Wearing everything from regular swim trunks to Smurfs costumes, nrealy 300 people took a brief out-of-season jump into the surf at Ocean Beach Park on Sunday for the New London Penguin Plunge.
The annual event raises money for Connecticut’s Special Olympics. Plungers had a relatively comfortable climate this year, as the warm winter continued and the day dawned sunny and clear. It wasn’t exactly balmy, though. Officials announced that the air temperature was 37 degrees; the water temperature was one degree warmer.
Jackie Turro, director of development for Special Olympics Connecticut Eastern Region, said people had pledged about $40,000 online prior to the event. The total, after donations brought in on the day of the plunge were included, was more than $65,000.
A new feature added this year was the “Chicken Coop.” People who were wary of the frigid water could still be part of a team and join fundraising efforts, but remained in the closed coop area when their team headed into the Sound.
“I think we’re going to see quite a few chickens,” said Turro. “Chicken costumes, at least.”
One team, The Vermonsters, was made up almost entirely of such costumes. Brenda Cooper had the honor of wearing the sole penguin outfit.
“They’re all chickens, and I’m the only plunger,” she explained.
Cooper said the team hails from Chittenden, VT, and that Turro’s mother is a member, so the group makes the trip to support the cause. This year, they raised about $600.
It was the first plunge for the Shoreline Roller Derby team, which was formed last year. Charlotte Gumpel-Jones, the team captain, said she has done the plunge before but that it was a first-time effort for other team members. She said the event was a good way to support the Special Olympics and also raise awareness of the roller derby team.
“I figured this year I might as well recruit a bunch of people to do it with me,” she said. “And they’re all as crazy as I am, so they said yes.”
Greg Smith, captain of New London County Rugby, also said the event helps raise awareness of the group while at the same time supporting a good cause. He said the team has also done charity events including a game to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. The team had a goal last year of $3,000, and this year it surpassed it in online donations alone.
“We just ask people, friends and family,” said Smith. “That’s pretty much it.”
Byron Sullivan and Alex Snow were also experiencing the plunge for the first time with Team Sophie. Snow said the team is named for the a girl with Down syndrome who is the daughter of a doctor he works with.
“I know I’ve always looked at [plungers] and said, ‘Wow, there must be something wrong with them,’” said Snow.
Snow said he decided the event would be a good way to actively support the Special Olympics. Sullivan said it sounded like a fun event to attend.
2012年2月20日星期一
2012年2月19日星期日
Running afowl of city ordinance?
On Thursday, Ellen Anthony collected the eggs laid by six of her hens.
Anthony has kept hens - there are now 14 in all and no roosters - in her backyard in a 20-by-20-foot enclosure that includes a small wooden coop for the past 18 years. She's never had a complaint from a neighbor or the city. In fact, a neighbor two doors down keeps chickens as well.
But according to City Planner Harry Smith, keeping chickens is prohibited in New London.
"If it's not expressly provided for in the regulations, then it is prohibited," Smith said Thursday. "It's not provided for in the regulations."
On Thursday night, the Planning and Zoning Commission discussed a letter from Chelsea Ketner of Riverview Avenue, who expressed interest in keeping poultry but wants city approval before going forward.
She's not the only one. Christopher Droesch sent an email Tuesday to The Day to say he had begun collecting materials to keep chickens in the backyard of his New London home only to be rebuffed by someone in the city's Planning, Zoning and Wetlands Department. He attended Thursday's meeting.
Ketner did not attend the meeting, but commission Chairman Mark Christensen addressed her letter, which expressed confusion about the regulations and asked for a "definitive answer."
Christensen said the regulations prohibit the keeping of chickens in New London.
"If an individual is interested, they can apply for a regulation amendment and they can show why (the amendment) is consistent with other communities," he said. "We'll always look at an application and we have a right to say whether it meets the criteria."
Droesch said he had relied on section 4-3 of the city ordinance that states no person may keep chickens "in a manner to be injurious to health, create a menace, or offensive to the public."
When he went to get permits to build a coop, a zoning official directed him to section 410.4, subsection 6, of the zoning regulations: "Keeping of not more than three household pets over six months old; the commercial breeding or boarding of pets is prohibited."
Smith said at the meeting that "the commission determined previously that a chicken is not a household pet and therefore they are prohibited."
That's news to Anthony, who also cited the city's ordinance as her legal right to keep poultry.
On Thursday, Anthony's feathered friends didn't create a menace or appear to be offensive to the public. Quite the opposite: they clucked quietly as she approached. A neighbor, outside for some air, waved when she saw Anthony heading for the coop.
The chickens get a little skittish when Anthony enters the enclosure, but they lay white, brown and even green eggs - enough to provide for Anthony's family and some neighbors and friends.
"When it gets the right level of darkness, they put themselves to sleep," she said. "They don't need a heater in the winter; they just snuggle up close. The real hard part is getting a good house for them."
Her coop is rudimentary but includes laying boxes and rows of wooden dowels over 5-gallon plastic buckets. The chickens sit on the dowels at night and defecate into the buckets, she said, making cleaning easy.
Outside the coop, but within the fence, the ground is bare, picked over by the chickens. But Anthony stirs up the soil so the birds can eat worms and insects in addition to the 50 pounds of feed they eat every three weeks. She changes the water daily and comes out in the morning and at night to check on them, clean up and collect eggs.
Anthony tells of other neighbors who have brought scraps and created a "feeding frenzy" for the birds.
The chickens do have predators, she said, mostly raccoons, which she tries to keep out with the fenced-in enclosure that has a roof. Two or three years ago, she said, a raccoon got into the coop and "massacred" the chickens. One got away and ran into a neighbor's yard, where a Rottweiler roamed. Bird and 100-pound dog sized each other up, Anthony said, before they became friends of sorts. They kept watch of each other in the yard for about six months, she said, until one fateful day when the Rottweiler turned his back and a raccoon killed the chicken.
But the deaths haven't deterred Anthony, who said she's kept chickens for about 22 years. It's an easy way to have good, fresh food in a sustainable manner, she said.
"I like having homegrown eggs, and it makes me go outdoors every day," Anthony said. "I know the weather, the phase of the moon, and I have to take care of the chickens."
Anthony has kept hens - there are now 14 in all and no roosters - in her backyard in a 20-by-20-foot enclosure that includes a small wooden coop for the past 18 years. She's never had a complaint from a neighbor or the city. In fact, a neighbor two doors down keeps chickens as well.
But according to City Planner Harry Smith, keeping chickens is prohibited in New London.
"If it's not expressly provided for in the regulations, then it is prohibited," Smith said Thursday. "It's not provided for in the regulations."
On Thursday night, the Planning and Zoning Commission discussed a letter from Chelsea Ketner of Riverview Avenue, who expressed interest in keeping poultry but wants city approval before going forward.
She's not the only one. Christopher Droesch sent an email Tuesday to The Day to say he had begun collecting materials to keep chickens in the backyard of his New London home only to be rebuffed by someone in the city's Planning, Zoning and Wetlands Department. He attended Thursday's meeting.
Ketner did not attend the meeting, but commission Chairman Mark Christensen addressed her letter, which expressed confusion about the regulations and asked for a "definitive answer."
Christensen said the regulations prohibit the keeping of chickens in New London.
"If an individual is interested, they can apply for a regulation amendment and they can show why (the amendment) is consistent with other communities," he said. "We'll always look at an application and we have a right to say whether it meets the criteria."
Droesch said he had relied on section 4-3 of the city ordinance that states no person may keep chickens "in a manner to be injurious to health, create a menace, or offensive to the public."
When he went to get permits to build a coop, a zoning official directed him to section 410.4, subsection 6, of the zoning regulations: "Keeping of not more than three household pets over six months old; the commercial breeding or boarding of pets is prohibited."
Smith said at the meeting that "the commission determined previously that a chicken is not a household pet and therefore they are prohibited."
That's news to Anthony, who also cited the city's ordinance as her legal right to keep poultry.
On Thursday, Anthony's feathered friends didn't create a menace or appear to be offensive to the public. Quite the opposite: they clucked quietly as she approached. A neighbor, outside for some air, waved when she saw Anthony heading for the coop.
The chickens get a little skittish when Anthony enters the enclosure, but they lay white, brown and even green eggs - enough to provide for Anthony's family and some neighbors and friends.
"When it gets the right level of darkness, they put themselves to sleep," she said. "They don't need a heater in the winter; they just snuggle up close. The real hard part is getting a good house for them."
Her coop is rudimentary but includes laying boxes and rows of wooden dowels over 5-gallon plastic buckets. The chickens sit on the dowels at night and defecate into the buckets, she said, making cleaning easy.
Outside the coop, but within the fence, the ground is bare, picked over by the chickens. But Anthony stirs up the soil so the birds can eat worms and insects in addition to the 50 pounds of feed they eat every three weeks. She changes the water daily and comes out in the morning and at night to check on them, clean up and collect eggs.
Anthony tells of other neighbors who have brought scraps and created a "feeding frenzy" for the birds.
The chickens do have predators, she said, mostly raccoons, which she tries to keep out with the fenced-in enclosure that has a roof. Two or three years ago, she said, a raccoon got into the coop and "massacred" the chickens. One got away and ran into a neighbor's yard, where a Rottweiler roamed. Bird and 100-pound dog sized each other up, Anthony said, before they became friends of sorts. They kept watch of each other in the yard for about six months, she said, until one fateful day when the Rottweiler turned his back and a raccoon killed the chicken.
But the deaths haven't deterred Anthony, who said she's kept chickens for about 22 years. It's an easy way to have good, fresh food in a sustainable manner, she said.
"I like having homegrown eggs, and it makes me go outdoors every day," Anthony said. "I know the weather, the phase of the moon, and I have to take care of the chickens."
2012年2月16日星期四
Chicken coops the focus of forum
When resident Nellie Bhattarai appeared before supervisors Monday night, she showed off a yellow, foam carton of eggs in various sizes and shades.
