From Forest to Highlands

On this busy day I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving :) 

I've been raising poultry for the majority of my life, since I was 8 actually, and I thought it would be fun to give my readers a little bit of my poultry history through pictures. I hope you enjoy! My first practice competition (8 years old) Showing the feet Me and Milon when we won Grand Champion Junior Novice showman at my first fair. (I was 9) This chicken loved to sit on my shoulder :)  (11 years old here) My 13th birthday present Me and Walker (with a baby on his belly) Baby cochin chick on my head (I'm 14 years old here) Me and Walker crowing (I should make a separate post about "Walker the Texas Chicken") I don't have any really recent photos that I can find right now... if I find more I'll just add them in!

As some of you know, I've just recently purchased a flock of Partridge Chantecler chickens to start my sustainable poultry business. However, as the hens are getting closer to laying and the males are starting to fill out, they're gathering a lot of attention from potential customers. I was rather unprepared this morning when we received a visit asking about meat prices/if we were selling. On top of the fact that I was still in my pajamas, standing in a laundry room filled with the dirty clothes of 8 people, I hadn't actually figured out a price yet! I felt pretty dysfunctional to say in the least! Well time to "get the ball rolling again..." I've researched other equivalent farms, particularly those certified with the Sustainable Poultry Network, and have come up with ballpark ranges: $4 a chick, no less than $20 per laying hen, eggs $3-$5 per dozen, and meat that's $4-$8 per pound depending on feed/freshness. So I want to know, what would you be wil...

Well today was the day Jeremiah and I gave the cats a bath. If you've ever tried bathing a cat yourself/watch a lot of YouTube you understand it's easier said than done! Somehow I managed to snap these few shots before Winchester and Beretta assassinated us. I feel like a mean mommy...  my poor kitties!