Jeannette Beranger
Research & Technical Programs Manager
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
THE FIRST TIME I MET VICTORIA MILLER AND HER HUSBAND DAVID, it was on a gray and cold day in January of 2009. I received a warm welcome from both, along with their flock of Midget White turkeys. I had been invited to tour their farm and along with the Millers was escorted by the turkeys who followed us everywhere, ensuring that they were not excluded from anything interesting going on. The tour quickly melted the chill away and brought me into the Millers’s marvelous world of homesteading, which this book is sure to do for its readers.
The trip to the Millers’s Canyon Creek Farms occurred by way of traveling to Washington state and taking an extra day or two from my work to do some “farm hopping” and visit with members of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) working with endangered breeds on their farms. I was especially interested in what was happening on the Olympic Peninsula since farming can be a challenge with the wet climate, large predators, and general remoteness of the region.
As I talked and toured with Victoria, I learned that despite all of these challenging factors, the Millers have managed to find a way to make things work around the farm. Using traditional breeds of poultry was paramount to their goals which in turn support genetic diversity for the species through breeding and sharing with others. The successes are a testament to stick-to-itiveness and determination to be kind to the land and to make a difference with the farm. Victoria and David’s methods are simple, many developed through trial by fire as you will read, but they worked.
At the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, we are aware of the need for more sources of information on living with heritage breeds. Pure Poultry comes directly from the Millers’s experiences raising chickens, turkeys and ducks, starting out as beginners with six hens and a rooster. The day-to-day interaction between the birds and their caretakers reveals not only the advantages of heritage breeds, such as foraging ability, but also their different, entertaining, and often quirky personalities.
Pure Poultry is not just another how-to book about raising poultry. As you follow the story of the Millers’s first few years with their birds, it will help you learn whether raising heritage poultry might work in your particular situation. Included is a detailed worksheet designed to walk you through the process of making the right choices, and to ensure you and your family are prepared to begin raising poultry.
In this book, you will experience the humble wisdom of the Millers that makes homesteading with heritage breeds successful and how “simple” can be an exceptionally rewarding lifestyle. Sit back, enjoy, and learn!