The eggs came from a farm near Williamsport, and Bhattarai wanted township officials and gathered residents to notice that each egg was different.
“When we go to the grocery store, we don’t have eggs like this in our grocery store,” she said. “And so, again, it’s an opportunity to educate about what the possibilities are and
get away from the homogeneous food we’re served all of the time.”
The show and tell came as the board held a public hearing before a final vote on an ordinance allowing chicken hens on residential township lots. Supervisors passed it 3-2, with Denny Hameister, Cliff Warner and Nigel Wilson in favor, and Bud Graham and Paul Rittenhouse opposed.
The ordinance, discussed since last fall, allows residents on lots less than 10 acres to raise from two to eight hens, depending on lot size. Lots as small as 3,000 square feet may have two chickens.
Residents must apply for a permit to have a backyard, stationary chicken coop, which must be at least six feet from the property line. Permits will be available starting Tuesday.
Two property owners spoke Monday in opposition of chickens. Real estate appraiser Mark Bigatel told the story of his negative experience with chickens 10 years ago, when tenants of a farm he owns starting keeping the birds which, eventually, attracted rats, then coyotes.
“We had to evict our chickens,” he said, adding that the bad odor, rats and coyotes eventually went away afterward. He said he’s most concerned about property values in the village, where properties are close together. “I just wanted people to think of the unintended consequences.”
Kaywood neighborhood resident Barb Fiscus asked supervisors to consider returning to the 20-foot setback in the first version of the ordinance, concerned that six feet doesn’t provide enough separation.
Township Manager Amy Farkas said the change reflects the provision allowing residents to use existing structures, like a shed, as a coop. Those structures may sit closer than 20 feet to the property line.
Supervisors engaged in a short discussion, having talked at length about the ordinance during previous meetings.
Rittenhouse said his greatest concern was the emails in opposition of chickens, and how those residents can control enforcement of potential problems.
“The neighbor can call and complain,” Wilson said.
Zoning officer Todd Shea confirmed he has sent letters to residents for keeping the birds illegally. Now that the practice is legal, he said complaints will result in an investigation to determine if there is an ordinance violation.
Because of the illegal activity previously, Farkas anticipates a flock of residents applying for coop permits.
While Bhattarai said she won’t be in line next week, she said housing chickens is a priority for her family.
“I’m very excited that it was passed,” she said. “It was a respectful balance, and that’s important in our community.”
The eggs came from a farm near Williamsport, and Bhattarai wanted township officials and gathered residents to notice that each egg was different.
“When we go to the grocery store, we don’t have eggs like this in our grocery store,” she said. “And so, again, it’s an opportunity to educate about what the possibilities are and
get away from the homogeneous food we’re served all of the time.”
The show and tell came as the board held a public hearing before a final vote on an ordinance allowing chicken hens on residential township lots. Supervisors passed it 3-2, with Denny Hameister, Cliff Warner and Nigel Wilson in favor, and Bud Graham and Paul Rittenhouse opposed.
The ordinance, discussed since last fall, allows residents on lots less than 10 acres to raise from two to eight hens, depending on lot size. Lots as small as 3,000 square feet may have two chickens.
Residents must apply for a permit to have a backyard, stationary chicken coop, which must be at least six feet from the property line. Permits will be available starting Tuesday.
Two property owners spoke Monday in opposition of chickens. Real estate appraiser Mark Bigatel told the story of his negative experience with chickens 10 years ago, when tenants of a farm he owns starting keeping the birds which, eventually, attracted rats, then coyotes.
“We had to evict our chickens,” he said, adding that the bad odor, rats and coyotes eventually went away afterward. He said he’s most concerned about property values in the village, where properties are close together. “I just wanted people to think of the unintended consequences.”
Kaywood neighborhood resident Barb Fiscus asked supervisors to consider returning to the 20-foot setback in the first version of the ordinance, concerned that six feet doesn’t provide enough separation.
Township Manager Amy Farkas said the change reflects the provision allowing residents to use existing structures, like a shed, as a coop. Those structures may sit closer than 20 feet to the property line.
Supervisors engaged in a short discussion, having talked at length about the ordinance during previous meetings.
Rittenhouse said his greatest concern was the emails in opposition of chickens, and how those residents can control enforcement of potential problems.
“The neighbor can call and complain,” Wilson said.
Zoning officer Todd Shea confirmed he has sent letters to residents for keeping the birds illegally. Now that the practice is legal, he said complaints will result in an investigation to determine if there is an ordinance violation.
Because of the illegal activity previously, Farkas anticipates a flock of residents applying for coop permits.
While Bhattarai said she won’t be in line next week, she said housing chickens is a priority for her family.
“I’m very excited that it was passed,” she said. “It was a respectful balance, and that’s important in our community.”
2012年2月15日星期三
Dogs and chickens may not mix well
I was in Rural King the other day and there was a poster of chickens. Chickens of all varieties – sizes, colors, meat, eggs, etc., that seemed endless. Nashville has just passed a law allowing people to keep up to four hens – no roosters allowed. One half of every new trade magazine we received over the past six months has been taken up with poultry-related items, from coops to toys.
It reminded me that a few columns ago I mentioned that the Cavaliers were easy when compared to the "terrible trio" of poodles. And that made me realize that I had perhaps told a little white lie, and it's time to fess up.
Years ago we lived out in Shiloh. It was beautiful. The house sat back about one-half mile from the road and was surrounded by pasture where the owner kept a herd of cattle. It had a pond and a stream that eventually met up with Yellow Creek, and best of all, not a neighbor in sight. We got to know everyone around us, but couldn't see anyone. It was great and needless to say, the dogs loved it there. They thought they were in heaven.
Before the big tornado took away most of downtown, we bought our dog food at Ely Feed. Each spring they had chicks and ducks, so one Easter I got John three of each to complete the idyllic picture. Any idea yet where this is going?
The ducklings stayed in or near the pond, and the chicks around the house – usually. The first month went well enough. When they heard the dogs go out in the morning they all came running to the back door for the leftover dog food. Granted, it is not poultry food, but they had the most beautiful feathers you have ever seen!
Then one day, only two ducks came. Eventually they both stopped coming up for their meals and when they got big enough, flew off for parts unknown. Then one morning only two chickens came to breakfast. After looking around I saw a huge pile of white feathers near where the cattle were grazing. Those two stayed near the house from then on. One roosted on the bathroom windowsill (outside). John had named her Annie and I could hear them discussing their respective days through the door in the morning.
I'll have to call Annie the smart one. And now to my white lie. When I called the Cavaliers easy, I didn't say dumb, and they are true spaniels. They know how to climb chain-link fencing but like to just get to the top and stay there looking around as if on the top of the world.
John and Annie were having their little morning talks and when I went out back with the food, only Annie came. As I walked around the house I saw Abby, who this time went over the fence. She was the very first Cavalier we had ever bred, and there she stood with a mouth full of feathers and nothing left but a yellow beak and two matching feet.
The moral of the story is that if you have a dog, think long and hard before adding a chicken to the mix.
It reminded me that a few columns ago I mentioned that the Cavaliers were easy when compared to the "terrible trio" of poodles. And that made me realize that I had perhaps told a little white lie, and it's time to fess up.
Years ago we lived out in Shiloh. It was beautiful. The house sat back about one-half mile from the road and was surrounded by pasture where the owner kept a herd of cattle. It had a pond and a stream that eventually met up with Yellow Creek, and best of all, not a neighbor in sight. We got to know everyone around us, but couldn't see anyone. It was great and needless to say, the dogs loved it there. They thought they were in heaven.
Before the big tornado took away most of downtown, we bought our dog food at Ely Feed. Each spring they had chicks and ducks, so one Easter I got John three of each to complete the idyllic picture. Any idea yet where this is going?
The ducklings stayed in or near the pond, and the chicks around the house – usually. The first month went well enough. When they heard the dogs go out in the morning they all came running to the back door for the leftover dog food. Granted, it is not poultry food, but they had the most beautiful feathers you have ever seen!
Then one day, only two ducks came. Eventually they both stopped coming up for their meals and when they got big enough, flew off for parts unknown. Then one morning only two chickens came to breakfast. After looking around I saw a huge pile of white feathers near where the cattle were grazing. Those two stayed near the house from then on. One roosted on the bathroom windowsill (outside). John had named her Annie and I could hear them discussing their respective days through the door in the morning.
I'll have to call Annie the smart one. And now to my white lie. When I called the Cavaliers easy, I didn't say dumb, and they are true spaniels. They know how to climb chain-link fencing but like to just get to the top and stay there looking around as if on the top of the world.
John and Annie were having their little morning talks and when I went out back with the food, only Annie came. As I walked around the house I saw Abby, who this time went over the fence. She was the very first Cavalier we had ever bred, and there she stood with a mouth full of feathers and nothing left but a yellow beak and two matching feet.
The moral of the story is that if you have a dog, think long and hard before adding a chicken to the mix.
2012年2月14日星期二
What's Behind the Urban Chicken Backlash
At this point in the locavore narrative, urban chicken-keeping has vocal advocates and an adamant opposition. Some cities welcome backyard poultry with open arms, while others are more skeptical. As the practice grows, the two sides seem prepared for a long, drawn out war on the value and propriety of chicken-keeping within city limits.
Urban farmers generally view a backyard coop as a natural extension of their garden and a convenient, eco-friendly source of protein – though no academic study has examined the environmental impact of the practice. Some even see their charges as pets with benefits.
On this side, we have Martha Stewart, that doyenne of domestic perfection, and Susan Orlean, the sensitive, bestselling New Yorker writer played by Meryl Streep in Adaptation.
Their neighbors take a more jaundiced view. Protest groups in cities across the country have helped devise bills to ban or restrict the practice. These opponents argue that chickens are smelly and noisy and a potential health risk; that the coops are eyesores that potentially bring down property values; and that they attract rodents and predators, like coyotes, endangering chickens as well as children.
