Backyard chickens are all the rage in the Valley these days (well, except in Holyoke, where the City Council appears convinced that homey little chicken coops are dens of poultry iniquity, breeding grounds for cock-fighting and horrid disease). And with that popularity come a number of local organizations willing and eager to help would-be farmers get their flocks in order.
On that list is the Massachusetts chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association, or NOFA, which is sponsoring several local workshops on raising backyard poultry on Saturday, July 10—including one in Hatfield that has a particularly intriguing twist.
According to an announcement from NOFA, hosts Pam Raymond’s and David Turner’s inspiration to raise their own food comes from serious health problems they face: for Raymond, chronic Lyme disease, which she’s had since she was a child; for Turner, end-stage liver disease. “Their farm is their primary strategy for treating themselves,” according to NOFA.
Specifically, it’s the decisions they make about how they raise their food. “I raise my own chickens, because by doing so I can raise food in a cleaner way and with better nutrition,” Raymond said. “I try to provide the birds with everything they need, including fresh grass, whey products and ground-up ocean fish every day. These things change the omega balance, and provide higher protein.”
Saturday’s workshop will be held at Golden Oak Farm, where the couple raises free-range laying birds as well as pastured broilers and grass-fed beef. The course will cover a wide range of topics, from selecting bird breeds depending on your interests (pets, meat, eggs?) and caring for baby chicks to maintaining a coop and feeding your birds to butchering meat birds.
Just how popular has backyard poultry raising become? The Greenfield Farmer’s Cooperative Exchange recently placed an order for 1,800 chicks for customers—an increase of 1,000 chicks from the same period last year, NOFA reports.
The July 10 workshop runs from 9 a.m. until noon at Golden Oak Farm, 44 Plain Rd., Hatfield; cost is $30. To register, go to www.nofamass.org (which also has information about July 10 workshops in Barre and Huntington), or contact NOFA’s Ben Grosscup at 413-658-5374 or ben.grosscup@nofamass.org. Another great resource for small-scale chicken farmers is the Pioneer Valley Backyard Chicken Association, at pioneervalleybackyardchickenassociation.weebly.com.
