Posted in Backyard Chickens, Real Time Farms blog on August 15, 2011
A year ago this month, there was a national egg recall. You would think more communities would be welcoming the chicken to backyards as a result. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case – many cities are still mired in debatessimilar to what happened in Grand Rapids, MI last August. The egg recall [...]
Posted in AnnArbor.com, Farm to Fork, Farmers Markets, Oh Say Can You CSA! on March 3, 2011
The Homegrown Local Food Summit celebrated its third year with over 300 people at Washtenaw Community College on March 1st. The sun drenched lobby shone down on the information booths and tables groaning under the bounty of donated food. Rachel Chadderdon, of Double Up Food Bucks, introduced the day’s event as a way “to bring [...]
Posted in AnnArbor.com, Backyard Chickens on February 18, 2011
I returned Wednesday to Ann Arbor from a week away. I left town with snowdrifts and nary a sight of grass or earth anywhere. I return to puddles, calcifying stalagmites of gray snow forms and soil once again visible in our back garden. The soft breeze and the smell of warming earth enveloped me on [...]
Posted in Backyard Chickens, Farm to Fork, Growing Goodies, Watch & Listen on January 7, 2011
(Note: This article contains very vivid descriptions of chicken slaughter.) According to Human Rights Watch, the average speed of dead poultry moving past the inspectors in a slaughtering plant is 70 per minute. That means in the time it took you to read this last sentence you would have been expected to examine six birds [...]
Posted in AnnArbor.com, Backyard Chickens, Farm to Fork, Health, Watch & Listen on November 29, 2010
(In the video you can see the difference between a molting Buff Orpington and one with full plumage.) The chickens have been part of our lives for 17 months now. The patina of the unknown had faded into a routine. Thank goodness for Mother Nature. Just when I thought all was staid, she sends the [...]
Posted in AnnArbor.com, Backyard Chickens on September 1, 2010
On Aug. 10, Grand Rapids City Commission voted down an ordinance for residents to be able to keep backyard chickens. On Aug. 13, Wright County Egg Farm of Galt, Iowa, issued a voluntary recall of eggs due to reports of sickness from salmonella poisoning. According to the egg reporting of Juliana Keeping, the national egg [...]