And then, of course, there is the potential slaughterhouse next door. "Botched slaughter is all too common," writes Ian Elwood, of Neighbors Opposed to Backyard Slaughter, an anti-urban animal outfit in Oakland. "But even slaughter that is performed 'correctly' is still no treat to witness or hear."
Due in part to such concerns, Boston, Detroit, D.C., and Toronto prohibit the keeping of livestock within city limits. Chicago, like New York City, views chickens as pets and has no limits on ownership, though slaughter is forbidden. But suburban Naperville and Northbrook are considering bans, while Evanston has set a limit of six hens per household.
Many cities in the West are going in the other direction. In 2010, Seattle raised its hen limit from three to eight per household. Some animal-friendly residents of Portland, where residents can keep up to three hens without a permit, have been running a tour of local chicken coops since 2003.
In Vancouver, Mayor Gregor Robertson sees chickens in every lot as part of the city's destiny as the world's greenest city -- and launched Operation Chicken to make it happen. In 2009, the Vancouver city council voted unanimously to allow backyard chickens. A year later, the city released detailed guidelines for keeping backyard hens, including what kinds of properties, proximity to property line, and type and number of chickens (four hens).
Perhaps no city is as divided over the chicken question as Oakland. City officials are considering allowing residents to raise and slaughter not just chickens, but goats, rabbits, ducks and other animals, in their backyards. Backers argue that it would help alleviate food deserts.
Oakland's anti-slaughter group sees the practice as a socio-economic problem. NOBS argues that the city's approval of the slaughter of chickens “would serve the needs of a small group of people interested in creating artisan animal products instead of serving the low-income communities.” They've posted flyers around the city, playing up fears of stray chickens wandering the city and children witnessing grisly scenes of animal killing.
Despite this opposition, some degree of urban chicken keeping is most likely here to stay, and compromise is probably inevitable in many municipalities. Attacks like that of NOBS appear more likely merely to inflame the process.
Urban farmers generally view a backyard coop as a natural extension of their garden and a convenient, eco-friendly source of protein – though no academic study has examined the environmental impact of the practice. Some even see their charges as pets with benefits.
On this side, we have Martha Stewart, that doyenne of domestic perfection, and Susan Orlean, the sensitive, bestselling New Yorker writer played by Meryl Streep in Adaptation.
Their neighbors take a more jaundiced view. Protest groups in cities across the country have helped devise bills to ban or restrict the practice. These opponents argue that chickens are smelly and noisy and a potential health risk; that the coops are eyesores that potentially bring down property values; and that they attract rodents and predators, like coyotes, endangering chickens as well as children.
And then, of course, there is the potential slaughterhouse next door. "Botched slaughter is all too common," writes Ian Elwood, of Neighbors Opposed to Backyard Slaughter, an anti-urban animal outfit in Oakland. "But even slaughter that is performed 'correctly' is still no treat to witness or hear."
Due in part to such concerns, Boston, Detroit, D.C., and Toronto prohibit the keeping of livestock within city limits. Chicago, like New York City, views chickens as pets and has no limits on ownership, though slaughter is forbidden. But suburban Naperville and Northbrook are considering bans, while Evanston has set a limit of six hens per household.
Many cities in the West are going in the other direction. In 2010, Seattle raised its hen limit from three to eight per household. Some animal-friendly residents of Portland, where residents can keep up to three hens without a permit, have been running a tour of local chicken coops since 2003.
In Vancouver, Mayor Gregor Robertson sees chickens in every lot as part of the city's destiny as the world's greenest city -- and launched Operation Chicken to make it happen. In 2009, the Vancouver city council voted unanimously to allow backyard chickens. A year later, the city released detailed guidelines for keeping backyard hens, including what kinds of properties, proximity to property line, and type and number of chickens (four hens).
Perhaps no city is as divided over the chicken question as Oakland. City officials are considering allowing residents to raise and slaughter not just chickens, but goats, rabbits, ducks and other animals, in their backyards. Backers argue that it would help alleviate food deserts.
Oakland's anti-slaughter group sees the practice as a socio-economic problem. NOBS argues that the city's approval of the slaughter of chickens “would serve the needs of a small group of people interested in creating artisan animal products instead of serving the low-income communities.” They've posted flyers around the city, playing up fears of stray chickens wandering the city and children witnessing grisly scenes of animal killing.
Despite this opposition, some degree of urban chicken keeping is most likely here to stay, and compromise is probably inevitable in many municipalities. Attacks like that of NOBS appear more likely merely to inflame the process.
2012年2月13日星期一
Blountville farmers market hopes to have permanent shed
Wendi Niebruegge returned to the family farm six years ago and is playing a key role in Sullivan County’s agriculture community and an effort to establish a more permanent farmers market here.
“I love being able to see my daughters play in the same trees that I played in when I was young,” she said.
Her farm, Indian Brook Farm, was founded nearly 100 years ago just outside Blountville. Named after a spring that runs through the property where Native Americans gathered water, the farm features rolling hills and pasture land.
Niebruegge’s father, Haynes Pendergrass, grew tobacco and corn on roughly 50 acres when she was young. The work was hard. Tobacco is labor intensive, but Pendergrass said he enjoyed working the land. He held down a regular job at Eastman Kodak during the day and tended to the farm in his free time.
His daughter loved growing up on the farm, Pendergrass remembers. Niebruegge, 41, was involved in 4-H and spent a lot of her free time riding tractors and tackling tasks around the farm. She wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.
After high school, Niebruegge moved way, got married and settled down with her husband, Craig, in South Carolina. Then one day her husband returned from a run during a visit to the farm and talked about moving to Tennessee, surprising Niebruegge.
“He said there was a house for sale in a subdivision next to the farm,” she said.
In the mid-1990s, Pendergrass had stopped growing tobacco and grazed cattle on the original 50 acres and 50 acres that were leased. He was getting older and could use the help.
Niebruegge and her husband talked about growing natural beef and free-range chickens at the farm. They wanted to take advantage of the budding local food movement and the return to more naturally grown food. The couple convinced Pendergrass to let them manage the farm.
“When we were on the mule [above the farm], before we moved, we would dream and think about who would buy the products,” Niebruegge said.
The family bought the house next to the farm and built a greenhouse and started a small garden plot. The pasture was converted to organic fertilizers. A chicken coop was constructed.
The farm started to sell the meat, produce and eggs directly to the public. The response was positive.
Two years ago, Niebruegge was contacted about a farmers market that was starting in Blountville. Sullivan County Extension was making the parking lot available at the Sullivan County offices and was looking for those who wanted to sell their produce.
When the market opened, Niebruegge sold meat and eggs. Before she knew it, she had been recruited and was named president of the newly formed Blountville Farmers Market board.
Dennis Houser, a Sullivan County commissioner from Blountville and a Blountville Farmers Market board member, said Niebruegge is a good fit for the position.
“Wendi is excellent at promotions and organization,” he said.
Around a dozen vendors sell products every Thursday during the growing season, and the market is an important part of life in Sullivan County.
“It became like a community gathering place, a social network,” Houser said.
Over the last two years, the market has become more organized. Bylaws are being drafted and the market is seeking formal non-profit status. At the same time, a new location is being sought as the parking lot is exposed to the elements, both rain and sun.
“You and your produce and your customers were wilting in the summer,” Niebruegge said.
The board decided to build a covered pavilion in Blountville. Sullivan County is a partner in the project. The structure could serve as a gathering place for Sullivan County residents and house the market each week, Houser said.
The structure will be built behind the old courthouse. The exact location has not been decided, but the Sullivan County Building Committee has given the project its blessing.
The county has also offered to donate the labor for the project and will make electricity available.
The challenge now is funding. Grants were sought, and Farm Credit Services and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture awarded the market a total of $4,000. The market board can contribute a couple more thousand dollars to the pavilion project but around $7,000 or $8,000 is still needed.
The market is soliciting donations from local businesses for the remaining funds.
Niebruegge wants agriculture to thrive in Sullivan County and knows the market can play an important role. She sees demand increasing for locally grown agriculture products and has watched her own business grow over the last two years.
She is amazed at how many people contact her and want to purchase products directly from the farm. She sends out weekly emails on what products are available. In the beginning, friends were the only buyers. Eventually, friends of friends inquired about buying meat or vegetables. Now, people contact the farm, although they have no connection to it or the family.
Many are embracing a healthier lifestyle, as evidenced by other local farmers markets, in Bristol and Abingdon, that have proven to be popular and successful.
“So many people buy our sweet corn because it is non-GMO [genetically modified],” Niebruegge said.
All of this has made Niebruegge excited about the future.
“We are so blessed that people like what we are doing,” she said.
To make things interesting around the farm, her husband is always experimenting. He created a new seed germination system in the greenhouse and a gate system in the pasture. Last year, he wanted to grow turkeys at the farm. Like the chickens, the turkeys roam freely.
“One day, I walk outside and the UPS guy is backing up across the driveway,” Niebruegge said. “He said, ‘What is that?’”
An adult turkey in the driveway scared the driver.
Niebruegge said the best part about returning to the farm has been family. Her dad still helps around the farm, and Pendergrass likes the farm’s direction.
“I love being able to see my daughters play in the same trees that I played in when I was young,” she said.
Her farm, Indian Brook Farm, was founded nearly 100 years ago just outside Blountville. Named after a spring that runs through the property where Native Americans gathered water, the farm features rolling hills and pasture land.
Niebruegge’s father, Haynes Pendergrass, grew tobacco and corn on roughly 50 acres when she was young. The work was hard. Tobacco is labor intensive, but Pendergrass said he enjoyed working the land. He held down a regular job at Eastman Kodak during the day and tended to the farm in his free time.
