Camping with Dogs, and New Issue of Backyard Poultry
I had the opportunity to stay in a bed and breakfast in Hermann this weekend and took off "camping" with my two working Border Collies and my Scottish Deerhound/Borzoi cross, Gulliver. We had a ball with David on the Katy Trail and playing lazily in town.
I am sad to hear that I missed a very well-attended chicken lecture by Bill Ruppert. Did any of you readers go? Apparently there were around 80 people there, I would love to hear from any of you who went. Are you chicken owners? Chicken owner wanna-bes? How did you hear of the lecture?
I got home to a fun surprise in the mail today - the newest issue of Backyard Poultry. This is one of the most popular publications of its kind and I have every issue since it was put back into publication several years ago. If you don't subscribe yet, this is a must-read (or a "must borrow" - a friend of mine has my several years' worth of a collection right now). I do know that the Kirkwood library has just agreed to carry it, in case you have time to browse there.
It is not easily available at news stands so if you would like to subscribe, here is the addy: www.backyardpoultrymag.com. List price is $4.99, a one year subscription is $21.00 and a two year subscription is $35.00. It is published 6 times a year. I highly recommend this magazine, I never can put mine down!
Happy reading,
Dorene
Mark Cockson
1:21 pm on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Hello, Dorene:
There were actually 95 persons at Bill Ruppert's lecture (I counted). Only 20 were from Richmond Heights and the rest hailed from many different zip codes like Ballwin, Brentwood, and Maryland Heights. Bill's talk and slide show was VERY informative as was his list of resources. Four young authors from Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School were there selling the book they penned on "Chickenology". I hope that The Friends of Richmond Heights continues to co-sponsor green initiatives like this one!
regards,
Mark Cockson (chicken-raising-wannabe, but lives in an apartment)
Dorene Olson
10:02 am on Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Hi Mark:
I am still new to all of this, and am only just realizing that I can see/get/reply to responses to me! (Duh).
So, I am sorry that I never replied to you, and am hoping that you are still reading, because I was hoping that you could provide us with contact infor for the young "Chickenology" people. I would love to buy a copy of their book. I just got a brand new turkey book from the UK yesterday, I can't put it down.
As to apartment chickens ... there is a list that I am on called housechickens, and I do have 2 that live primarily indoors, but I really don't condone it unless you can provide for their innate needs, primarily foraging and what I call "scootching" - the scratching and looking for things on the ground that they love to do. I provide mine with baby wading pools filled with dirt so that they can scootch and dust bathe - and they get plenty of supervised outdoor time with shelters in their pen so that they can choose to play in or out of the weather. I am also a huge, huge huge advocate of environmental enrichment, so I have lots of puzzle food toys and obstacle courses to play on, etc. So, what I am babbling on about - is that an apartment chicken is not out of the option field - but if you had your heart set, it can be done. I will write a post about that next,
Best of clucks (tee hee) - Dorene