Naturally, raising chickens would not have been successful without the hard work and dedication of the seven families raising chickens in Cross Lake.

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2 Naturally, raising chickens would not have been successful without the hard work and dedication of the seven families raising chickens in Cross Lake. Financial support for the Cross Lake Chicken Club came from several sources: Manitoba Hydro, the Northern Healthy Foods Initiative (Province of Manitoba), and Heifer International Canada (through the Revisioning the Manitoba Harvest project). In-kind assistance was provided by Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, Four Arrows Regional Health Authority, and the Cross Lake Community Information Centre. Evaluation support was provided through the Revisioning the Manitoba Harvest project of Food Matters Manitoba funded by Heifer International Canada. 1

3 Introduction The Cross Lake Chicken Club is a project of Food Matters Manitoba that enabled seven families in Cross Lake, Manitoba to raise chickens in the summer of While none of the participants had raised chickens before, most were thrilled with the experience of chicken raising and described many benefits from food to exercise to social connections. As a result of this success, most families intend on raising chickens again in 2013 and several new families in Cross Lake are now interested in raising their own chickens. Northern poultry and livestock projects have been started across northern Manitoba to build food skills and self-sufficiency and in response to high food prices. Indeed, the inspiration for the Cross Lake Chicken Club came after one community resident heard about chickens being raised in the Island Lakes communities at a recent Food Matters Manitoba conference and then found interested chicken raisers within the community. This was the first poultry project directly facilitated by Food Matters Manitoba. There is a history of raising livestock in many northern communities, although it has often been generations since this occurred. Cross Lake is no different. Some of the chicken raisers remembered the chickens that their grandparents had raised, and remembered doing chores with the chickens as a young child. There had also been cattle kept in the community, although when missionaries left the community these cattle were removed. Consequently, while there is a history of livestock in Cross Lake, it has likely been decades since there was much livestock in the community. The Cross Lake Chicken Club received funding and in-kind support from several sources. Overall organization support was provided by Food Matters Manitoba. Project funds were provided by Heifer International Canada, the Northern Healthy Foods Initiative, and Manitoba Hydro. In-kind support was provided by Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, Four Arrows Regional Health Authority (Byron Beardy and Leon Simard), and the Cross Lake Community Information Centre. The following document highlights the story of the chickens, benefits perceived by community members, and participant ideas for strengthening the project in It is based on written evaluations submitted by project participants and an evaluation meeting attended by five participating families and several new potential chicken raisers. Additionally, several families provided feedback throughout the implementation of the project. This feedback has also been included in this evaluation. The Story of the Chickens On 5 June 2012, 350 chicks were delivered to Cross Lake, where seven families 2

4 each received fifty chicks, including both meat birds and layers (including roosters). In addition, each family received four 50 lb. bags of chick starter, two heat lamps, water feeders, food feeders, and bedding material and thermometers. All participants ended up building their own fence, a demonstration of the commitment of the chicken raisers to the project. To prepare families to receive their chicks, Myles Hodge, a Farm Production Advisor with Manitoba Agriculture, Food, and Rural Initiatives (MAFRI), visited Cross Lake to conduct workshops on poultry raising and chicken coop construction. Each family received materials to complete a 10 x12 poultry house. Additionally, a user-friendly guide or raising chickens compiled by Val Parker, formerly of Bayline Regional Roundtable, was given to each family. Despite this, the majority of families were not ready to receive their baby chicks when they arrived, although all quickly prepared adequately facilities for the chicks upon their arrival. Despite a chaotic beginning, the chicks thrived and the majority survived to adulthood. Approximately 53% of chicks that arrived in Cross Lake survived for slaughter (slaughtering occurred in August and September) or as laying hens that will be overwintered. Nearly all premature chicken deaths were caused by dogs. Even a single dog incident could wipe out much, or all, of a chicken flock. However, most producers were able to keep their chickens in good health and likely, with more experience, there will be a higher survival rate next year (for example, chicken raisers are better aware of the measures needed to keep out dogs or other intruders). By August, the meat birds had been slaughtered and, in September, the roosters of the laying breed were slaughtered. As described in a following section, participants shared the chickens that they slaughtered with elders and other community members. Three families will maintain their laying hens through the winter of Cross Lake chicken raisers put a huge amount of effort into raising their chickens. One reported spending two to three hours in the coop every other evening cleaning, but said they would also go sit and watch them for the pure enjoyment when they came out of the coop. I loved their antics. Others also reported spending over an hour a day caring for their chickens. One chicken raiser with laying hens said, I started off with 50 and I still have 50. The thing about me killing them, I can t do that. In the evening I ll go up to them and pet them and talk to them. Sometimes I ll spend two hours talking to them. 3

