When I read Barbara Kingslover's book
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I was completely drawn to the story of Lily, the 9 year old girl who very efficiently ran a business raising chickens and selling eggs. Little did I know that we have our own story so close to home. My recent visit to Hannah's Hen House was an introduction to the world of a dedicated and hard working pre-teen entrepreneur.
As I learned from Hannah's 4-H speech, "
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?", presented to me from the middle of her kitchen, the business began with a crate of 75 chicks that had literally missed the truck. In the absence of a hen house in the cold March temperatures, these chicks found a temporary home in the basement of the Michell ranch house. Fortunately, Hannah and her dad are both handy carpenters, and they were able to transform an out building into a comfy home for these chicks. By mid-July they had their first egg for breakfast. In Hannah's words...it was
DIVINE.
Today Hannah has more than 45 chickens and has expanded beyond the standard brown and reds we're used to seeing. Her other chickens, some of which will be shown this week at the Vernon Winter Carnvial, have fancy names to match their interesting looks: Chester, Funky, Beauty (trophy winner), Greya, and Spots to list a few.
Raising these animals requires a lot of research, resourcefulness, and knowledge. Even the vocabulary -- names of the different breeds, talk about
getting broody and which ones prove to be great
settlers -- is quite different from what Hannah's friends are used to hearing.
The chickens all seem very content in the comfortable beds Hannah built with her dad. One coop is the now refurbished Stake Lake ski hut, freshly painted and customized for her specialty chickens. It's so comfortable even Polly the pet rabbit has moved in! And of course they all roam freely when the temperatures permit.
Over time Hannah has learned a lot about what to feed her chickens to produce excellent quality eggs. They have a balanced diet of ground flax for omega 3, and oyster shells to make their shells hard. Also, by experimenting with a variety of scraps from the kitchen, she has learned that onions and citrus don't go over very well.
In fact, Hannah is considered a local expert and has even been invited to speak to university students in Thompson Rivers University Natural Resource Management program.
Of course there's the business side of raising chickens. Hannah keeps very careful records to ensure she has enough eggs for her regular customers, which includes her teacher, the bus driver, and friends. Until recently, even her dad wasn't allowed to eat eggs but now he is allowed 2 per day, but not until he puts in his time gathering eggs in the morning!
Although the winter months are considered slow season for egg production, Hannah welcomes new customers, and will gladly take your empty egg cartons and kitchen scraps for her chickens.
Are you interested in purchasing fresh eggs from Hannah? Just leave a comment on the blog, or call 250-374-0282. If there is enough interest in Lac Le Jeune we can organize delivery once a week.
UPDATE: Hanna won several ribbons at the Vernon Winter Carnival: Two firsts, two seconds, and a fourth. Plus she won ten dollars in the rooster crowing contest!
