles and hawks, and they are tough. A missing back-of-head or having a portion of their back torn off are no big deal to these ladies! They’ll still live (with a little TLC and a visit to our home, of course). These breeds are ‘easy’ and ‘enjoyable’ compared to our dorkings and americanas.

From our fresh and brief experiences, the dorking hens kind of suck. They succumb to disease and mite infestation before any of our other breeds. They are skittish and flighty, often jumping fences, and they are rather specific about the type of roost they use.  They also do not lay as many eggs as our main breed: australorps. The dorkings are prettier than most chickens and can be sexed as a young chick; however, there are just more negatives than positives with this breed.

The dorking roosters, however, are the nicest looking roosters I’ve encountered. They’re also pretty relaxed, smart, roost indoors, and are more resistant to bugs. I enjoy them much more than our two americana roosters, who act like they’re on crack, and our massive australorp roo that occasionally tries to eat me. Our orpington rooster has become my second favorite, as he doesn’t attack me and is much prettier than the plain black australorps. I have too many damn roosters. This I know. But if you’re wanting a backyard flock protector, a dorking rooster would be a good choice. 

All in all, our dorkings and americanas are on their way out. They’re for sale; although, I think I just killed any sales I might have had. We are going to let our hens live out their days on the farm, and the roos are going to head for the freezer…. even the oh so pretty ones…. that is unless you want to buy them?

I am certain that all farmers must be poor… unless you farm illegal drugs. 

Our goal at Holly Hill Farm is not to become rich: it is to create a happy, healthy, sustainable life, full of family and fresh air. However, our goal is not to become poor, either. So we’ve got to cover our costs, and at this point, we’re sucking at it. But it’s early in our progress. We hope that by making these expenses now, they will pay off in the long run. 

Luckily, we’ve made one very good financial decision: acquiring farm status. This dropped our land taxes 90%: a very good thing.

As for the birds, lets break it down.

—Day old, pure bred, heritage chicks from breeder: $8.00 each

—Brooder warmer & supplies: $150

—Chicken supplies for 30 birds (food, shavings, supplements, meds): roughly $90 a month (less, when chickens are young)

—Elaborate chicken mansion: $8,000 (whoops)

—Butchering costs: $4.00 per bird 

—Gas/electricity/time: lots. 

When choosing a selling fee for the yummy eggs and meat chickens, it would only make sense to charge what we spend. So, I did the math, and each 5 pound heritage chicken should cost around $37.00. Yikes! Clearly, this cannot be charged. So the only option is to farm the much less expensive cornish cross meat chickens. Queue the ‘eeeeek’ from all the hippies. Live and learn. If you want to pay me $50 dollars per heritage chicken, I’ll raise them for you.

The cornish cross meat-birds arrive at butchering weight in about 8 weeks instead of the 24 weeks our heritage birds take. Thus, the cost and work involved is substantially less. The positive is that we plan on raising these cornish crosses in a very happy way: a ‘chicken tractor.’ Essentially, this is a massive coop, with no bottom, that includes a chicken run. The coop gets moved around the pasture daily so the birds get to graze on fresh ground without being accessible to predators. This way, they can be outside at a much younger age…. a very good thing when you only live for two months. 

Now for the alpacas.

Male alpacas are much cheaper than female alpacas: a fancy breeding female alpaca can run a gal $15,000 each. I make enough babies in my uterus and incubator: I do not need any more, a thank you. Our three male alpacas were a steal at only $500 for all three. Because they have a good deal of acreage, they don’t eat much: about one cup of alpaca pellets per day, each. Their hay intake is about $200 per year. The cost of hauling them to our farm was $50, and their annual shearing and worming costs are about $180. There are also nail clipping costs ,if you don’t do them yourself, but we do; and the costs of minor things like meds and salt licks. Thus, our annual expense for the three alpacas, aside from the initial costs, is about $550. The only profit we can gross from our alpacas is by selling their lovely fibre, and luckily, we have a buyer: Whimsy Woolies. Check out my previous blog post all about Whimsy :)

So all in all, our chickens are currently the biggest cost. Seeing as how they are not producing many eggs, due to the winter weather, they are sucking us dry (and perhaps my Christmas craft obsession isn’t helping.) So I have hopes that the spring will bring plenty of eggs to make up for our past expenses. Furthermore, we have plans to add better artificial lighting to our coop to promote laying. We also have recently purchased an incubator so we can avoid the initial chick cost. Regardless, there are a lot of costs in our future: especially in regards to building our home! So clearly, I need to start working the corner to afford everything…. or just be REALLY thankful that my husband works in the oil field.  