5 In short, the chicken raisers of Cross Lake showed a tremendous commitment to their chickens and to this project, putting in a significant amount of work to ensure the health and well-being of their chickens. Additionally, participants were also eager to learn new ways to support the care they provided for their chickens, asking questions of other members of the community and from resource people that visited the community from MAFRI. This commitment and the knowledge gained is a positive sign of the ability of this project to remain strong in future years. Why did people participate? People had many reasons for participating in the Cross Lake Chicken Club. One talked about how his grandfather had raised chickens when he was young, so raising chickens brings back memories for him. Others said that they had been thinking about raising chickens for some time, but this provided them the opportunity to do so. Participants from D.R. Hamilton School said that they have been talking sustainability and getting kids involved in gardening, but that this gave them a chance to try something new. Benefits Community Building The Cross Lake Chicken Club was able to bring people together, both through the process of raising the chickens and in the ways that meat was distributed. One participant said, I enjoyed my chickens. That s the only time I get visitors around the house. People would come to visit the chickens and see how they were growing. When chicks were delivered to one house, a participant said, we had visitors just to see the chickens and lots of them took pictures because this was something new for everyone and not just our family. Similarly, the teacher who kept the D.R. Hamilton School chickens indicated that students were often coming by to feed the chickens or show them off to their friends. Finally, people also came together for planning meetings about the chickens, shared knowledge with other chicken raisers, and collectively thought through plans for future years of chicken raising. Chicken raisers suggested that even more of this could happen next year, given the collective chicken raising capacity now held in the community. Not only did raising chickens create community, distributing meat did as well. One chicken raiser used the opportunity to get other community members involved. He advertised over the local radio station that people could have a chicken if they were willing to slaughter it themselves. He then trained people how to slaughter a chicken, which they were then able to take home. A third said, it brings us great joy and pleasure to feed our people fruit from the labour of our hands. There were so many more we could ve given to. One participant gave 31 chickens away to elders, friends, and people who had provided them with supplies or meat. They went on to say, I feel the most rewarding part was delivering the chickens to our elders. They were so grateful as they were running low on food as they waited for their old age pension cheques. For them, I would do the work again. They have had hard 4

6 lives hunting and trapping, which is no easy feat, and to bring one day of not worrying about the next meal brought me such pleasure. Learning Opportunities for Youth One of the participants raising chickens was a teacher at D.R. Hamilton School, providing an opportunity to raise awareness amongst youth about chickens, and more generally about where food comes from. In the class that was most involved with the chickens, only a single student had even seen a chicken before the project began, and that had been in a zoo. The chicks were started in the school, giving kids an opportunity to feed and care for them. This also gave young students a chance to be involved with the chickens, and for older students to provide leadership to the younger students as they cared for the chicks. Students continued to show interest in the chickens right through the summer, and were often seen feeding and watering the chickens. The teacher said, the best part of this for me is that it was working with the kids you wouldn t believe the number of kids that are in and out of the backyard. They re coming in and teaching other kids how to feed chickens. The school principal said, all the kids in our school now know a chicken doesn t come from the store. In particular, they were excited about the opportunity to get students with learning disabilities involved with the chickens, saying that for the kids with the learning disabilities...this is the best thing we can do for them. A small example of the enthusiasm for the chickens occurred during the visit at D.R. Hamilton. Students were asked to volunteer to paint the chicken coop and every hand went up almost immediately, demonstrating the connection that these students felt to their chickens. Many of the laying chickens that the school received turned out to be roosters. While in some ways disappointing, this did give students another chance to be involved. The students were shown how to slaughter chickens by their teacher, and then given the opportunity to try it themselves. Their teacher said, it was an AMAZING day! I do a lot of great things with the kids, or at least I try, but so far this chicken project has been the best. Students were not the only youth to engage with chickens. Families talked about how their children were enthusiastic about their chickens. One reported that the best was when we got the baby chicks one of our girls sat by the box just watching the chicks and she would sit there for hours. In short, Cross Lake youth learned a lot from the project whether in school or at home about where food comes from, the responsibility involved in raising animals for food, and practical skills related to preparing and processing food. Supporting Healthy Lifestyles Several participants talked about the health benefits of raising chickens, including both physical and mental health benefits. Raising chickens provided participants with exercise and gave them something to work on and strive for. For 5

