Hey Backyard Poultry Buffs,

Chicks for Charity will be here before we know it, and I wanted to update you all on the progress.

We have 1,100 baby chicks being donated by our radio show sponsors. They will start arriving the week before the event. I will be contacting those of you who have volunteered to foster the baby chicks early next week. I do not know the breeds we will be receiving, but they will all be sexed as pullets! We have requested standard breed egg layers.

The event will be held at the Decatur Farmers Market. This is a GREAT location for several reasons. It's an established farmers market with a lot of regular visitors, it's centrally located in metro Atlanta, Decatur is a chicken friendly city, and there will be plenty of parking! There will be a mobile feed & seed store on-site provided by TC-Country. They will have everything the new baby chick owners will need to start them off right! Manna Pro is providing 200+ baby chick carriers/boxes so there will be no need for us to save boxes this year! Jen and Christine are working hard on this year's educational brochure that every new baby chick owner will receive. It will be packed with continuing education information as well as the first few steps needed when they arrive home. I'm working on booking the two avian vets to oversee the event. I'm confident I will have this finalized by the end of next week. I will be sending out the official press release to the media next Wednesday.

The event will be organized similar as last year's event. New baby chick owners will get in line. They will "consult" with current chicken owners (our members) and receive the educational brochure. They will have the opportunity to ask any questions they may have about raising chickens from beginning to end. They will then fill out a required form from the Georgia Dept. of Agriculture. Then proceed to get their new baby chicks. A maximum of 6 baby chicks will be given to each family. A minimum of 4 baby chicks will be given to each family. We really want to start them off with 6 chicks of at all possible. If they want more, they can wait until the end of the event and request 6 more, but no more then 12 will be given to one family. They will then have the opportunity to ask more questions and visit the mobile store to purchase any needed supplies.

Our current needs are...

1. Spread the word! Tell all your friends and neighbors about this event!

2. Folding tables! We need at least 6 to 8 folding tables. (5' or 6' folding tables)

3. Coolers! Bottled water and ice will come out of the group funds, but we need coolers!

4. Set up helpers! Help us set up at 8:00am. (The event starts at 9:00am)

5. Clean up helpers! Help us break down after the event. (Will end when we are out of chicks or 1:00pm.

If you have or can help with any of the above, please send an e-mail to Christine Duncan our Co-Organizer.

This is going to be an AWESOME event! I hope you can make it!

__________________________________________________


Let"s Talk Chicken Over Chicken (North/Alpharetta) Update!

Monday, August 16th is the Let's Talk Chicken over Chicken (North Alpharetta) meeting.
Our special guest will be Peter Brown aka The Chicken Doctor! Peter is the founder of First State Vet Supply and is known around the country for his vast knowledge about poultry. The topic will be Coryza. If you own chickens, you need to know about Coryza! This meeting will be held at the Golden Corral by North Point Mall. We will start at 7:00pm. See you there!

Let"s Talk Chicken Over Chicken (ITP/Atlanta) Update!

Monday, August 23rd is the Let's Talk Chicken over Chicken (ITP/Atlanta) meeting.
We will meet at Southface Headquarters and have a guided tour of an awesome "green" facility and then have a chicken processing class. ATTENTION: This will be a chicken processing demonstration using two "LIVE" chickens. Do NOT bring your chickens to be processed! If you do not want to stay for the processing demonstration you may leave after the tour, prize drawing, and Meetup announcements. This Meetup meeting will start at 6:30pm.

The Conyers and Douglasville Meetup meetings have been scheduled as well! Both meetings are growing fast so if you live in those areas please attend!

I look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming Meetup events!

Thanks,

Chicken Whisperer
"Power to the Poultry!"

Andy, is there a flyer or online description that would best give out the information of what this event is all about? Something that I can post to our neighborhood list or hand out to people that are interested? Or should I cut the important details from your post and format one myself? We are not far from the Decatur Farmer's Market, but outside its city limits. I hope to get more people here interested, as this is a prime area with fairly influental members that can help to make a difference in the views of backyard chickens in Dekalb county. I believe all they need is a little positive exposure to get things moving in that direction

Thanks!

count on me to help! question, though: the Decatur Farmers Market has very limited on-street, metered parking. do you mean the DEKALB Farmers Market? what is the address?

Hey Dana,

My understanding is that there is a HUGE parking lot that we can use just behind the market.

Yes, I will have a flier posted here for everyone to use some time over the weekend.

Thanks,

CW

I'm also assuming he means the Dekalb Farmers market, because it has a huge parking lot. The DECATUR farmers market is only one day a week, I think in a bank parking lot.

It is the Decatur Farmers Market which is held twice a week including Saturdays. It's held in a small park-like area right across the street from the Chick-fil-A.

decatur farmers market

I was thinking of the one in Oakhurst/East Lake. It does say the hours are limited to 9-12

Could we have directions please, I have no idea where this place is. The only Farmers Market I've been to in Decatur is the indoor one that's open every day.

Also, may members also get chicks? Or is this only open to new chicken owners?

Nanci

Hey Backyard Poultry Buffs,

Thank you for all the questions and concerns. Yes, we are working very hard on getting everything completed for this event in a timely manner. Please be patient. We hope to have the official flier posted over the weekend. A national press release will be issued on Wednesday. The address is posted on the event page, but directions will also be posted.

I visited the location this morning and it's going to work out just fine. This is the Decatur Farmers Market. It's held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Saturday location is different than the Wednesday location. The Saturday farmers market is held directly across the street from Chick-fil-A. It's also directly across the street from the courthouse in downtown Decatur. It has ample shade which will be very important! The directors of the market are very excited about this event and have offered us ample space and will also be publicizing the event. The market is scheduled from 9:00am to 12:00pm, but our event will start at 9:00am and last until all baby chicks are given away, or 1:00pm which ever comes first.

Our main purpose is to get new people interested in, and keeping backyard chickens. We really want to get 1,100 more baby chicks into Atlanta area backyards. Therefore, I will ask all members to wait until 1:00pm and we will see how many baby chicks are left at that time. If there are still people in line they will get first choice.

I have no idea what breeds we are getting. I asked for hatchery choice standard breed egg layers. The retail value of the 1,100 baby chicks with shipping is over $3,000.00 so I will be happy with what we get.

Again, a MAXIMUM of 6 baby chicks per family! A MINIMUM of 4 baby chicks per family. NO EXCEPTIONS! This means that we have enough baby chicks for an average of 200 families. Manna Pro is providing baby chick carriers/boxes for the baby chicks!

TC-Country will be there selling everything needed for the new baby chick owners.

UPDATE: Since the last e-mail was sent requesting help for set-up, break-down, folding tables, and coolers, we have received "ONE" response. We can NOT have an event this size with just one table! Yes, we have about 70 people that have RSVP'd "YES" but we need specific help other than just handing people baby chicks. We will need people directing people to the parking lot, answering chicken questions, passing out brochures, helping with the mobile store, and yes handing out baby chicks.

I have already secured an avian vet with the USDA to be on-site and will have another local avian vet there as well.

Please send an e-mail to Christina and Fritz if you can bring a long 6' folding table, or cooler. I will be purchasing bottled water and ice from the Meetup account. Also let her know if you can be there at 8:00am to help set-up and stay to help break down.

Thank you for all your help!

Chicken Whisperer

Hi,
I sent you an email with a picture of a flyer I created for people to distribute around their communities if you are interested.
Brenda