Montana Heritage Poultry Coalition

HENHOUSE Coaching Network

South Central Montana Coaching Clinic

Are you interested in learning how to breed, incubate and grow your own flock of heritage poultry? A growing group of farmers are networking together to develop a Montana Heritage Poultry Coalition. You can join in on the excitement.

We are excited to provide these coaching clinics for education for small local, sustainable poultry farmers throughout Montana. This is the advanced track for those looking to go to the next step of sustainably raising their very own poultry. This will be a gathering of training, coaching and networking.

 Topics Include:

• Breeding for Preservation: The key to preserving standard bred poultry is to get back to the fundamentals of breeding. There are very few left in North America who are maintaining breeding flocks of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. In this session you will learn the basics of genetics, breeding and a strategy for preserving many breeds that are disappearing quickly. 
•  The Art of Incubation: Wouldn’t it be great to no longer be dependent on buying your baby chicks from the large, commercial hatcheries? Come and learn about natural and artificial incubation. Learn the journey of hatching your own little babies on your very own small farm.   
• Care of Baby Chicks & Poults: In this session you will learn the important tips for raising your baby chicks. Chicks, ducklings, goslings or poults need very specific care for a successful beginning.  
• Secrets to Budgeting & Marketing your Poultry Products: In this final session, we will look at what it really takes to make a profit on your small poultry farm. Secrets to marketing and selling your products. You will learn some great tips.

Times & Location:

Red Lodge, Montana – Monday, May 14^th 2012

10:00am – 5:00pm

Happy-Go-Lucky Farm (Nicole Barlow)

60 Two Mile Bridge Road

Red Lodge, Montana 59068

 

Cost and registration:

Registration: $35.00 by May 7th

After May 7th (and at the door) $45.00

 

To register, contact Nicole Barlow at 406-446-3645, or email: nicole.barlow.5@gmail.com

Mail payment to Nicole Barlow, P.O. Box 2269 Red Lodge MT 59068.

 

Upcoming Events

Magic City Hens and Sunny the SuperChicken will be at ZooMontana’s Earth Day celebration on 4/22/12! This is a Sunday afternoon event. We are thrilled to be able to provide visitors to our booth starter packets of heirloom vegetable seed donated by Baker Creek Heirloom Seed (www.RareSeeds.com)! It’s all about Urban Food production! Get Growing, Billings!

Magic City Hens will be at Shiptons Big R west end location (2600 Gabel Road) on Saturday, May 5. Members will be teaching “mini classes” on urban hen care, answering questions, and talkin’ hen. We’d love to see you there!

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Chickens 101!

This coming Saturday, March 31 from 1-3PM, Magic City Hens will again present “Chickens 101″. Selection, care, winter concerns, feeding, and eggs-pectations are all covered in an interesting, informative way.

This 2 hour class is being held this month at Harvest Church LOCKWOOD campus.

The class is $15/person or $20/family. Please RSVP to TJ at MagicCityHens@hotmail.com or 371-5161.

Chick TV!

Chick TV this week! http://www.comm7tv.com/
March 27 6PM
March 28 noon
March 29 4PM
March 30 6:30PM

Carol Braaten and TJ Wierenga join Community 7 Executive Director Lynne Turner Fitzgerald in a 30 minute program about urban hens in Billings.

It’s All About Urban Food Production

The theme of our entry in the Billings St Patrick’s Day Parade this year is “Chicken of the Seeds”… it’s all about urban food production! Whether it’s a micro-flock of urban hens or a garden of any size, we are here to encourage people to be a little more sustainable and self-sufficient, get outside and enjoy our beautiful state while growing some of our own food.

We are passing out non-GMO, open-pollinated, heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.RareSeeds.com) as well as healthy, delicious microgreen seeds from www.GrowingMicrogreens.com! We encourage people to look into urban hens (for current issues, see http://BillingsBackyardHens.wordpress.com) for delicious, nutritious backyard eggs. You can grow in a sunny window, a container on the porch, a backyard garden, or one of the community gardens in town… any way you do it, we want to get people excited to get out there, and GET GROWING, BILLINGS!

Science Expo 2012

Did you know that Magic City Hens is sponsoring an award with the Billings Clinic Science Expo, held this year on March 23-24, 2012?

http://www.billingsclinic.com/body.cfm?id=158

The award is for “Best Use of Eggs” for grades 1-3. BEST WISHES to all participants!

 

Nice Thank You!

Tags: playapalooza, western heritage center

Spring Schedule

Magic City Hens upcoming schedule:
Saturday, 3/17/12 11AM St Patrick’s Day Parade downtown – passing out seeds instead of candy! (Wonderful heirloom vegetable and herb seeds from Baker Creek Seeds – www.RareSeeds.com)
Friday & Saturday 3/23-24/12 Science Fair – sponsoring an experiment/prize
Saturday 3/31/12 1-3PM Chickens 101 class. Held at Harvest Church Lockwood campus, this class is $15 for an individu…al or $20 for a family. Fun & informative!
Saturday 4/14/12 10AM – noon Chickens 101 class at Harvest Lockwood.
Sunday 4/22/12 early afternoon – Party for the Planet at ZooMontana (booth).
Saturday 4/28/12 10AM – noon Chickens 101 class at Harvest Lockwood.

Contact Tj at MagicCityHens@hotmail.com for more information or to RSVP for any of these events! Feel free to invite friends & family… the more, the cheerier! (“>

St Patrick’s Day Parade!

Upcoming! Saturday, March 17, 2012 marks the annual St Patrick’s Day Celebration in downtown Billings. This year, Magic City Hens will be walking and distributing vegetable seeds and micro-green seeds (instead of candy) to help end hunger in the Billings area. It’s a small way to help empower people to grow their own food. Micro-greens are beneficial in that they are super easy, super fast, and can be grown in a sunny windowsill – no tilling needed!

If you would like to donate to Magic City Hens to help pay for the parade entry fee or seed supplies, please contact TJ at 406-371-5161 or MagicCityHens@hotmail.com. We are a non-profit 501(c)3.

If you would like to walk with us, please likewise contact us right away! Adults and children are welcome. Join the Parade!!

“Like” us on Facebook!

Please note, you can access our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MagicCityHens.

We welcome you to join the chicken education movement!