7 example, one said that this provided me with extracurricular activities, got me moving around a lot cleaning out the shed two or three times a week it was fun...and I feel healthier! Another participant summed up the health benefits well: on Facebook there s a game called Farmville which I enjoy and play every day. I would just go to work, come home, eat supper, play Farmville and go to sleep. Same routine day after day so I think I was becoming depressed. Now that I have my own real chickens I look forward to coming home to look after them. The same participant indicated that she had lost significant weight since getting chickens. Building Respect Many participants talked about how the chickens helped teach people, particularly young people, about respect. One said, You have to respect an animal that you re going to eat. The kids perceptions really changed very quickly. They thought we were going to be mean to the chickens just because we were going to eat them. There was tremendous hope about the potential of raising chickens to influence people, particularly youth. One chicken raiser talked about how chickens could help local youth. They could learn to love and nurture these helpless creatures, maybe then they wouldn t try to fight and kill each other. Maybe they would learn that we are all unique and we all need love. Maybe they would feel proud to serve their chickens at an annual feast in the fall and the fruit of their labours if they started gardens too. Consequently, food was seen as a way to build respect and provide a sense of purpose to young people. Raising Quality Chickens Participants pointed out that the chickens that they produced tasted very good and were much larger than those for sale in the store. While measurements were not kept of all the Cross Lake chickens, the average bird was likely close to ten pounds dressed. As one person pointed out, two chickens in the store aren t even as big as one of our chickens. Another said that their chickens were so much tastier! They re wonderful! One of the elders who received a gifted chicken commented that they re so good! They are so big they look like turkeys! In short, people who raised chickens were proud of the quality of chicken that they had raised and were proud to be able to share these quality chickens with members of their community. In October the laying birds began producing eggs. One family was producing as many as two dozen eggs per week. Two other families also have laying hens. Building Skills in the Community One participant commented that it changes your way of life. The more you can do on your own the better. The Cross Lake chicken project provided many opportunities for participants to learn new skills and experience new things from caring for young chicks, to building and maintaining chicken coops, to slaughtering and cooking chickens. Since most 6

