A Fowl Decision

Last year the Celtic Elk Campground hosted a fall SAASE event. SAASE being a Small Animal and Agricultural Symposium and Exchange. This little faire provides an opportunity for small hobby farmers to gather, exchange small animals, plants and agricultural products, network and share their wealth of knowledge in a rural setting.

In prepping to attend the local SAASE faire we wanted to focus on displaying a variety of small farm animals for consideration and make a good impression on behalf of my little hobby farm Celtic Mist Meadows. In addition to the Jacob Sheep, goats, and rabbits, we wanted to provide a supply of chicks for display. To accomplish this without minimizing our current little flock, we placed an order from a relatively well-known chicken farm for a supply of chicks. This would be the first time we went to a formal

chicken supply company for chickens instead of picking up poultry from our local private sellers. We did not choose to order a specific breed of chick but to order the overrun of chicks from the supplier. If you are not familiar with an overrun of chicks, it is basically the leftover chicks the supplier has remaining in stock after filling and shipping off all the breed specific chickens ordered.

Once our order arrived, we sorted out the little fluff balls into groups of chicks to barter away and a few to keep for the farm. As happenstance would have it, five of the little puff balls were evolving to display a unique purple color of feather, dark red wattles, and lightly feathered feet. Taking a second look at the order sheet and conferring with the supplier it turns out we had five little Blue Cuckoo Marans in our midst. Even better and beating all odds, once the chicks matured further nature would reveal we had a little micro flock of four hens and one rooster!

At the urging of a friend, I have separated out this little flock of Blue Cuckoo Marans and have entered the realm of being a breeder of a pure chicken breed. We will all find out together how well this little chicken venture develops!