His daughter loved growing up on the farm, Pendergrass remembers. Niebruegge, 41, was involved in 4-H and spent a lot of her free time riding tractors and tackling tasks around the farm. She wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.
After high school, Niebruegge moved way, got married and settled down with her husband, Craig, in South Carolina. Then one day her husband returned from a run during a visit to the farm and talked about moving to Tennessee, surprising Niebruegge.
“He said there was a house for sale in a subdivision next to the farm,” she said.
In the mid-1990s, Pendergrass had stopped growing tobacco and grazed cattle on the original 50 acres and 50 acres that were leased. He was getting older and could use the help.
Niebruegge and her husband talked about growing natural beef and free-range chickens at the farm. They wanted to take advantage of the budding local food movement and the return to more naturally grown food. The couple convinced Pendergrass to let them manage the farm.
“When we were on the mule [above the farm], before we moved, we would dream and think about who would buy the products,” Niebruegge said.
The family bought the house next to the farm and built a greenhouse and started a small garden plot. The pasture was converted to organic fertilizers. A chicken coop was constructed.
The farm started to sell the meat, produce and eggs directly to the public. The response was positive.
Two years ago, Niebruegge was contacted about a farmers market that was starting in Blountville. Sullivan County Extension was making the parking lot available at the Sullivan County offices and was looking for those who wanted to sell their produce.
When the market opened, Niebruegge sold meat and eggs. Before she knew it, she had been recruited and was named president of the newly formed Blountville Farmers Market board.
Dennis Houser, a Sullivan County commissioner from Blountville and a Blountville Farmers Market board member, said Niebruegge is a good fit for the position.
“Wendi is excellent at promotions and organization,” he said.
Around a dozen vendors sell products every Thursday during the growing season, and the market is an important part of life in Sullivan County.
“It became like a community gathering place, a social network,” Houser said.
Over the last two years, the market has become more organized. Bylaws are being drafted and the market is seeking formal non-profit status. At the same time, a new location is being sought as the parking lot is exposed to the elements, both rain and sun.
“You and your produce and your customers were wilting in the summer,” Niebruegge said.
The board decided to build a covered pavilion in Blountville. Sullivan County is a partner in the project. The structure could serve as a gathering place for Sullivan County residents and house the market each week, Houser said.
The structure will be built behind the old courthouse. The exact location has not been decided, but the Sullivan County Building Committee has given the project its blessing.
The county has also offered to donate the labor for the project and will make electricity available.
The challenge now is funding. Grants were sought, and Farm Credit Services and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture awarded the market a total of $4,000. The market board can contribute a couple more thousand dollars to the pavilion project but around $7,000 or $8,000 is still needed.
The market is soliciting donations from local businesses for the remaining funds.
Niebruegge wants agriculture to thrive in Sullivan County and knows the market can play an important role. She sees demand increasing for locally grown agriculture products and has watched her own business grow over the last two years.
She is amazed at how many people contact her and want to purchase products directly from the farm. She sends out weekly emails on what products are available. In the beginning, friends were the only buyers. Eventually, friends of friends inquired about buying meat or vegetables. Now, people contact the farm, although they have no connection to it or the family.
Many are embracing a healthier lifestyle, as evidenced by other local farmers markets, in Bristol and Abingdon, that have proven to be popular and successful.
“So many people buy our sweet corn because it is non-GMO [genetically modified],” Niebruegge said.
All of this has made Niebruegge excited about the future.
“We are so blessed that people like what we are doing,” she said.
To make things interesting around the farm, her husband is always experimenting. He created a new seed germination system in the greenhouse and a gate system in the pasture. Last year, he wanted to grow turkeys at the farm. Like the chickens, the turkeys roam freely.
“One day, I walk outside and the UPS guy is backing up across the driveway,” Niebruegge said. “He said, ‘What is that?’”
An adult turkey in the driveway scared the driver.
Niebruegge said the best part about returning to the farm has been family. Her dad still helps around the farm, and Pendergrass likes the farm’s direction.
2012年2月12日星期日
Used materials are reborn into charming garden sheds
LIKE MUSHROOMS in damp autumn woods, Bob Bowling's sheds are popping up all over South Whidbey Island. Small enough to squeeze into a garden corner or side yard, yet large enough to house chickens, hold a yoga mat or tools, the sheds are drop-dead charming.
Is it the peaked roofs, the cupolas and aged windowpanes that lend a sense of history to each tidy little footprint of a building? Perhaps it's that Bowling has mastered the perfect proportions and garnishes to appeal to our fantasies of a sweet little destination shed. Gardeners seem to share a universal gene for outbuildings, and Bowling has tapped right into that.
After his success at the past few Northwest Flower & Garden Shows, where he won "Best of Show" in the exhibitor category, Bowling is busy building custom designs.
Don't be tricked by the cute window boxes and clever cupolas. These sheds are practical. The windows hinge wide open, the roofs are sturdy galvanized metal with overhangs, and the chicken coops come with nesting boxes and windows low enough to give the birds a view out into the garden.
How did Bowling hit on the formula for irresistible sheds? "I never draw them, they just evolve," he explains. Kind of like how he got into building sheds in the first place.
After working as a flooring contractor in Riverside, Calif., Bowling moved to Whidbey with a now ex-girlfriend, and started crafting birdhouses and benches. He moved on to sheds after discovering the abundant supply of recycled materials on the island.
Now Bowling starts his days poking around the woodpile at the local construction dump and visiting Island Recycling. "I mill around and some days I hit gold," he says. He stockpiles old doors and windows, and buys bits and pieces on eBay, like the $5 metal spheres he uses as finials.
So what are the specific elements that make these rustic sheds so covetable? First, they're a manageable size. Most Bowling buildings are 5 by 5 or 4 by 4 feet. Yet they're tall and transparent enough that they don't feel dark or cramped. "I'm 6 foot 4 and I need to be able to walk in without hitting my head," says Bowling.
Despite windows, doors and siding old enough to make the buildings look weathered in place, new underlying framework assures they're structurally sound. "Nothing is going to blow them over," he says.
Because Bowling builds with materials on at least their second lifetimes, each shed is unique. If wood or metal doesn't look sufficiently vintage, Bowling adds patina with a vinegar wash. Old saws, axes and trowels are put to use as door handles and brackets. He constructs cupolas out of metal chicken feeders, funnels, stove pipes or pot lids — whatever ends up stacking in an eye-pleasing and sturdy way.
Bowling's sense of proportion and detail comes into play from roof to doorknobs. The former is usually steep and galvanized, the latter a worn tool or beveled glass. Dutch doors, weathervanes and window boxes large enough to hold a few herbs or pansies add yet more charm.
While Bowling usually sticks with his square little footprint and tried-and-true proportions, he is sometimes asked to come up with new shapes and sizes. He built an octagonal building he describes as "Gothic" to fit into a hillside garden in Burien. "The largest shed I ever built was 10 by 12, and we dry-walled and insulated it for a studio," he says.
His sheds have been used as outhouses, chapels, outdoor showers, playhouses and simply as garden focal points. So if you can imagine it, Bowling can build it.
Is it the peaked roofs, the cupolas and aged windowpanes that lend a sense of history to each tidy little footprint of a building? Perhaps it's that Bowling has mastered the perfect proportions and garnishes to appeal to our fantasies of a sweet little destination shed. Gardeners seem to share a universal gene for outbuildings, and Bowling has tapped right into that.
After his success at the past few Northwest Flower & Garden Shows, where he won "Best of Show" in the exhibitor category, Bowling is busy building custom designs.
Don't be tricked by the cute window boxes and clever cupolas. These sheds are practical. The windows hinge wide open, the roofs are sturdy galvanized metal with overhangs, and the chicken coops come with nesting boxes and windows low enough to give the birds a view out into the garden.
How did Bowling hit on the formula for irresistible sheds? "I never draw them, they just evolve," he explains. Kind of like how he got into building sheds in the first place.
After working as a flooring contractor in Riverside, Calif., Bowling moved to Whidbey with a now ex-girlfriend, and started crafting birdhouses and benches. He moved on to sheds after discovering the abundant supply of recycled materials on the island.
Now Bowling starts his days poking around the woodpile at the local construction dump and visiting Island Recycling. "I mill around and some days I hit gold," he says. He stockpiles old doors and windows, and buys bits and pieces on eBay, like the $5 metal spheres he uses as finials.
So what are the specific elements that make these rustic sheds so covetable? First, they're a manageable size. Most Bowling buildings are 5 by 5 or 4 by 4 feet. Yet they're tall and transparent enough that they don't feel dark or cramped. "I'm 6 foot 4 and I need to be able to walk in without hitting my head," says Bowling.
Despite windows, doors and siding old enough to make the buildings look weathered in place, new underlying framework assures they're structurally sound. "Nothing is going to blow them over," he says.
Because Bowling builds with materials on at least their second lifetimes, each shed is unique. If wood or metal doesn't look sufficiently vintage, Bowling adds patina with a vinegar wash. Old saws, axes and trowels are put to use as door handles and brackets. He constructs cupolas out of metal chicken feeders, funnels, stove pipes or pot lids — whatever ends up stacking in an eye-pleasing and sturdy way.
Bowling's sense of proportion and detail comes into play from roof to doorknobs. The former is usually steep and galvanized, the latter a worn tool or beveled glass. Dutch doors, weathervanes and window boxes large enough to hold a few herbs or pansies add yet more charm.
While Bowling usually sticks with his square little footprint and tried-and-true proportions, he is sometimes asked to come up with new shapes and sizes. He built an octagonal building he describes as "Gothic" to fit into a hillside garden in Burien. "The largest shed I ever built was 10 by 12, and we dry-walled and insulated it for a studio," he says.
His sheds have been used as outhouses, chapels, outdoor showers, playhouses and simply as garden focal points. So if you can imagine it, Bowling can build it.
