I don't know why I have to define who I am but apparently its something that a lot of people feel compelled to know. So I thought I'd get into some details about who KTH is and what we are doing in the world of poultry. I think everyone knows the story behind KTH, if you don't I suggest reading the 'about' tab on our website. While it doesn't go into great details, it will give you a general idea of how it all came to be.
Now, what is KTH? Why does everyone need to know this? I think there are people out there that want to know because they are generally curious but there are other people out there that feel like they need a label to justify WHO I am to THEM. Am I a threat? Am I someone to find amusing? Am I a joke? After this blog post, maybe it will help clear some things up for everyone so let's get to it.
KTH breeds and shows various types of poultry; from ducks to turkeys and chickens.. among a few odds and ends of things. However, we also have horses, we will hopefully dive into cattle and sheep(against my husband's will I might add). I started this whole journey looking into just finding a way to raise some funds to better pursue my desire to homestead... to farm... to get back with nature... whatever it is you want to call it. I have a small garden with dreams to build it bigger and better but gardening is not my strong suit, I am working on it but so far... it's a struggle. I want to grow a small orchard of apples, I'd love to have a steady supply of evergreens on the property.
However, our soil does not agree with my dreams, we are on bedrock... not a shelf of bedrock... a real, thick, unforgiving layer of bedrock. We can not use a 3pt auger on it, we tried and it broke the arm of the auger. To make matters worse, we have clay soil, this makes drainage very, very bad. So we flood on about 7 of our 10 acres for a few months out of the year. This kills just about any chance of trees or plants growing. So we are struggling in the gardening department but it does still exist. One year we did really well, last year I decided to just buy produce at farmer's markets and did canning. Next spring, with all 3 boys in school, I do plan to make a bigger garden but best laid plans, right? Okay, so we do gardening, kind of. Our horse is just a pasture puff at this point but I really need to get her back in shape but that's a huge dream, I just don't have the ambition or time. Poultry is really the biggest staple on this property. I do breed some for showing but it's not all I do it for. Some of them are simply because I enjoy them, others are to explore dual purpose ideology. Bresse Chickens and Bielefelders are hopefully going to be head to head. I'd love to have meat birds that I can hatch and raise slowly but I kind of struggle here. It takes a LOT of feed and money and I'm not a huge fan of the taste to be honest. So I am on the fence here. The Bielefelders are amazing because they are auto-sexing at hatch, meaning I can tell who is male and female by the colors of their down feathers once they hatch. This is useful to sell point of lay pullets because I can cull the males at an early age by either culling at hatch, culling at a young age for meat or sending off to auction. Nonetheless, I don't HAVE to feed them very long. Not only that, but they will help me learn to vent sex chicks, something that will be very useful down the road for sales. Now, I also have some breeds of poultry to raise for strictly show. I try to hit every NYS show I can and have managed that for 2yrs now. I have even hit shows in Massachusetts and this year I am planning to attend the Ohio Nationals. So I am active in the show world but I don't think that will be the case next year. I've been tossing around the idea of stepping back, going to local shows and fairs but I know I would miss the time away. I'm a stay at home mom, I leave the house for grocery pick ups and mail runs. That's it. I don't go out with friends(I actually only have like one in person friend who I may see once every other month), I don't go out to concerts, I don't drink... I don't have a life outside of poultry and KTH. Seriously.
So gardening, horses, poultry. Now, almost everything for the animals was built by my bare hands and alone. Coops, sheds, fences, all handled by me. All funded by the birds. I have to build things by myself in an effort to save money. It doesn't always work but I try anyway because funds are very limited. All funding is through the birds, whether by selling chicks, eggs, or live poultry. So this sometimes has earned me a few names like 'flipper' or 'hatchery'; which is also helped by my inability to decide which breeds/varieties, I want to work with when it comes to the birds. Sometimes I think I will enjoy something, I jump in and poke around for awhile and then I decide by Fall if it's something I want to continue or not. I think this is where I get looked at as a flipper but honestly, I'm just trying to make sure I have low numbers through winter. Winter is hard because I don't make a good income from the birds but I still have to feed them. So I try to sell as much as I can in November then pay in advance for the winter months with feed. I also combine breeding pens to help keep everyone warm and less work for me when it gets cold.
The birds pay for not only their feed, care, upkeep and any buildings BUT they pay for my horse's care, feed and upkeep. Recently the birds paid for some meat to go in our freezer! They paid for the garden too! I think its important to remember this when it comes to seeing my sale posts because every penny goes towards KTH. All the birds I 'flip'(as the haters call it) are bought with money from my birds... so when I sell them... the proceeds go back to the birds. Call it what you want, I like to think of it as a means of survival. I don't want to sell anything but when it comes to my homestead's survival... I'll sell anything on this property.
So there it is... a homestead. That's what I believe KTH is. That's what I strive for, it's my goal. If others want to call me anything else, well power to ya! I really don't care about my image or title to anyone but my family. I already have the best title of all with my family, I am Mom and Wife. That's the only title I will fight to defend. I have earned those titles, I don't care about anything else. So when someone asks, I will leave it up to them. Homestead, hatchery, breeder, flipper, farm, wannabe? I really don't care. All I know is I am who I am, your opinion does not change that for me, your opinion won't change the two most important titles I have; Wife and Mom.
So! For those that are generally curious about who KTH is; the desired answer is a Homestead. I do not think I am there yet though. For those that just want a label to know who I am to themselves; well just go ahead and call me what you wish. Your opinion of me doesn't change anything, my desire to justify who I am to YOU, doesn't exist. In fact, I'd rather you just go ahead and pretend I don't exist. ;-)
I hope that... clears things up for everyone! Have a fantastic night!