Lucia, and Koko Capece, 5 and 3, tell me with ease the names of all 19 of their backyard chickens. They like the “Harry Potter” names, and “Lost” characters too. Sirius is all black, Hermione has a bushy, feathery plum. Sawyer is a very handsome bird. The Capece family, who live in West Tisbury, raise their chickens for laying, (and occasionally blue-ribbon winning at the fair).
“I love the eggs, and letting Lucia and Koko see the value of eggs hatching. The girls and the chickens grow up together,” Heather Capece says. In the summer they sell extra eggs from a cooler on the West Tisbury- Edgartown Road for $4 a dozen. “The egg money goes to the chicken’s food and if I have anything extra I’ll put it in Lucia and Koko’s bank accounts. It’s not like I make a lot out of it. In the winter I give eggs away to people whose money is tight.”
This is a family that raises chickens, not for profit, but for family values, and of course, for the eggs. Recently, there has been a growing interest in local free-range chickens and eggs. For any backyard free-range chicken novice curious to jump on the sustainable-food-bandwagon, (or for the experienced, you may just learn something new) here is your guide.
Raising local is easy! A step-by-step process for raising backyard birds:
According to “Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens” the first step you must take is to choose what chicken breed suits you and your family. You could get a laying breed (for eggs), dual purpose breed (for laying and meat), a meat breed, or an ornamental breed. The show chickens have brilliant feathers, which are ideal for fly-fishing lures. Rebecca Gilbert, of Native Earth Teaching Farm in Chilmark, advises to get chickens that can survive the harsh winters and hot summers of the Vineyard. Rhode Island Reds and other New England breeds have small low combs (feathers close to the body) and therefore are heartier.
Next you must decide if you want chicks, started birds, or mature chickens. Chicks will take the most effort to raise, but you and your family will have the triumphant experience of raising the chickens. Started hens (pullets) will lay sooner, and you’ll have the advantage of knowing what sex the chickens are (which is optional when ordering chicks), while mature birds are best for show, but are not productive layers. The older a chicken becomes the tougher the meat gets, and the hens stop laying regularly. People occasionally buy older birds to cook a robust chicken broth, with a deep flavor, often discarding the meat.
The third step is to decide on your flock size. You can expect roughly two eggs a day for every three hens. You can buy chicks from Murray McMurray or Cackle online if you want to start with 25 or more. If you wanted a smaller quantity, Native Earth Teaching Farm (NETF) will include your order with theirs when they order through the mail, and SBS The Grain Store has all the tools, books, coops, feed, fencing, heat lamps, and even chicks to get you started. The chicks (all female, large brown egg layers) arrive at the beginning of April and are available throughout the month. Pullets arrive at the end of April.
The best time to raise chicks is in March and April (although most of the farmers suggested June on the Island), when the weather is warmer, although it is still cool enough to discourage disease. The chicks will begin to lay in the fall and throughout the winter if you put an artificial light in their coop to mimic the sunlight of the summer.
“Be the best farmer you can be”
Maintaining a healthy environment for your chickens deters disease, keeps the eggs clean, and happier, stress-free chickens are more productive. Cleaning the coop, making sure it is dry and warm, and replacing the food and water supply is important for healthy chickens.
The chicken coop should be easy to clean, with a sanitary feed and water station. It must have adequate space for all your birds, ventilation but draft-free, and plenty of light, natural and artificial. A raised chicken coop deters other animals from climbing into the coop. If building your own coop is too daunting a task, you can find different sizes and styles at SBS The Grain Store.
NETF and Christiantown Farm have range shelters — trees, shrubs, even a truck cab for their free-range chickens to take shelter in the field from hawks, or perhaps just to get out of the afternoon sun.
If your chickens are free-range, you must take certain precautions — perhaps only letting them out while you are home so you keep an eye on them. Wandering into the neighbor’s yard or onto busy roads are daily scares. It is vital the chickens are herded back into their pen when it gets dark out or a cunning predator will catch on very quickly if the chickens are out later one night. Any fencing you have must be secure so predators cannot get to your chickens.