2012年2月9日星期四
Council sets limit on neighborhood chickens
That’s how many chickens a Naperville resident may legally keep after the City Council voted 6 to 3 Tuesday to amend the city’s fowl and livestock code.
Councilmen Grant Wehrli, Doug Krause and Kenn Miller voted against the measure.
David Laird’s chicken coop sparked the controversy when some of his neighbors complained about the fowl living next door and asked the City Council for a total ban on chickens within city limits.
“I knew that there was going to be a compromise,” Laird said after the vote, “or there was going to be nothing.”
With 12 birds currently in his coop, Laird will have to find homes for four of them, although it’s unclear how much time the city will allow him to get down to the legal limit.
“I’ll do everything in my power to comply with the rules and ordinances of Naperville,” he said. “I’ll find homes for them somewhere.”
In addition to the first-time ever limit on fowl within city limits, the changes to the ordinance call for keeping a chicken coop at least 30 feet away from a neighbor’s house, mandates sweeping the coop every 24 hours and screening open coops for at least the bottom 6 feet.
Roosters are now banned completely.
Ronald Barghesi, one of the neighbors who originally complained to the city, was in attendance but waived his right to speak.
Laird had his supporters. Laura Kemner lives in unincorporated Naperville and spoke of how her husband decided 10 years ago that he wanted to raise chickens.
Being a suburban girl, as she put it, the news came as a bit of a shock.
“My preconceived notions proved to be wrong,” she said. “It’s not what I expected.”
Kemner said she felt the controversy was less about chickens and more about people’s expectations of their neighbors.
“We expect that our neighbors are going to conduct themselves in a certain way,” she told the council, noting that some of that conduct was “not always to our liking.”
She said that while people often didn’t conform to expectations, it was diversity that makes a neighborhood interesting.
Kemner’s daughter Ellery told the City Council that she’d been raising chickens for virtually her entire life.
“I’ve had 10 amazing years with them,” she said, noting that she’d showen them in the DuPage County Fair and at her 4H Club.
Moreover, she produced 75 signatures from her school supporting her position that the ordinance should be left the way i.
Laird thanked the City Council members for their attention, but later said that his children would be disappointed.
“They think it’s a drag,” he said. “They’ve gotten attached to them.”
Councilmen Grant Wehrli, Doug Krause and Kenn Miller voted against the measure.
David Laird’s chicken coop sparked the controversy when some of his neighbors complained about the fowl living next door and asked the City Council for a total ban on chickens within city limits.
“I knew that there was going to be a compromise,” Laird said after the vote, “or there was going to be nothing.”
With 12 birds currently in his coop, Laird will have to find homes for four of them, although it’s unclear how much time the city will allow him to get down to the legal limit.
“I’ll do everything in my power to comply with the rules and ordinances of Naperville,” he said. “I’ll find homes for them somewhere.”
In addition to the first-time ever limit on fowl within city limits, the changes to the ordinance call for keeping a chicken coop at least 30 feet away from a neighbor’s house, mandates sweeping the coop every 24 hours and screening open coops for at least the bottom 6 feet.
Roosters are now banned completely.
Ronald Barghesi, one of the neighbors who originally complained to the city, was in attendance but waived his right to speak.
Laird had his supporters. Laura Kemner lives in unincorporated Naperville and spoke of how her husband decided 10 years ago that he wanted to raise chickens.
Being a suburban girl, as she put it, the news came as a bit of a shock.
“My preconceived notions proved to be wrong,” she said. “It’s not what I expected.”
Kemner said she felt the controversy was less about chickens and more about people’s expectations of their neighbors.
“We expect that our neighbors are going to conduct themselves in a certain way,” she told the council, noting that some of that conduct was “not always to our liking.”
She said that while people often didn’t conform to expectations, it was diversity that makes a neighborhood interesting.
Kemner’s daughter Ellery told the City Council that she’d been raising chickens for virtually her entire life.
“I’ve had 10 amazing years with them,” she said, noting that she’d showen them in the DuPage County Fair and at her 4H Club.
Moreover, she produced 75 signatures from her school supporting her position that the ordinance should be left the way i.
Laird thanked the City Council members for their attention, but later said that his children would be disappointed.
“They think it’s a drag,” he said. “They’ve gotten attached to them.”
2012年2月8日星期三
Down planet path
When our children were young, we tried everything to get them outside. Sure, our family life inside was filled with the kind of drama you'd call gloriously ordinary—which pasta for dinner, whose turn it was to feed the dogs or get the phone, and how best to gather everyone around the woodstove hearth every evening.
Outdoors, I figured it was all about the destination, so we constructed paths from one rural attraction to another. We had a picnic path to the blueberries, another to the chicken coop. One trail wound to the tire swing and zip wire, but that was neither our "scenic overlook" nor "outer beltway."
As these paths tolerated all variety of vehicles, from wobbly wheelbarrows and reluctant bicycles to bouncing baby carriages and battery-powered jeeps, there was a fair amount of maintenance required, especially in the spring and winter. Clearing these trails required an arsenal of tools and trashing my weekend jeans; if the chainsaw was involved, there would be a whole other level of supplies and precautions. Turning the mundane into the fantastic, my oldest daughter would often come find me, cutting in the woods. She would collect the sawdust piled up by the logs, carefully scooping up cups full and sprinkling it around her newfound woodland fairy domains. "Magical dust," she called it.
Believe it or not, these paths were chances to confirm household partnerships: My wife frequently invoked The Dogwood Rule: "Never cut down a dogwood tree, alive or dead." I did once, and she wouldn't talk to me for three days. Her rule applies to ferns as well, although she knows I like a good mow, to be able to trim the trail all the way to the edge. It makes for easier back and forth passage. Suffice it to say, we have our share of Zen-like obstacle courses on these crooked, cluttered paths.
These days, the paths are more functional. Like spokes on a wheel, our paths lead in all directions from the back door: to the mailbox, the end of the driveway for the daily newspapers, to the well house and, of course, to our neighbors' houses and their own lattice of paths. One of these neighbors recently discovered a 10-foot tall mound of bulldozed dirt in the brush a hundred yards behind his house. He astutely called it "Arrowhead Head Hill," and his boys have since marched a path toward it again and again. They are playing there with their digging trucks all the time. One day, as they listened patiently, he slowly explained the name to us: "Well, we haven't found any arrowheads yet, but we know they're there." The explorer cycle continues.
My oldest daughter was once inspired to plan a path directly into the woods from the basketball court. I asked her where the path was going.
"I don't know Dad, I just wanted to make one," she responded. "You guys always look like you're having so much fun with your paths. I wanted to do one myself."
Yes, that's it; I'm grabbing my boots and loppers and heading out the back door right now.
Outdoors, I figured it was all about the destination, so we constructed paths from one rural attraction to another. We had a picnic path to the blueberries, another to the chicken coop. One trail wound to the tire swing and zip wire, but that was neither our "scenic overlook" nor "outer beltway."
As these paths tolerated all variety of vehicles, from wobbly wheelbarrows and reluctant bicycles to bouncing baby carriages and battery-powered jeeps, there was a fair amount of maintenance required, especially in the spring and winter. Clearing these trails required an arsenal of tools and trashing my weekend jeans; if the chainsaw was involved, there would be a whole other level of supplies and precautions. Turning the mundane into the fantastic, my oldest daughter would often come find me, cutting in the woods. She would collect the sawdust piled up by the logs, carefully scooping up cups full and sprinkling it around her newfound woodland fairy domains. "Magical dust," she called it.
Believe it or not, these paths were chances to confirm household partnerships: My wife frequently invoked The Dogwood Rule: "Never cut down a dogwood tree, alive or dead." I did once, and she wouldn't talk to me for three days. Her rule applies to ferns as well, although she knows I like a good mow, to be able to trim the trail all the way to the edge. It makes for easier back and forth passage. Suffice it to say, we have our share of Zen-like obstacle courses on these crooked, cluttered paths.
These days, the paths are more functional. Like spokes on a wheel, our paths lead in all directions from the back door: to the mailbox, the end of the driveway for the daily newspapers, to the well house and, of course, to our neighbors' houses and their own lattice of paths. One of these neighbors recently discovered a 10-foot tall mound of bulldozed dirt in the brush a hundred yards behind his house. He astutely called it "Arrowhead Head Hill," and his boys have since marched a path toward it again and again. They are playing there with their digging trucks all the time. One day, as they listened patiently, he slowly explained the name to us: "Well, we haven't found any arrowheads yet, but we know they're there." The explorer cycle continues.
My oldest daughter was once inspired to plan a path directly into the woods from the basketball court. I asked her where the path was going.
"I don't know Dad, I just wanted to make one," she responded. "You guys always look like you're having so much fun with your paths. I wanted to do one myself."
Yes, that's it; I'm grabbing my boots and loppers and heading out the back door right now.
2012年2月7日星期二
Eliot family says town pressuring them to ditch pets
Four chickens named Popcorn, Eloise, Lady Bird and Ula may have to find a new home, if resident Brian McClellan can't convince the town's Board of Appeals that he has not run afoul of the law.
McClellan said he's hoping the board will be a voice of sanity in what he feels has been a crazy situation that has been both discriminatory and unfair to him and his family.
And it has ended with a recent edict from the town's code enforcement officer that he either dismantle the coop and get rid of the chickens or face fines of up to $100 per day.
McClellan said he would never have purchased the Rhode Island reds, now his children's pets, last summer if he had any idea that code enforcement officer James Marchese would change his mind about allowing him to have them.
The avian drama is playing out as the town works to craft its first-ever chicken ordinance. Although McClellan can't prove his situation was the catalyst, he said he suspects that it might have been.
Marchese, recovering from surgery, was unavailable for comment Monday.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Roland Fernald said Marchese was only doing his job, responding to a complaint about the chickens by McClellan's neighbor, which led to a review of his property.
