We have been raising chickens for over 20 years in a small country town in North Central Washington, near the Canadian border. In a peaceful, orchard valley below the alpine region of the Northern Cascade Mountain range, where the mighty Columbia river is a stones throw from the property boundary. After retiring in 2011, it allowed us more time to devote to the farm and the chicken raising efforts
. With encouragement from my sister and a little seed money, 'Just Fowling Around' was hatched. Over the years I had raised barnyard flocks of different dual purpose varieties, selling meat and eggs to the local clients. After some deliberation and research conducted by a relentless sister, that was completely enthralled with the fanciful plumage and tapestry of coloration in the "rare" chicken breeds, I ordered my first rare chicken variety, early in 2012. I now have a nice patchwork of color, plumage, personality and purpose among some of the rarest breeds available to the American market. Some breeds so rare, that there are fewer than one hundred still in existence, some fewer than one thousand. Many endangered, some recovering through conservation efforts. The breeds span the globe, coming from small villages where the flocks are isolated landraces, never having been developed for more than local markets. Gold Laced Wyondottes, followed closely by the Silver Laced Wyandottes, was the beginning of incorporating the rare and endangered species to the more common flocks I had been raising. Since that time, Salmon Faverolles, Blue Andalusians, Buff Orpingtons, Cuckoo Marans, Speckled Sussex, Light Brahmas, Columbian Wyandottes, Icelandics, Pure Ameracauna, Swedish Flower Hens, Blue Isbars, Blue Wyandottes, Blue and Black copper Marans, Lavender Orpingtons, Breda, and Basque hens, have been almost simultaneously added. For weeks, incubators and brooders were teeming with eggs and fresh hatches of a colorful array of fluff. With breeds being added at a near fever pitch, it was necessary to scramble to accommodate the varieties of upcoming chicks and flocks. Through a lot of hard work and construction efforts; coops, pens, nesting areas were built to house the rare species. Separating the barnies and Easter Eggers from the rarest of rare breeds, allowing all plenty of space for nesting, roosting, foraging and playing. All the breeds are allowed to forage freely on the wildflower and w**d seeds during the day, and provided with fruit and vegetables from garden and orchard bounty, making them healthier and happier flocks. Penned in at night to roost and protected from the predatory, Eagles, Night owls, Coyotes, Raccoons and Weasels that co-exist in the area. Our flocks are raised as dual purpose birds, meat and eggs for the local community, fertile eggs for local and national community, and live chicks for backyard flocks, conservation efforts, elementary and home schooling, FFA and 4 H projects and for exhibition purposes. We thank our local clientele as well as our national customer base for making 'Just Fowling Around' a success, allowing us to share our enthusiasm and conservation efforts with a broad customer base.
