The Backyard Chicken Interest
How the first Virtual Backyard Chicken Series was born
Early in April, there was a lot of thought given to what resources AFAC could provide to an Alberta that was now at home for the foreseeable future. With the interest growing in food sources and back-to-basics, as well as the resounding success of the virtual Livestock Care Conference, the idea of a virtual Urban Hen program was born. Cassandra Kirkpatrick, the facilitator of AFAC’s Urban Hen workshops since 2017, was quickly on board! With her enthusiastic support and hosting skills, the Virtual Backyard Chicken webinar series was brought to life over three weeknights in May.
This series covered flock health, handling, cost, by-laws, breeds, coop design, diseases, and more. This three-hour workshop, split into one hour sessions, covered the basics and the necessities when owning and raising backyard chickens. With a dedicated Q&A period after each session, each of the 52 registrants had a chance to ask their questions about their particular backyard flock venture.
Once the series came to an end, the registrants were given an opportunity to take a quiz and receive a certificate of completion. These certificates allowed them to meet potential permit requirements for their municipality and get started on their chicken adventures!
Within days of the series end, AFAC started to receive requests for yet another introductory series, as well as inquiries for more advanced content such as disease control and in-depth biosecurity. With that in mind, AFAC is proud to present the following:
Introduction to Backyard Chickens – Virtual Series will be taking place on June 9th & 11th at 7:00 pm. Registration can be found here
Advanced Chicken Care Series will be running the month of July starting July 8th. These workshops will run once a week for four weeks covering a variety of in-depth topics. Take our Poll to help choose the four topics covered! This series is meant for those who have taken a workshop in backyard or small flock care or have prior experience. Registration to open soon!
And finally, AFAC is proud to bring a monthly feature, “Questions from the Coop”. On the third Tuesday evening of each month, a different poultry expert will join AFAC for a free Q&A session that will be open to anyone who has questions about their coop, feed and nutrition, bird health, or any other topic. The first session is on June 16th, watch our Facebook or Twitter accounts for the link to join!