That leaves McClellan shaking his head: He knows of at least two others in his Bolt Hill Road neighborhood who have chickens and haven't been singled out.
"The town isn't using common sense. If my neighbor is so upset, I'm willing to make changes," he said. "I don't really know what I can do. No one is willing to come to my property, and every time I went to Town Hall, I was told everything was fine."
McClellan's interaction with town officials began last July. The family, including wife Amy and their three children, had recently lost the family dog, and the children asked whether they could have another pet.
They settled on chickens, in part because the couple felt it would teach their children responsibility, as the chickens' care is primarily in the youngsters' hands.
Before he invested in a coop, yard and chickens, McClellan said, he visited Marchese, explaining he wanted to abide by the law and would not purchase chickens if he was not allowed to keep them on his property.
"He said any town ordinance preventing ownership of chickens in the Village District (where we live) is unclear and questionable," said McClellan. "Therefore, he could not prevent us from owning them."
The lack of clarity was linked to two ordinances that have conflicting requirements. One states that accessory structures have to be 10 feet from the property line. Another states that houses for the breeding and care of animals "for sale or lease" must be 100 feet or more from property lines.
"I told him these were pets, and we weren't going to sell them or the eggs from them," McClellan said.
In an August letter, Marchese laid out the two ordinances, stating that, when there is "doubt of intent," the benefit of the doubt goes to the applicant.
McClellan went to Town Hall again after receiving the letter, he said, and again Marchese "told me I could own chickens on my property."
Popcorn and the gang were bought in September, when McClellan received another letter from Marchese, asking him to place the coop 10 feet from the property line, which he did.
McClellan didn't hear from the town until late December, when Marchese wrote that, "upon further review," the McClellans had to get a building permit and apply for site plan review by the Planning Board.
What happened in the ensuing month was a flurry of letters back and forth and several visits to Town Hall — including one to Town Planner Kate Pelletier, who told McClellan he did not have to apply for site plan review, according to McClellan. Pelletier could not be reached for comment.
The ultimate slap for McClellan, however, was a Jan. 12 Board of Selectmen decision approving Marchese's request to order McClellan to remove the coop and get rid of the chickens or face fines of up to $100 a day.
McClellan said he was never notified of the meeting and, therefore, was not given a chance to explain his position.
"I don't understand," he said. "I tried to do everything I was told to do. And to top it off, my neighbors have chickens and the town is not going to tell them to remove them."
Fernald said the case was "a lot of 'he said, he said' with the neighbor, and I'm not going to get into that." He said, when Marchese brought the situation to the board, "we needed to move forward to rectify the situation."
He said the selectmen have faith in Marchese.
"We support his decision, and have asked him to move forward," Fernald said.
He said he knows McClellan has filed an appeal, "and hopefully this can be taken care of so things work out for everyone."
McClellan said he's hoping the board will be a voice of sanity in what he feels has been a crazy situation that has been both discriminatory and unfair to him and his family.
And it has ended with a recent edict from the town's code enforcement officer that he either dismantle the coop and get rid of the chickens or face fines of up to $100 per day.
McClellan said he would never have purchased the Rhode Island reds, now his children's pets, last summer if he had any idea that code enforcement officer James Marchese would change his mind about allowing him to have them.
The avian drama is playing out as the town works to craft its first-ever chicken ordinance. Although McClellan can't prove his situation was the catalyst, he said he suspects that it might have been.
Marchese, recovering from surgery, was unavailable for comment Monday.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Roland Fernald said Marchese was only doing his job, responding to a complaint about the chickens by McClellan's neighbor, which led to a review of his property.
That leaves McClellan shaking his head: He knows of at least two others in his Bolt Hill Road neighborhood who have chickens and haven't been singled out.
"The town isn't using common sense. If my neighbor is so upset, I'm willing to make changes," he said. "I don't really know what I can do. No one is willing to come to my property, and every time I went to Town Hall, I was told everything was fine."
McClellan's interaction with town officials began last July. The family, including wife Amy and their three children, had recently lost the family dog, and the children asked whether they could have another pet.
They settled on chickens, in part because the couple felt it would teach their children responsibility, as the chickens' care is primarily in the youngsters' hands.
Before he invested in a coop, yard and chickens, McClellan said, he visited Marchese, explaining he wanted to abide by the law and would not purchase chickens if he was not allowed to keep them on his property.
"He said any town ordinance preventing ownership of chickens in the Village District (where we live) is unclear and questionable," said McClellan. "Therefore, he could not prevent us from owning them."
The lack of clarity was linked to two ordinances that have conflicting requirements. One states that accessory structures have to be 10 feet from the property line. Another states that houses for the breeding and care of animals "for sale or lease" must be 100 feet or more from property lines.
"I told him these were pets, and we weren't going to sell them or the eggs from them," McClellan said.
In an August letter, Marchese laid out the two ordinances, stating that, when there is "doubt of intent," the benefit of the doubt goes to the applicant.
McClellan went to Town Hall again after receiving the letter, he said, and again Marchese "told me I could own chickens on my property."
Popcorn and the gang were bought in September, when McClellan received another letter from Marchese, asking him to place the coop 10 feet from the property line, which he did.
McClellan didn't hear from the town until late December, when Marchese wrote that, "upon further review," the McClellans had to get a building permit and apply for site plan review by the Planning Board.
What happened in the ensuing month was a flurry of letters back and forth and several visits to Town Hall — including one to Town Planner Kate Pelletier, who told McClellan he did not have to apply for site plan review, according to McClellan. Pelletier could not be reached for comment.
The ultimate slap for McClellan, however, was a Jan. 12 Board of Selectmen decision approving Marchese's request to order McClellan to remove the coop and get rid of the chickens or face fines of up to $100 a day.
McClellan said he was never notified of the meeting and, therefore, was not given a chance to explain his position.
"I don't understand," he said. "I tried to do everything I was told to do. And to top it off, my neighbors have chickens and the town is not going to tell them to remove them."
Fernald said the case was "a lot of 'he said, he said' with the neighbor, and I'm not going to get into that." He said, when Marchese brought the situation to the board, "we needed to move forward to rectify the situation."
He said the selectmen have faith in Marchese.
"We support his decision, and have asked him to move forward," Fernald said.
He said he knows McClellan has filed an appeal, "and hopefully this can be taken care of so things work out for everyone."
2012年2月6日星期一
Pine River parents ponder school options
With Pine River Elementary School slated to be closed after this school year, parents are weighing options for their children's future education.
Parents who especially value the small-school atmosphere at Pine River outside of Merrill are considering a variety of alternatives, including home schooling, sending their children to another district or enrolling them in parochial schools.
A split Merrill School Board voted Jan. 5 to close Pine River and use the building to house its Head Start and other early childhood programs. Pine River currently serves 134 students.
District leaders expect most current Pine River students will attend Washington Elementary next school year. The move also would mean a shift of elementary school boundaries that would affect students in other schools, as well.
"We have a lot of options. A lot of people are considering home schooling. We're being heavily recruited by the parochial schools in the area," said Jan Rydeski, 46, the mother of three children now attending Pine River.
Rydeski said she and her husband, John, are thinking about going through the open-enrollment process and trying to send their children to Hewitt-Texas Elementary in the Wausau School District.
"We live way out in the country and close to Hewitt-Texas," she said.
Kathy Yahr, principal of Trinity Lutheran School in Merrill, said she had a message on her Facebook account from a Pine River parent asking more about Trinity the night the Merrill School Board decided to close the school.
"That was before we did anything," Yahr said. Now, Trinity educators are sending letters to Pine River parents to invite them to a community night to be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.
"We are hoping because we're small, that will draw people to us," Yahr said. "Small schools can really eliminate some of the problems big schools face, such as bullying."
Jennifer Freyer, 36, is the mother of a Pine River second-grader and three younger children she had hoped to send there. She and her husband are part of a group of about 20 parents, including Rydeski, who are working hard to keep Pine River open.
"I guess my biggest frustration is that closing a school is a one-time savings," Freyer said. She argues that renovating the school for new early childhood programs would be expensive, too. "It doesn't make fiscal sense to me," she said.
Parents who especially value the small-school atmosphere at Pine River outside of Merrill are considering a variety of alternatives, including home schooling, sending their children to another district or enrolling them in parochial schools.
A split Merrill School Board voted Jan. 5 to close Pine River and use the building to house its Head Start and other early childhood programs. Pine River currently serves 134 students.
District leaders expect most current Pine River students will attend Washington Elementary next school year. The move also would mean a shift of elementary school boundaries that would affect students in other schools, as well.
"We have a lot of options. A lot of people are considering home schooling. We're being heavily recruited by the parochial schools in the area," said Jan Rydeski, 46, the mother of three children now attending Pine River.
Rydeski said she and her husband, John, are thinking about going through the open-enrollment process and trying to send their children to Hewitt-Texas Elementary in the Wausau School District.
"We live way out in the country and close to Hewitt-Texas," she said.
Kathy Yahr, principal of Trinity Lutheran School in Merrill, said she had a message on her Facebook account from a Pine River parent asking more about Trinity the night the Merrill School Board decided to close the school.
"That was before we did anything," Yahr said. Now, Trinity educators are sending letters to Pine River parents to invite them to a community night to be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.
"We are hoping because we're small, that will draw people to us," Yahr said. "Small schools can really eliminate some of the problems big schools face, such as bullying."
Jennifer Freyer, 36, is the mother of a Pine River second-grader and three younger children she had hoped to send there. She and her husband are part of a group of about 20 parents, including Rydeski, who are working hard to keep Pine River open.
"I guess my biggest frustration is that closing a school is a one-time savings," Freyer said. She argues that renovating the school for new early childhood programs would be expensive, too. "It doesn't make fiscal sense to me," she said.
2012年2月5日星期日
Super Bowl projected to generate super spending
As the New York Giants and New England Patriots battle on the field during Super Bowl XLVI today, game-related consumer spending is projected to reach an all-time high.
