As urban farmers, we are always on the look out for ways to improve our flock of city hens, so this workshop was something I was looking forward to. The information given may have been much the same as the first workshop (which my husband and I went to in April) but the ability to see these things in practice and pick the brains of some fantastic specialists makes it all worth wile.
The specialists are from the sponsors of the event, though the sponsors are more of a nod to the sponsorship they do on a regular basis for the farm rather than the event itself. All attendees are broken up into groups and get to rotate around to each area. It was interesting both times because of the varied questions. Yes there's a few standard, like How much feed is needed per bird, or an average flock, but there are so many more good ones thrown out there.
Last time I wasn't really sold on any of the breeds we were learning about. Not that they weren't amazing, just that I didn't feel they were the right fit for us. This time though, I found two breeds of fowl that I'd love to keep in the future.
One of the things that made me oh so happy was that there were two kids there. The last one, it had been all adults. My husband and I were pretty well the youngest there. The kids asked great questions and were fantastic all around. We were so happy to see that P.Allen got a moment to really talk to them. I'm debating taking my oldest next spring as he'd love to see it all and would learn so much.
They are building a brand new chicken barn and it's going to be fantastic when they get it all set up. The chicken tractors he'd had there before for each of the breeds were inspiring the last time and I cannot wait to see this new barn all flushed out.
I'll stop blathering on now and let you guys just enjoy the pictures!
Photos copyright Brandy Davis- Do not use or re-post without my consent. Thank you
