Stelle Chicken Co-op

In the summer of 2006, several Stelle residents began talking about how we might use some of our local resources to achieve real sustainability. CSC owns wonderful property, just to the west of town, which includes an orchard, a pond, a very large garden, and the skeletons of two old greenhouses. There is much interest here in Stelle for learning about and striving to implement aspects of Permaculture: “permanent agriculture”, which simply means mimicking nature’s working model, where there is no waste and everything supports everything else.

The chicks at about 3 weeks of age in the
resurrected greenhouse.

It became clear that to close the gap between what we have been doing and real sustainability, we need to add animals to the equation. Animals not only provide fertilizer for the plants, they are fed by the plants we grow and by the insects that feed on our plants. Animals close the loop. Suddenly, there is no waste; in fact, waste equals food. One person in the conversation reported that he had inspected the two greenhouses and thought he could repair and secure the smaller one sufficiently to house a flock of chickens, and at minimal cost. That idea sparked a flood of research and activity, and in early October, we took delivery of 106 male chicks. We decided that we would start with males, which would grow to processing weight in a mere six weeks. This experiment would show us whether we could keep them healthy and safe from predators, then process them before winter arrived. The small greenhouse was enclosed by chicken wire, but was not secure from the weather, so our experiment needed to be of short duration.

The Luethy family - Ron was the primary initiator of the chicken co-op and has been constructing chicken tractors (moveable pens) for the 2007 flock.

Our venture into animal husbandry was a rousing success. On November 29, members of the chicken co-op processed 98 chickens, right before winter set in. Even with many hands and the aid of a Whiz-Bang Chicken Plucker constructed by Ron Luethy, it was a very long day. Through the winter, though, we have enjoyed our tasty, organic, locally-produced meat, and we are actively planning our next venture.

Carroll English on chicken
processing day.

For spring 2007 we want to raise both layers and broilers. To keep layers laying, we’ll need to provide added light during winter, as well as a weather-protected area, so more work will need to be done on the old greenhouse to make it cozy.

We are also constructing chicken tractors, so that the animals can be moved around the property to fertilize the ground, work the soil, and get rid of pests. Supplementing their diet in this way also cuts down on the cost of their feed, so they’ll earn their keep in various ways. We’ve also been told that, with a leg-leash, we can move individual birds around the garden to eat the bugs. I hope they like Japanese beetles!

Chicks as they arrive in the mail from the hatchery.

Soon, we’ll be enjoying fresh organic eggs and will periodically process birds for meat. It is our goal to responsibly use the resources we have at hand to produce, as much as possible, the things we need, to buy locally what we can’t produce ourselves, and to be able to look into the faces of those who provide our food, so we can know that we are feeding ourselves and our families healthy, organically-grown, fresh, nutritious food.