Total Super Bowl-related revenues are predicted to reach $11 billion, according to a survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association conducted by BIGinsight. The average game-watcher is expected to shell out $63.87 on related merchandise, apparel and snacks, up from $59.33 last year, according to the survey. A whopping 71.3 percent of that will be on beverages and food, especially items like chicken wings, pizza and dip.
Those kinds of numbers are an appetizing thought to Middletown and Hamilton business owners.
Kim Snider of Wings on Brookwood, 147 N. Brookwood Ave. in Hamilton, said her family-owned business generates approximately three times the amount of revenue on Super Bowl Sunday than it does on a typical Sunday.
“Wings and football have always been a tradition,” she said. “(Super Bowl Sunday) is, by far, our busiest day of the year. We go through about 16,000 wings and probably about 8,000 boneless wings.”
The restaurant, which offered Facebook fans discounts for pre-sale orders, started taking reservations for pickup times on Sunday a week in advance. This week, customers have “inundated” Wings on Brookwood with not only more orders than in recent years, but also more wings per order as well, Snider said.
National Restaurant Association research shows that chicken wings (63 percent) now outpace pizza (61 percent) as a game-day “must-have.” However, dips or spread, garnered the top spot with 69 percent of votes from famished fans.
Super Bowl Sunday at Fricker’s in Middletown means a 40 percent to 60 percent boost in carry-out sales revenues, said spokesman Jim Manley.
“Nobody calls for orders of 10 (wings) for the Super Bowl,” Manley said.
“They all call for orders of 200 to 500 and that’s why the number is so exorbitant, because they have a number of folks over to their house and at that point they’re just trying to feed the world and we’re very fortunate to be a beneficiary.”
The restaurant, however, does not see as much walk-up traffic because most people are attending Super Bowl parties, Manley said. “With that, it’s about the same amount of food as we would normally do, it just doesn’t get eaten in our restaurant,” he said.
To accommodate the droves of customers who flock to the restaurant for its Frickin’ Chicken Wings, Fricker’s must book time for its fryers, reserve a portion of them for last-minute orders and create a waiting area for pick-up orders, Manley said.
Nick Dadabo, owner of Chester’s Pizza in Hamilton, said the although his store no longer delivers, business increases by 30 to 40 percent on Super Bowl Sunday compared to a typical Sunday.
Dadabo said he expects that much of an increase, if not more, this Sunday, in part because of special prices on pizza, sandwiches and chicken wings, and the “independent bump” local places receive from big-name pizza establishment advertising that he said get customers “thinking pizza.”
But the decisive factor in any surge in sales boils down to customers avoiding economic “gloom and doom” by immersing themselves in the Super Bowl, he said.
“I think people are trying to find a way to satisfy themselves and maybe escape a little bit from the reality that we’re going through a pretty tough time,” Dadabo said.
Although wholesale chicken prices notoriously go up around Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and the Super Bowl, prices have flown the coop over during the past year, Snider said, a fact of life that may peck into profit margins.
“This is the first year I’ve watched it double,” Snider said. However, “We’ve not changed our prices. We’ve not changed anything.”
The price hikes have continued as sales for fresh chicken breasts, the highest priced meat, have plummeted, Snider said. “That determines how much they (suppliers) are going to charge for the wings,” she said. “They need to make up their money on the wings and we don’t have a choice. It is what it is.”
Total Super Bowl-related revenues are predicted to reach $11 billion, according to a survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association conducted by BIGinsight. The average game-watcher is expected to shell out $63.87 on related merchandise, apparel and snacks, up from $59.33 last year, according to the survey. A whopping 71.3 percent of that will be on beverages and food, especially items like chicken wings, pizza and dip.
Those kinds of numbers are an appetizing thought to Middletown and Hamilton business owners.
Kim Snider of Wings on Brookwood, 147 N. Brookwood Ave. in Hamilton, said her family-owned business generates approximately three times the amount of revenue on Super Bowl Sunday than it does on a typical Sunday.
“Wings and football have always been a tradition,” she said. “(Super Bowl Sunday) is, by far, our busiest day of the year. We go through about 16,000 wings and probably about 8,000 boneless wings.”
The restaurant, which offered Facebook fans discounts for pre-sale orders, started taking reservations for pickup times on Sunday a week in advance. This week, customers have “inundated” Wings on Brookwood with not only more orders than in recent years, but also more wings per order as well, Snider said.
National Restaurant Association research shows that chicken wings (63 percent) now outpace pizza (61 percent) as a game-day “must-have.” However, dips or spread, garnered the top spot with 69 percent of votes from famished fans.
Super Bowl Sunday at Fricker’s in Middletown means a 40 percent to 60 percent boost in carry-out sales revenues, said spokesman Jim Manley.
“Nobody calls for orders of 10 (wings) for the Super Bowl,” Manley said.
“They all call for orders of 200 to 500 and that’s why the number is so exorbitant, because they have a number of folks over to their house and at that point they’re just trying to feed the world and we’re very fortunate to be a beneficiary.”
The restaurant, however, does not see as much walk-up traffic because most people are attending Super Bowl parties, Manley said. “With that, it’s about the same amount of food as we would normally do, it just doesn’t get eaten in our restaurant,” he said.
To accommodate the droves of customers who flock to the restaurant for its Frickin’ Chicken Wings, Fricker’s must book time for its fryers, reserve a portion of them for last-minute orders and create a waiting area for pick-up orders, Manley said.
Nick Dadabo, owner of Chester’s Pizza in Hamilton, said the although his store no longer delivers, business increases by 30 to 40 percent on Super Bowl Sunday compared to a typical Sunday.
Dadabo said he expects that much of an increase, if not more, this Sunday, in part because of special prices on pizza, sandwiches and chicken wings, and the “independent bump” local places receive from big-name pizza establishment advertising that he said get customers “thinking pizza.”
But the decisive factor in any surge in sales boils down to customers avoiding economic “gloom and doom” by immersing themselves in the Super Bowl, he said.
“I think people are trying to find a way to satisfy themselves and maybe escape a little bit from the reality that we’re going through a pretty tough time,” Dadabo said.
Although wholesale chicken prices notoriously go up around Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and the Super Bowl, prices have flown the coop over during the past year, Snider said, a fact of life that may peck into profit margins.
“This is the first year I’ve watched it double,” Snider said. However, “We’ve not changed our prices. We’ve not changed anything.”
The price hikes have continued as sales for fresh chicken breasts, the highest priced meat, have plummeted, Snider said. “That determines how much they (suppliers) are going to charge for the wings,” she said. “They need to make up their money on the wings and we don’t have a choice. It is what it is.”
2012年2月2日星期四
Bringing a hen home to roost
IF, DESPITE my dire warnings, you are still determined to buy hens, let us see what they need.
First is a draught-free, dry house. Investing in a poultry magazine such as Fancy Fowl or Practical Poultry and surfing the net (especially on eBay) will reveal a wide range of prices. It pays to shop around.
My favourite is a two-tier house with a run underneath. If you pick an ark-shaped house, choose a solidly-made one. Cheap tongue-and-groove ones are a bad investment. After a year in the rain and wind, the slats fall apart.
Plastic hen houses are available that are easy to clean and do not harbour mites. Only the price puts me off.
Four things can kill chickens: damp, mites, draughts and foxes.
Chickens do not mind the cold. If you slip your hand under the wing of a sleeping chicken, you will find it as warm as toast there.
But sometimes, in very cold weather, cockerels get frostbite on their combs. A little Vaseline will prevent that.
Red mites are a major problem however clean your pens. Where they come from or how they get there, nobody knows. Afflicted birds grow pale with anaemia and may die. Red mites love new wood and new hutches. In the old days, creosoting was the ultimate deterrent. I always take it as a personal affront and become obsessive with red mite spray.
I even know one keeper who goes over his pens with a blowtorch. Vaseline at the end of the perches is another tip – but never along the middle, otherwise the hens will fall off.
Ensure latches are secure and wire walls are well-fixed to keep out foxes. Once they find a tasty chicken they will be back, usually killing more than they need. It can be a very distressing business.
I staple wire beneath pens and runs to prevent foxes digging underneath.
If your hens stay in a pen, ensure they have sufficient room to scratch about and remain active. Bored, cramped chickens pick up nasty habits such as feather-pecking or bullying.
A cauliflower or apple hanging on a string, a few dried meal worms thrown on the ground and plenty of room will keep them busy and happy.
If they are confined, provide them with grit to help them digest their food and a dirt or sand tray to bath in.
There are many recipes for each stage of a chicken's life in old poultrymen's books. Now all the ingredients are in pellets.
Layers' pellets provide all the minerals and protein your hens need. Chick crumbs and growers' pellets are just right for healthy chicks and adolescent birds.
A rough rule is a good handful of pellets per bird per day.
I always have a bag of mixed corn in the shed as a treat later in the day. Never overfeed because waste food encourages rats and mice and you will start to get black looks from the neighbours. Keeping chickens can be fraught with antisocial dangers. I suggest a gift of fresh eggs is the best antidote.
Chickens love treats. Apples, bananas (skin and all chopped up), cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli are favourites. Cooked potatoes, pasta and any fruit will also cause excitement in the coop.
Two things to avoid are avocado and uncooked potato peelings – both can be lethal to chickens.
Percy the peacock shares the same menu of pellets and corn, supplemented by our neighbours' custard creams, digestives and leftover cat food. However, all these extras are treats. Don't overdo them or you will have fat chickens.
A few drops of apple cider vinegar in the water once a month is said to be beneficial and a few drops of cod liver oil in the corn once in a while keeps feathers gleaming. A little of both once a month is enough.
Any spare eggs, either boiled or scrambled and maybe mixed with garlic powder, are also a tonic.
Clean water is essential. Birds drink a surprising amount. Dirty water is a recipe for disaster, especially in the summer.