Owning a farm is not always ‘fresh-air… picking wild flowers…. rolling in green fields… and riding horses into the sunset.’ In the wet Campbell River winter, it is more ‘dark short days… head lamps… avoiding huge puddles of shit-water… and fixing fences from storms during yet another storm. However, it is still worth it. There are these few brisk days, where the sun is shining and, yes, the air is fresh.

So there are trials and tribulations that I encounter…. and I generally seem to encounter these when my husband is working out of the province. For instance, a few days ago, the alpacas decided to take themselves for a walk… out the front gate. Now, you can’t catch alpacas. It’s impossible. It’s like catching a bee. Thus, I had to coax them back into the farm with food and my ravishing personality. Surprisingly, I did this within ten minutes. Ten very stressful minutes. 

Also, a few weeks ago, I arrived at the farm to find a sick hen. She wasn’t moving much, so I picked her up and discovered these teeny, tiny, black bugs crawling around her skin. Dis-gus-ting. After doing a ‘so-creeped-out-itchy-dance’, I googled and made some phone calls. The conclusion: this bird has mites and mites spread. They can even spread to other animals and humans. Believe it. So gross! So there I was, driving 30 minutes away to get a topical external parasite medication to treat the whole flock of 30 birds. Then, I had to of course treat the black birds, in the dark, wearing my head lamp, by myself. Super fun. I only got bit by one rooster, and I ran out of the damn medication before I was finished, but that’s farm life.

Luckily, when we got the phone call that one of our hens was wounded and may have been ‘trampled’, my husband was home. Thank. The. Lord. We arrived at the farm: he brought a big knife and a bag. God help me. After a little check up, we determined that the hen must have been attacked by a flying predator, perhaps an eagle. A handful of feathers were torn off her back and her wing made a lot of cracking sounds. She wouldn’t move much. So, he asked me to hold her, while he killed her. I needed a timeout. Too much reality for me!!!! This story ends well though, don’t worry. We decided that because she had no puncture wounds, we would attempt to revive her. It is day 5, and she is now eating, drinking, happy, and nearly ready to return to her flock. I named her Myrtle. :)

November 29th, 2012: Making Babies

Making human babies is WAY easier than making chicken babies. I speak from experience.

We felt it was time to expand our laying flock. Most people do this in the spring due to the warming temperatures; however, with our mild temperatures, this process can be done throughout the year. Thus, we are in the process of collecting eggs for our first batch of incubation. Of course, if we had a broody hen, we would let her do all the work; however, we don’t, so the only other option is to incubate. 

The process involved goes something like this.

1) Purchase an incubator. We bought the ‘Hovabator Genesis Egg Incubator 1588’ for $193.75 (plus $38 in border fees). This incubator holds 42 eggs and gets good reviews for a medium-quality styrofoam system. The higher quality, all-plastic, versions cost around $600+. Ouch. 

2) Collect eggs. Sounds easy enough. This should be done multiple times a day, which would be simple if you didn’t live 15 minutes away from your hens… with a toddler… in the middle of monsoon season. Nonetheless, I am attempting to collect twice daily.

3) Store the eggs prior to incubation. You can store eggs for about a week until incubation. Chicken wizards advise that you keep the eggs in an open egg carton, pointy side down, between 55-65 degrees with 75% humidity, being certain to elevate opposite ends of the container throughout the day. We have decided to keep the eggs in a guest room; temperature is right, god only knows about the humidity.

4) Incubate. We’ve yet to do this, but apparently you simply put the eggs in and turn the thing on. The incubator even turns the eggs for you. After 21 days, baby chicks should start hatching.

So these are all the tips and tricks involved to making baby chickens… and again I repeat my first statement: making human babies is WAY easier than making chicken babies.

PS) I’m 18 weeks pregnant.