Each farmer I spoke to cited a different predator as the bane of their existence — hawks are one, rats are another, raccoons, skunks, and domestic dogs. There are precautions you can take against these animals but tragedy will strike eventually. “It’s almost like they are having a fire drill,” says Sue Hopkins of Christiantown Farm. “When there is a sighting of trouble the roosters start yelling and screaming, and the hens run for cover.” Just remember that raising chickens is a learning process, and nothing goes according to plan.
Education and local Support:
This Island is filled with resources for starting your chicken flock. The IGI Poultry Program has held Poultry Days in the past, which were open educational seminars. Jefferson Munroe, of The Good Farm in Vineyard Haven, enthusiastically describes a “network of farmers happy to mentor,” if anyone is anxious or unsure of the task required to raise chickens (just email him at thegoodfarmmv@gmail.com).
If any backyard farmers are interested in the Mobile Poultry Processing Trailer, it is available for small quantities of chickens. The trailer will be driven to your farm and a crew will process your chickens safely and humanely. Mr. Munroe is available for any questions regarding the trailer as well.
The FARM Institute (TFI) has educational programs throughout the year for children and young adults. They are taught about all aspects of a farm, including chickens and eggs, while developing skills such as teamwork and commitment to the community.
NETF is open on Wednesdays in the winter from 10 am to 12 noon and in the summer on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10 am to 6 pm. Anyone can stop by during those hours to learn rural farm skills, or schedule an appointment. NETF also has a small library of books on raising chickens.
Our local libraries have recognized the local chicken craze and provide very helpful books such as “Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens” by Gail Damerow, “Keeping Chickens” by Ashley English, and “Barnyard in your Backyard” edited by Gail Damerow. On social networking sites such as Twitter, you can follow the Chicken Vet (@chickenvet) and the Chicken Whisperer (@backyardpoultry). You can also find up-to-date chicken news at Mother Earth News or from Robert Plamondon’s Poultry Pages.
Which came first – the chicken or the egg?
“Our local schools are working with Island Grown Initiative and using local eggs as a launching point to educate about why local food is tastier, better for us, our community and environment,” describes Noli Taylor, Island Grown Schools coordinator.
The students visit farms such as NETF, Morning Glory, North Tabor Farm and TFI, all of which have chickens. They also compare the difference between store-bought off-Island eggs, and local eggs. Local eggs have thicker shells, and richer, orange-color yolks. They talk about why that is: free-range local chickens like to eat bugs, grass, and food that have more nutrients, and deeper pigment.
Free-range chickens have the advantage to choose their food throughout the day, so they are finding vitamins their bodies need. “You can pretty much be sure that eggs that taste better have more vitamins than eggs that don’t,” says, Ms. Gilbert.
If you don’t have the opportunity to allow your chickens to be free-range, feeding them leftover vegetable scraps gives them added nutrition and adds flavor to the eggs.
For the entrepreneur:
More and more stores and restaurants are looking to sell local eggs, and sometimes it’s hard to meet the demands. If you have eggs you would like to sell, you can set up a cooler and a money jar, or inquire at restaurants and grocers if you have a steady supply of eggs you’d like to sell. Legally, eggs in transit to stores or restaurants need to be stored in temperatures between 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Shoppers can find local eggs at farms, farm stands and farmers markets. You can also buy local eggs at Cronig’s Market. Edible Vineyard (ediblevineyard.com) is a good resource for finding where to buy local eggs. You can search eggs in the database and pull up all the local farms and grocers that sell them. You can also download a map of farms on the Vineyard so you don’t get lost down a long dirt road.
Ms. Berlow works with the community to raise awareness about sustainable, local foods, “My goal has always been as a housewife and a mother to have good food to feed my family. Eggs are a good start for a tight budget because a dollar can go a long way and it supports our local farmers.”
Freelance writer Anna Ward, of Vineyard Haven, is a 2004 graduate of the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School and a 2008 graduate of Marymount Manhattan College.
