Poultry Seminar in Kamloops....

I went to a poultry seminar in Kamloops today at a Farm supplier...Maybe my expectations were misplaced...I thought it would pertain more to a small scale farm..Someone like myself. The presenter certainly new his stuff but for more commercial operations...I wasn't to keen on asking question as I thought they would be out of place. I would have rather talked to the people in attendence! Ah well...it was free and I did learn some things.

I would have enjoyed talking to you there, although we couldn't stay for the whole presentation. Next time we need to exchange "I'm wearing a pink dress, what are you wearing?" Well maybe neither of those would be wearing a pink dress, but you get the idea. Actually we both wished that the morning wasn't so early and that we had worn our winter boots.

My wife decided to join me and we have shared some thoughts today and some concerns. It was definitely geared to factory farming. We both had a problem with the statement that those of us with money will eat and those without money will get the leftovers. This is scary when you consider that 70% of the poultry produced is now in the hands of two companies.

I thought that his statements on what shouldn't be fed to chickens and what should be were in conflict. Maybe it was a case of you should only use feed from a commercial feed mill and not unprocessed grains like corn, wheat, canola, etc.

I learned some things as well. The egg production and chicken anatomy were interesting. I'm betting most if not the entire audience were small farmers listening to a presentation for commercial farmers. Do not hesitate to pose your questions on the forum.

Afterwards...I approached Mary Ellen who I guess has been doing her thing there for many years and I asked her how come the presenter was talking mostly about commercial farming..aren't the people here more smaller farms? She seemed alittle put out about that...so I changed the subject. I'm assuming and correct if I'm wrong. it's all about selling their products...namely the fed? What if you intend to grass fed the chickens... I guess chickens can't live on grass alone...they need grains, calcium...grits, correct? And I don't want to medicate...from what I've read. With a smaller operation and free range..they are alot less suseptible to disiese?

I figured that they were looking to capture the layer and the meat markets even of the small farms with terminal hybrids- layers like Isabrowns and meat chickens like Cornish Giants. I believe I saw a Miller catalogue somewhere in the presenter's material. The other area is the feeds and equipment. Chickens need a balanced diet including seeds, and fodder. If they are free ranging they will not need grit. Hens should still have oyster shells. You are correct about diseases.

Ya, I bet that WAS disappointing. You would do well to just hang around here and read and learn, such a wealth of information, from us small time chicken people and others that have had a lifetime of raising fowl, whatever species it is. Multitudes of information, there for the reading, and asking any question you want, you will always have answers, powerful stuff here and there and everywhere, smiling. Chickens do not get much nutrition from grass alone, remember that. It is very good for them, but very low in nutritional value. They really need a good quality food, with lots of vitamins and minerals, and as Rosewood says, calcium, however the need is supplied -- usually oyster shell. The chicken requires lots of calcium to make those shells that cover the innards of an egg, that is what makes good egg coverings. When free ranging the birds will find so much to eat and nibble on, this is good and makes some wonderful eggs. Hang around, you have much to learn, as we all do, and experience of others is a most valuable learning tool. With that, have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

What brand of food do you supply your chickens...I guess you buy it at somewhere like Agri Supplies etc...I guess it bugs me that a person has to go buy these things in order to make our chickens healthy...what did they do in the old days,when chickens were chickens...(probably grew it themselves I guess) I guess I need to take off my rose colored glasses and see it for what it is...It irkes me to no end to give money to these big corporations..so much for the self reliance..Is there someone local to the Kamloops area (small business) who makes nice natural feed?

We buy Sure Crop from our local feed store. They are a company from Cythia's town. In days gone by grain was grown on many farms here, but not any more. There are some farms still into growing grain in the Okanagan and it seems to me there is at least one that supplies organic feeds. We don't mind supporting the local feed store by buying from them and bought from Agri Supplies when we lived east of Kamloops.

I'm going to go to Agri on Monday...also, I'm planning on tilling and planting grass seed so I need to go there and ask questions and purchase seeds pronto to have it rooted when the coops are done..it was suggested, I'll need a ground cover first...(Mary Ellen from yesterday). So many thing to do...so little time!

Just keep in mind chickens do not survive on grains alone. They do have fairly complex nutritional needs.
Do some google searching, you will find it very interesting.