If you are unfortunate enough to find one of your birds hunched up, looking lethargic or bubbling at the eyes or nostrils, you need to act at once.
My chicken-keeping friends usually have a bottle of Tylan powder or liquid Baytril (both only available on prescription from the vet) in the cupboard alongside the cod liver oil and Vaseline.
Tylan powder must be mixed with a little warm water to ensure it dissolves. Baytril is also diluted as instructed by the vet. Do not eat the eggs of a bird on medication. Both antibiotics are expensive but will go a long way.
If treated as soon as symptoms appear, a chicken will often rally in a day or two. If left untreated, a bird may soon develop respiratory problems, gluey eyes and a running nose.
Watch out for odd behaviour in the coop – you'll soon spot a sickly bird. Then act at once – isolate the bird, medicate and wait for recovery.
Make sleeping quarters snug with shavings or hemp. I don't use hay because it can go slimy. Straw can harbour mites. But find what suits you best and is available.
First is a draught-free, dry house. Investing in a poultry magazine such as Fancy Fowl or Practical Poultry and surfing the net (especially on eBay) will reveal a wide range of prices. It pays to shop around.
My favourite is a two-tier house with a run underneath. If you pick an ark-shaped house, choose a solidly-made one. Cheap tongue-and-groove ones are a bad investment. After a year in the rain and wind, the slats fall apart.
Plastic hen houses are available that are easy to clean and do not harbour mites. Only the price puts me off.
Four things can kill chickens: damp, mites, draughts and foxes.
Chickens do not mind the cold. If you slip your hand under the wing of a sleeping chicken, you will find it as warm as toast there.
But sometimes, in very cold weather, cockerels get frostbite on their combs. A little Vaseline will prevent that.
Red mites are a major problem however clean your pens. Where they come from or how they get there, nobody knows. Afflicted birds grow pale with anaemia and may die. Red mites love new wood and new hutches. In the old days, creosoting was the ultimate deterrent. I always take it as a personal affront and become obsessive with red mite spray.
I even know one keeper who goes over his pens with a blowtorch. Vaseline at the end of the perches is another tip – but never along the middle, otherwise the hens will fall off.
Ensure latches are secure and wire walls are well-fixed to keep out foxes. Once they find a tasty chicken they will be back, usually killing more than they need. It can be a very distressing business.
I staple wire beneath pens and runs to prevent foxes digging underneath.
If your hens stay in a pen, ensure they have sufficient room to scratch about and remain active. Bored, cramped chickens pick up nasty habits such as feather-pecking or bullying.
A cauliflower or apple hanging on a string, a few dried meal worms thrown on the ground and plenty of room will keep them busy and happy.
If they are confined, provide them with grit to help them digest their food and a dirt or sand tray to bath in.
There are many recipes for each stage of a chicken's life in old poultrymen's books. Now all the ingredients are in pellets.
Layers' pellets provide all the minerals and protein your hens need. Chick crumbs and growers' pellets are just right for healthy chicks and adolescent birds.
A rough rule is a good handful of pellets per bird per day.
I always have a bag of mixed corn in the shed as a treat later in the day. Never overfeed because waste food encourages rats and mice and you will start to get black looks from the neighbours. Keeping chickens can be fraught with antisocial dangers. I suggest a gift of fresh eggs is the best antidote.
Chickens love treats. Apples, bananas (skin and all chopped up), cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli are favourites. Cooked potatoes, pasta and any fruit will also cause excitement in the coop.
Two things to avoid are avocado and uncooked potato peelings – both can be lethal to chickens.
Percy the peacock shares the same menu of pellets and corn, supplemented by our neighbours' custard creams, digestives and leftover cat food. However, all these extras are treats. Don't overdo them or you will have fat chickens.
A few drops of apple cider vinegar in the water once a month is said to be beneficial and a few drops of cod liver oil in the corn once in a while keeps feathers gleaming. A little of both once a month is enough.
Any spare eggs, either boiled or scrambled and maybe mixed with garlic powder, are also a tonic.
Clean water is essential. Birds drink a surprising amount. Dirty water is a recipe for disaster, especially in the summer.
If you are unfortunate enough to find one of your birds hunched up, looking lethargic or bubbling at the eyes or nostrils, you need to act at once.
My chicken-keeping friends usually have a bottle of Tylan powder or liquid Baytril (both only available on prescription from the vet) in the cupboard alongside the cod liver oil and Vaseline.
Tylan powder must be mixed with a little warm water to ensure it dissolves. Baytril is also diluted as instructed by the vet. Do not eat the eggs of a bird on medication. Both antibiotics are expensive but will go a long way.
If treated as soon as symptoms appear, a chicken will often rally in a day or two. If left untreated, a bird may soon develop respiratory problems, gluey eyes and a running nose.
Watch out for odd behaviour in the coop – you'll soon spot a sickly bird. Then act at once – isolate the bird, medicate and wait for recovery.
Make sleeping quarters snug with shavings or hemp. I don't use hay because it can go slimy. Straw can harbour mites. But find what suits you best and is available.
2012年2月1日星期三
Mohnton youth's rooster a big winner at Farm Show
Will Kitsch, a sixth grader at Governor Mifflin Intermediate School, didn’t grow up on a farm, but when his preschool class visited one, he says he was the only one who wanted to go into the chicken coop to collect the eggs.
That same year his parents, Bill and Christine Kitsch, sent away for about a dozen chicks from a hatchery. Will learned how to take care of them and eventually decided he wanted to join 4-H and begin showing his chickens. Unfortunately, he found out that his chickens were not show quality. After picking out a few breeds that he liked, they found a local breeder – one in Grantville continues to be Will’s mentor – who did offer show-quality chickens.
After that, Will began hatching his own chicks and even raising a few that were destined for his family’s kitchen table. Christine said they had a lot of talks with Will and his siblings about raising chickens for meat. They knew from the start that those chickens were not to be named and that they would have a short life. Today Will has 30-40 chickens in his backyard (just a little over an acre) in Mohnton.
Every morning Will gets up before school to feed and water the chickens. Then after school he goes out and does it all again. On really cold nights he has to bring their water in, so it doesn’t freeze. And, ofcourse, he has to collect the eggs, usually twice a day. Some eggs are set aside for hatching and others are eaten .
Four years ago Will began showing his chickens at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. This year he won his biggest award ever when his two-year-old rooster, Tiger, won Reserve Grand Champion Large Chicken. Will has had Tiger since he was a chick and Tiger’s son, who Will hatched himself, also showed well this year.
To prepare Tiger and the 28 other chickens he took to the show, Will trimmed their toe nails, washed them, and put “stuff” on their combs and feathers to make them glossy. Will says that they needed to be very clean.
About a year ago, Will brought two ducks home for his nine-year-old brother, Gabriel, who has always loved ducks. One of them got away, so they bought ten eggs for Gabriel. Six eggs hatched – all girls. Today Gabriel has a flock of ducks, which he says are easier to take care of than the chickens. He entered three of them – Sonic, Tittlewinks, and Rosie – into the competition at the farm show and won several awards in the Bantam Duck Class.
Christine says that raising chickens and ducks has taught the boys responsibility, compassion, and care. She says when you domesticate an animal and put it in a cage, it’s completely dependent on you for its care. It never takes a day off or goes on vacation. No matter what the weather, it’s your responsibility to care for the well-being of that living creature.
She says the boys are also learning about financial responsibility. They’ve sold some of their chickens and they’ve sold chicken and duck meat to their friends and family. They’re also learning about where their food comes from, and they’re doing hands-on projects. This year they’re planning on re-doing the front of the coop.
That same year his parents, Bill and Christine Kitsch, sent away for about a dozen chicks from a hatchery. Will learned how to take care of them and eventually decided he wanted to join 4-H and begin showing his chickens. Unfortunately, he found out that his chickens were not show quality. After picking out a few breeds that he liked, they found a local breeder – one in Grantville continues to be Will’s mentor – who did offer show-quality chickens.
After that, Will began hatching his own chicks and even raising a few that were destined for his family’s kitchen table. Christine said they had a lot of talks with Will and his siblings about raising chickens for meat. They knew from the start that those chickens were not to be named and that they would have a short life. Today Will has 30-40 chickens in his backyard (just a little over an acre) in Mohnton.
Every morning Will gets up before school to feed and water the chickens. Then after school he goes out and does it all again. On really cold nights he has to bring their water in, so it doesn’t freeze. And, ofcourse, he has to collect the eggs, usually twice a day. Some eggs are set aside for hatching and others are eaten .
Four years ago Will began showing his chickens at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. This year he won his biggest award ever when his two-year-old rooster, Tiger, won Reserve Grand Champion Large Chicken. Will has had Tiger since he was a chick and Tiger’s son, who Will hatched himself, also showed well this year.
To prepare Tiger and the 28 other chickens he took to the show, Will trimmed their toe nails, washed them, and put “stuff” on their combs and feathers to make them glossy. Will says that they needed to be very clean.
About a year ago, Will brought two ducks home for his nine-year-old brother, Gabriel, who has always loved ducks. One of them got away, so they bought ten eggs for Gabriel. Six eggs hatched – all girls. Today Gabriel has a flock of ducks, which he says are easier to take care of than the chickens. He entered three of them – Sonic, Tittlewinks, and Rosie – into the competition at the farm show and won several awards in the Bantam Duck Class.
Christine says that raising chickens and ducks has taught the boys responsibility, compassion, and care. She says when you domesticate an animal and put it in a cage, it’s completely dependent on you for its care. It never takes a day off or goes on vacation. No matter what the weather, it’s your responsibility to care for the well-being of that living creature.
She says the boys are also learning about financial responsibility. They’ve sold some of their chickens and they’ve sold chicken and duck meat to their friends and family. They’re also learning about where their food comes from, and they’re doing hands-on projects. This year they’re planning on re-doing the front of the coop.
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