8 of the participants had no previous knowledge of chickens whatsoever, the entire process was a learning experience. For example, one person talked about being nervous that her chickens were getting sick when they began losing their feathers. She planned to bathe them, but fortunately met another chicken raiser whose chickens were also molting. Participants, though, proved to be quick learners, and with a year of experience are now able to address many issues related to chicken raising. The project benefited from both local and external resources. Donna and Tim Hoeppner served as local organizers and liaised with Food Matters Manitoba. Tim also had experience raising chickens and was able to provide some support to the Cross Lake chicken raisers. As one participant said, Tim was really resourceful and helped us out and Donna made sure everyone s needs were met without them it wouldn t have happened. I really appreciated that. Additionally, other community members with farming backgrounds were identified (including at D.R. Hamilton School) who were able to provide support to chicken raisers. As identified above, local chicken raising expertise has increased significantly during the past year, enabling Cross Lake participants to address some, if not many, of their chicken challenges. Participants were also happy with the advice they received from Food Matters Manitoba and MAFRI staff. Raquel Koenig (FMM), Myles Hodge and Patti Eilers were down to earth and easy to understand. MAFRI staff supported the project with information regarding raising chickens (Myles Hodge) and slaughtering and processing them (Patti Eilers). Community members indicated that they found the resources and advice provided to be very useful. The visits of MAFRI staff also helped support FMM in project implementation, given the long experience of MAFRI staff with raising chickens. Economics It could be argued that the Cross Lake chickens were not economical in The total cost in year one was $52.36 per chick ordered, or $98 per surviving chicken clearly far more than the cost of purchasing a chicken in the store Expenses Chicken houses $12, Chicken feed/supplies $3, Chicks $ Many of these costs, however, were one-time costs. For example, chicken houses were the primary expense, but these have now already been constructed for the seven initial families. Freight costs could also Freight TOTAL $1, $18, be reduced, as experience from the first year will support more efficient ordering and product transport. Additionally, increased use of locally available feed (ie scraps) could somewhat reduce the demand for feed. Based on expenses from year one, the total cost for chicken feed, supplies, and chicks was $4, These expenses will be ongoing as there will need to be new chicks and feed every year. The cost per surviving chicken was a much smaller $24 for feed, supplies, and chicks or, if all birds had survived, would only be $13 per chicken. This is still higher than the cost of raising a chicken in southern Manitoba, and does not include factors such as the maintenance of chicken coops, but this does indicate that the costs are not as astronomical as they might initially appear. 7

9 Furthermore, since the chickens raised by the Cross Lake Chicken Club were significantly bigger than those available in the store, the price is even relatively comparable or cheaper than store bought chicken - on a per pound basis. The price of a roasting chicken was $4.26 per pound in Cross Lake in October At an average weight of eight pounds (and some chickens were larger), it would be possible to raise chickens in Cross Lake for approximately $3 per pound. While this does not include maintenance or unexpected costs (or the risks associated with raising chickens) it does suggest that chicken production on a small scale in Cross Lake is economically feasible. Additionally, these calculations do not include any additional economic benefits that may go unmeasured. Several participants mentioned significant mental and physical health benefits to raising chickens. While it is beyond the scope of this evaluation to measure, even small reductions in various health risks in Cross Lake could have significant economic savings. For example, the average Cross Lake resident spends 1.8 days a year in hospital, and is 3.6 times as likely as an average Manitoban to have diabetes. If the chicken project prevented even a single hospital visit which could cost thousands of dollars - let alone a case of a chronic disease (which could cost thousands of dollars every year), chickens in Cross Lake immediately could become more economical than importing chickens. And finally, it is worth pointing out that while community members who participated in the project were aware of the economic realities of the project, all agreed that the costs were worth the numerous other benefits that people experienced from exercise to community building to learning new skills. In line with the Northern Healthy Foods Initiative long-term sustainability proposals, participants did express openness to covering project costs in the future. As the Chicken Club becomes established and gains experience, it is quite likely that participants could raise chickens for relatively minimal cost. Additionally, while gifting chickens was seen as important, some participants also talked about selling some chickens in future years to cover a portion of their costs. Advice for New Participants Participants were asked what advice they would give to new participants who become chicken raisers next year. The following are their key recommendations for new participants: Need for good fencing to keep out dogs. Dogs were responsible for most premature chicken deaths. Chicken coops require a well-fenced area to keep dogs out. Additionally, the gate should be well maintained and kept locked. This prevents people who are not supposed to be in the coop from going in. For example, there were situations this year where children entered the coop but did not properly close the gate behind them when they left. Raising chickens is a commitment. Chicken raisers pointed out that raising chickens was an important commitment that had to be kept up with every day. You have to be consistent. It has to be routine you can t just sleep in till noon, 8

