I apologize whole-heartedly to those who use this blog as their primary source of Keeping Up With CLUCK Red Deer. The primary platform for contact is the Facebook page and I know some of you aren't on Facebook, but it's handy for many of us and getting stuff blogged (clearly) hasn't been a priority. Life happens! Anyhoo, things are winding down for me, personally, I will make an effort (no guarantees, though).
First of all, after a few months trying to wrangle a source for organic feed for those of us in Red Deer who prefer it, we were able to get a delivery from a producer near Calgary. It was, unfortunately, not able to keep up with our needs (though we were very grateful while it lasted), so I started hunting again. This time I was able to secure not only organic, but soy-free feed and to have it stocked in a feed store so we didn't have to try to arrange meet-ups and payments! I am so pleased to announce that Alberta Feed now keeps organic and soy-free layer kibble in stock -and organic scratch, as well. Not only is it handy (they are just west of the city of Red Deer, on HWY 11A, across from Dentoom's Greenhouse), it's bagged in 20kg quantities and very well priced (off the top of my head, it's ~$25, scratch is ~$20, I want to get this post done so I'm not looking up my notes on exact prices). YAY!
Second of all (?) and so very exciting to me: I am pleased to announce that we will have a Second Urban Hen Party!! Here's what I posted on Facebook:
Did you go to last year's Urban Hen Party? Do you even know what I'm talking about? WELL YOU CAN!! We are honored to be included in Canadian Heritage Breeds' 2013 Peavey Mart Urban Farm Show and have a second Urban Hen Party!
What does this mean? It means that we can enter our very own urban girls into a very informal and very fun show! I will draft up some lovely certificates for the various awards, last year's included such titles as Fluffiest Butt, Best Scratching Technique, Most Soothing Crooner.. and more! Just the other day I saw that Todd has his Adele's certificate for Prettiest Overall framed & hung in his dining room!
DETAILS:
It will cost you a mere $2 for each hen you wish to enter and they will be well taken care of in separate cages (no worries about fighting), indoors, fed and watered.
Drop off is on Friday evening (entry fee must be paid at that time, please have correct change) and pick up is Sunday at the end of the show (exact times will be updated once I know for sure).
THE BIG QUESTION: Why should you bother? There are many reasons:
1. I wasn't sure it was worth the time & effort last year, but I met several other Urban Hen Wranglers here in Red Deer that I'd only seen named on this page. It was wonderful to put faces to names and share some of the experiences we'd had keeping our own girls here in Red Deer. Some CLUCKers have become truly great friends.
2. We (CLUCK Red Deer) were able to answer questions that many people (urban and rural folk, alike) had about Red Deer's pilot project, the benefits of raising our own small flocks, debunking the worries of noise, smell, nuisance in the city and surprising some folk with how much we had learned from our own research & experience (city bumpkins, indeed!)
3. Did I mention the awesome certificates I designed? They are awesome.
4. It breaks up our potentially bored hens' routines a bit. One of mine was broody and putting her in a completely new space snapped her out of it and broke up the doldrums of wintery stuck-in-the-coop/run days.
5. It helps the cause of Urban Hen-Keeping by displaying how healthy and happy our girls truly are in their urban environment.
6. If you stick around for the show, it's a great, great chance to tackle one of the local breeders and ask questions about their birds or help solve mystery maladies.
7. If nothing else, it's an excuse to bathe your chickens. (Oh yes.)
Take a look at CHB's page & the Urban Farm Show page for more info (links embedded above). I had such a hard time leaving last year, it was truly a lot of fun -way more than I anticipated hanging out in a huge room full of livestock!
If you scroll down this post, you can see some photos from last year's UHP.
SO, if you're interested, please send me an e-mail at cluck.reddeer@gmail.com and I'll get you the entry form. (You can enter more than one bird!)
