Do you want to sell eggs at your farmstand, but you’re not sure how to get started? How many meat chickens do you need to turn a profit, and how should you house them? Should you consider a mix of poultry enterprises? Learn the answers to all of these eggs-cellent questions and more in this deep dive into all things poultry!

Learn everything you need to know to get started with poultry, including topics such as fencing, feeding, watering, pasture management, housing, pest and disease management, predator protection, and much more. Species covered will include laying hens, meat chickens, ducks, and turkeys. Other species such as quail and geese will be covered if there is interest.

This session will be well-suited to those just starting out with or considering keeping poultry, who wish to explore the fundamentals and gain a solid knowledge foundation. This course will also be relevant to those with intermediate knowledge of poultry, but who wish to gain new perspectives from seasoned instructors.

About the Instructors:

Fran McQuail: Fran McQuail and her husband, Tony, have run a small diversified certified organic farm ( Meeting Place Organic Farm)  near Lucknow, Ontario for 40 years. After turning the business over to their daughter, Katrina, they still live on the farm and continue to be actively involved with it.

The farm evolved over the years from a small homestead livestock style operation to a commercial enterprise but still with a wide diversity of livestock. They have raised everything from rabbits to goats to horses and most other types of livestock along the way. They were early adopters of Holistic Management’s Planned Grazing, a rotational grazing system that improves the pasture over time by considering the plants in addition to the animals.  Planned Grazing of all livestock is the foundation of the farm’s current production. This include meat chickens, layers, pigs, cattle and draft horses. The farm’s website is www.meetingplaceorganicfarm.ca

Fran, a past President of EFAO, enjoys sharing her knowledge and experiences with others and has done livestock and farm management courses for EFAO in the past.

Katrina McQuail: Katrina McQuail returned to Meeting Place Organic Farm in 2014 and took over the farm business in 2016. Born and raised in Huron County on the farm, Katrina took a round about way back to becoming a farmer. Spending over 10 years away, Katrina completed a degree in Business and Not For Profit Management and a minor in French at Earlham College in Indiana before going on to work in the culinary industry, traveling in the Caribbean, Central and South America as well as in Europe, and working for government and corporate agencies before running a wonderful social change not-for-profit in Guelph for 4 years.

Currently Katrina serves on the EFAO board, just stepped back from the Eat Local Huron Board and is the assistant clerk for Friends General Conference. Katrina is passionate about all things farmy – but especially pigs. Katrina and her partner Ben live on the farm with their two young children. Planned Grazing of all livestock is the foundation of the farm’s current production. This includes meat chickens, layers, pigs, cattle and draft horses. The farm’s website is www.meetingplaceorganicfarm.ca

This session is a part of the Introduction to Regenerative Livestock course. Sign up for the full course or other individual sessions on the EFAO Events page.