10 one said. Participants agreed that there was an initial shock as they realized how much work raising chickens is. However, the chicken raisers indicated that the commitment was worth it. As one participant said, raising chickens is a lot of work and constant work. The family really liked the chickens though and we would like to get involved again. Don t name your chickens. Some participants indicated that they had a very hard time slaughtering their chickens as they grew attached to them. One participant commented that, these are food. Can we name them? No. Unless you name them chicken soup, chicken fingers...because they re food. Many participants found it difficult to slaughter their chickens. Save kitchen scraps to feed chickens. All participants talked about how they saved scraps from their kitchen to feed their chickens. This somewhat reduced the amount of feed that had to be provided. Procured food, however, is still required to maintain a healthy chicken flock. Proposed Improvements The following improvements address the key challenges faced by the Cross Lake Chicken Club in its first year. Since it was the first year of the project, and Food Matters Manitoba s first poultry project, these provide excellent learnings that are applicable not only in Cross Lake, but also in other northern communities. Consequently, this experience in Cross Lake will inform the work of Food Matters Manitoba in Cross Lake and other communities for years to come. 1. Chickens should be sexed One frustration expressed by chicken raisers with laying birds was that they included both roosters and hens. In one circumstance, 17 of 25 layers were roosters, leaving very few laying hens. It was recommended that sexed birds be purchased next year to avoid this from happening. Unsexed birds were purchased this year because they cost less than sexed birds. While the cost is slightly higher, this could ensure that all laying birds were hens. 2. Earlier preparation for participating families One challenge that was faced this year was that participating families had not prepared the facilities to receive their chicks in time. Families suggested that people could make coops in fall rather than waiting for spring so that they are ready in advance of receiving chicks. 3. Develop a supply list The initial distribution of supplies was disorganized and not all families ended up receiving the same equipment. To mitigate this problem, participants suggested developing a supply list and ensuring that participants received each of the items on that list. 4. Feed distribution and purchasing Participants were interested in exploring less expensive options for feed, including connecting directly with farmers or ordering ahead of time and then taking delivery of the feed in spring. Pre-ordered feed would reduce organizational 9

11 hassle to order and ship feed throughout the summer. Ongoing ordering throughout the summer was a significant challenge this year, as it often had to happen quickly and at great expense, particularly for freight. Participants also talked about a variety of ways to reduce feed waste, including using the feeder rather than throwing food on the floor. Finally, ideas were developed for using local kitchen scraps to replace some of the chicken feed requirements. Some were also interested in exploring options for purchasing organic chicken feed. 5. Basic requirements to raise chickens Some discussion was held about requirements for raising chickens. For example, it was suggested that people should get second chances if they are not raising chickens properly, but that failure to address problems in chicken raising (adequate feeding and watering, maintenance of facilities, etc) should result in the equipment being transferred to a new chicken raiser. 6. New participants should start with meat birds Participants agreed new participants in future years should start with meat birds rather than layers. Rather than a longterm commitment, people will be able to have birds for two to three months and get used to what is required for caring for the birds. After that, if people are interested in having layers, they would have had experience working with chickens already. 7. Clarity between meat birds and layers In the confusion of the initial bird delivery layers and meat birds were confused. As a result, some people who requested layers only had meat birds. Next year, a clearer distinction should be made between meat birds and layers so that people get the birds that they want. Interestingly, most participants are requesting meat birds for next year, including people who had wished they had received laying birds in the first year. 8. Cross Lake Chicken Club should meet more often One of the suggestions made by chicken raisers was that they could meet as a group more often to share expertise and stories. This would enable the Chicken Club to address some issues in-house without relying on external supports and build the group s capacity to address chicken-related issues locally. Growing in the Future The Cross Lake Chicken Club is passionate about raising chickens. Only a few months ago, none had experience raising chickens. Now, people are lonely now that their chickens are gone, and are excited for next year. Five of the seven participating families indicated at the meeting that they plan to raise chickens again next year (the other two families did not attend the meeting). In addition, several new participants said that they would be interested in raising chickens in In total, interest was expressed in 550 birds, an increase of 200 from the number of birds provided in 2012! There is a growing interest in chickens in Cross Lake an interest that can support healthy lifestyles, build community, teach new skills, and feed people excellent food raised in northern Manitoba. 10

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