Victoria Redhed Miller - Pure Poultry: Living Well with Heritage Chickens, Turkeys and Ducks

Praise for

Pure Poultry

Part memoir and part roadmap to success, Pure Poultry tells a compelling story full of grit, passion and discovery as the author and her husband embrace a sustainable, off-grid life in the woods with chickens, turkeys and ducks. Whether you are a seasoned fowl keeper or a passionate dreamer, you will find yourself nodding, laughing, commiserating, learning and simply enjoying the authors knack for weaving her experiences, observations and lessons into a page-turner of a narrative. Once I started reading, it was next to impossible to put Pure Poultry down, even when I heard my own geese honking for their supper. And when I finally closed the book, for the last time, I knew exactly why I keep the fowl that I do, I learned some tricks Id not discovered in the past 35 years and I felt happy!

Oscar H. Hank Will; sustainable farmer; editor in chief, GRIT Magazine; author, Plowing with Pigs

In Pure Poultry, [Millers pragmatism and mirth] come through in a beautiful blend, making this a great book for anyone who is dreams of waltzing down the country-living path (whether or not you intend to raise heritage poultry). And in sharing her own life experiences, she also provides an excellent resource for the aspiring poultry person to learn the how tos of keeping chickens, ducks and turkeys in your own backyard or on your own farm.

Carol Ekarius, author, Storeys Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds

Pure Poultry is not merely about chickens, ducks, and turkeys, but about one couples off-grid sustainable life style that includes keeping free-range poultry for fun and profit. Author Victoria Redhed Millers engaging style draws you in right from the start and holds you captive all the way to the end. Reading Pure Poultry is like visiting with an old friend.

Gail Damerow, author of The Chicken Encyclopedia

Pure Poultry is a fun, easy read and full of personal stories. Sharing their experience raising turkeys, ducks and chickens is a lesson to all. All beginners can learn from their wins and mistakes at getting started with poultry.

Frank R. Reese founder of Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch

pure

POULTRY

Living Well with

HERITAGE CHICKENS, TURKEYSandDUCKS

Victoria Redhed Miller

Copyright 2013 by Victoria Redhed Miller.

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.

Photo by Victoria Redhed Miller.

All interior photos by Victoria Redhed Miller, unless otherwise noted.

First printing August 2013.

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86571-753-4

eISBN: 978-1-55092-546-3

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Pure Poultry should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.

To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada

(250) 247-9737

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision. We are committed to doing this not just through education, but through action. The interior pages of our bound books are printed on Forest Stewardship Council-registered acid-free paper that is 100% post-consumer recycled (100% old growth forest-free), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-based, low-VOC inks, with covers produced using FSC-registered stock. New Society also works to reduce its carbon footprint, and purchases carbon offsets based on an annual audit to ensure a carbon neutral footprint. For further information, or to browse our full list of books and purchase securely, visit our website at: www.newsociety.com.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Miller, Victoria Redhed, author

Pure poultry : living well with heritage chickens, turkeys and ducks / Victoria Redhed Miller.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-0-86571-753-4 (pbk.).--ISBN 978-1-55092-546-3 (html)

1. Chickens. 2. Turkeys. 3. Ducks. I. Title.

Contents

Jeannette Beranger

Research & Technical Programs Manager

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

T HE 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 Millerss marvelous world of homesteading, which this book is sure to do for its readers.

The trip to the Millerss 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 Davids 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 Millerss 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.