38


COOPS for rent “They’re young, urban


professionals with substantial income, many have children, and they’re looking to connect with their food source and a rural aspect of a lifestyle,” he says. “Our first year, we signed up 11 coops primarily in the Kelowna and Westbank area. We doubled to 21 last year and this year we have 23,” says Marie.


The locations change from


year to year; this year, the McGiverns are renting coops with about 70 laying hens to families from Kamloops to the Lower Mainland. The birds come from Spallumcheen. They’re good layers and pretty tame. The coops are built on-farm with the help of one of their children. Chickens and coops are delivered to the clients in the spring and picked up six months and a lot of eggs later. Marie says customers want


a backyard hen but don’t know how. When they sign up, they’re provided a book about fresh eggs and happy hens. Chicken Care 101 comes from Ron and Marie when they drop off the birds. Customers choose regular or


nfrom page 37


specialty hens, and organic or non-organic feed. “We explain how to feed them and pick them up, things to watch for, and normal chicken behaviours,” she says. “You can buy eggs way cheaper per egg, but you can’t get the experience and this way you know exactly what your chickens are eating and how they’re treated.” It’s up to customers to


know local bylaws about chickens, which are more accommodating than 10 years ago but vary among municipalities. Typically, the McGiverns


don’t hear from customers all season unless they’ve had a problem, such as a racoon in the coop, in which case they replace the chicken. “Last year,” Ron chimes in,


“we had clients with three kids and a busy family but no pets because of allergies and they named their chickens and taught them tricks like having the bird sit on their shoulder.” After six months of work


and, Marie laughs, “sometimes a pretty lavish life that includes lavender in their boxes,” the chickens return to the farm where they’re


Not all chickens lay eggs. Marie McGivern reaches into the freezer to pull out one of 200 or so broilers they raise annually for sale to local buyers. MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTO


offered as year-old layers. What isn’t sold, they offer to their children. They’ve also developed a relationship with an organic meat rabbit farmer from Osoyoos who takes the hens and also a few roosters as bug vigilantes and for breaking up rabbit droppings, which helps them compost. “It works out great for us


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and for our customers because they want to know their hens are okay,” says Marie.


Meat birds As for their own eating,


Marie says they try to eat meat from places where they know how it’s grown. To that end, they raise about 100 broilers twice a year for themselves and for sale. The birds are processed at a government-inspected facility, Copper Mountain Farms, located just down the road. The short trip saves the birds transportation stress. Their lamb, raised for


breeding stock and meat, is processed locally as well at Kam Lake View Meats, a second-generation abattoir (also government inspected)


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less than five minutes away. Ron says they’ve worked to


go beyond sustainability and local as buzzwords, building self-sufficiency into their farm. This year, they leased some grazing land next door for their sheep, but they’ll likely start growing forage next year to increase the carrying capacity at home. Sustainability also includes helping the industry by donating animals that have died to the animal technology program at Thompson Rivers University for vet tech post mortem teaching. And they see further opportunities with Hatch the Chicken, another division of Rent the Chicken, for the school and daycare market. They also take fertilized chicken eggs to Kamloops Seniors Village, a retirement community where residents eagerly monitor the hatching process. The birds generate a lot of conversation. “I’ve never felt so


unwelcome as when I walked in to take back the chickens,” Marie says with a smile. The couple have


appreciated the mentorship they’ve received from neighbours and others with livestock, and wish mentorship was more readily available to new producers. They say the biggest challenge for small operators like themselves is figuring out how to connect with the urban consumer. Ron says for them it means walking the walk in terms of local, ethical and sustainable production. It’s enabled their successes and is changing the food landscape slowly. “It will be a long time


before we can compete with the symbolic attributes of being sustainable when it comes down to the price nexus offered by Wal-Mart,” Ron says. “What we do is focus on those who are willing to try.”


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • SEPTEMBER 2018


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