Raising Backyard Chickens Re-Skilling Class a Success
Learning about raising and caring for chickens was the topic of the July 7th re-skilling class at Beth Tillery’s farm in McKee. Beth raises meat chickens, as well as layers for egg production. The photo shows two white chickens (for meat) and one layer who “visits regularly from the farm next door.”
Class participants learned about raising chickens from one-day old to the required 6 months before they start laying. Feed, nutrition, habitat for happy chickens, and how to determine if an egg is fresh or “old” were topics of discussion.
When asked about diseases for chickens, Beth said in all her years of raising chickens she had “maybe” 3 chickens that had some kind of problem. “Chickens are very smart. People who think chickens are dumb don’t know anything about them! They will let you know instantly if there is something the matter with them. And the rooster will let you know if there is a hawk within 5 miles of the hens. He senses the hawk a long time before a human can see it.”
Three couples registered for the class and all plan to get chickens for their yard. One couple lives outside the Berea city limits and another couple lives in Wilmore, so there will be no issues of city ordinances prohibiting chicken ownership. The other couple resides in Berea and are hoping the city council will adopt an updated ordinance allowing 6 hens in a backyard area.
We thank everyone who attended this interesting class.
For information on other re-skilling classes, please click HERE.
