Chicken Scratchings from Karen
Mar 23rd, 2009 | By karenpresents | Category: UncategorizedI was thinking about writing this as follows:
State of the Chicken Address by Buruck Buruck Bantama
My loyal cluckers. Let me tell you the state of affairs here in Chicken City We’ve got Feed and that’s Lousy. Lousy with a capital L. Yes I’ said Lousy. Right here in Chicken City.
Okay I can’t remember the words exactly but here’s the story. Chickens need food whether they’re free range or not. There’s a lot of details that go into the care and feeding of your chicken so that you can eat him or her.
A number of people are getting into the business and finding that getting good feed is also a limiting factor. Everyone asks why organic cost more, “They don’t use chemicals, What’s the difference?” I wish I could take the time to tell you. But I’m just finding out myself. So here’s a brief overview of resources for those thinking about it. I’m hoping to write an even longer version of my “Address” that will be worthy of an open stage at a poetry forum.
I lifted the following from a chat on OEFFAdirect last week.
> Yes, there are several sources in Ohio that I know of. There are two sister stores in Holmesville and Mt. Eaton that offer it (330-279-2501), Curly Tail Organic Farm in Fredericktown (740-694-8622), and Dale Filbrun Farms in W. Alexandria (near Dayton)–(937-787-4885). We have bought from Curly Tail and found them very good and reasonable. Mary Hooker
>
Now for my take on the subject, Karen.
I spoke with Ed and hope to talk to Denise Anderson at 2 Silos. So far this is what I’ve learned and am also injecting into. There is a market here. One should think in terms of 50 acre field’s of corn, oats plus the others crops such as millet, amaranth etc. to achieve an economy of scale for planting and harvesting and then marketing to what ever number of small and mid-range farms available. This would follow directly with the implementation of the Mobile Processing Unit currently under discussion at localfoodsystems.org. Trish Mumme added that the lack of mill grinding is also a factor.
Mills such as a 6 quart are listed at $1899. 16″ stone burr mills that can process 50-60 lbs an hour are around $1900. The largest at 30″ processing 700-1250 lbs an hour can cost as much as $16,260. Too bad they didn’t include my comments about Wonder Bread at the Governor’s food policy meeting last year and look into the implications of what I was saying. Anyone know what kind of equipment they will be auctioning off?
I’m getting a little bored with the state’s web site. Lots of well- meaning researchers but they aren’t making sense in their current posts and there has been no follow through from most of their earlier ones. The site is clumsy and impossible to navigate for any understanding and connection to their proposals. To establish an organic feed network of producers, processors and final product users would be easier with an oversight committee that can watch and regulate overproduction and quality control. Competition with all the market forces and big conventional businesses watching your every move is sure to affect things somehow. I’m sure they aren’t happy with a lot of start up farmers moving in on their territory. (I like to think big and want to see family farmers have a true renaissance.)
I would also like to refer people to follow the Chicken Keepers blog at localfoodcleveland.com for more info on chickens in Ohio.
So I will stop here. Looking forward to comments.
You know what I’d like to see, Karen? Since you’re so good at networking and seem to always know what meetings are being held where and what group is doing what, I think it would be useful if you focused your writing on reporting these things. Let everyone know through this site when and where they can go to meetings or other events to get involved.
You go to a lot of meetings yourself, so why not report back here about what was said, like you did in this post about the OEFFAdirect conversation? I think that would be the greatest contribution you could make to Local Food Columbus, acting as our reporter in the field, blogging about what’s coming up and what just happened. I think this will draw a lot more positive attention to this site than the usual stream-of-consciousness rants where you throw a dozen different ideas into the blender. More importantly, you’ll be facilitating getting other people involved by letting them know specifically HOW to get involved. 90% of success is showing up, and many of us–myself included–seem to be chronically out of the loop when it comes to knowing when and where to show up.
When putting together a report on an event–whether upcoming or something that’s already occurred–remember “Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.” What’s the NAME of the group holding the meeting? What’s the name of the person to contact for more information? What is the subject of the meeting or purpose of an event? What is the objective of the group holding the meeting? What time and date does it start? How long will it run? Is it a one-time thing, weekly, monthly? Where is it? Is there admission? Is membership required? Parking available? If you can’t find out the address, does the building/park/etc. have a name? Can you give directions on how to get there? How can people get involved? Do they need to bring anything? Finally, what’s important about this cause? Why should people care? How does it affect them or their community?
If you keep a checklist of these questions with you when you go to meetings and keep written notes of the answers, you’ll have incredibly useful information to share with people, and I think you’ll be amazed at how much more receptive people are to what you write. If you decide to do this, I’ll be happy to help you edit your reports before we post them.