Greetings form Monarch Hill Farm!

Hello Everyone!

Since this our very first-ever blog, it's perhaps appropriate to give a bit of history...but first the latest news about Monarch Hill Farm and our love for country living…

Well, it's now the end of March 2010 and we’re getting started on the building of a brooder house (a building to raise cute little day-old-chicks) and an expanded hen-house (a place for the egg laying flock) aka… the “Brooder Barn.”

                                       Pine&Hemlock,cut fall 2009. Thx Gerry

We also just ordered 125 Cornish Rock chicks. We call them “Meaties” because that’s what they are - birds raised for their meat. We have plans to raise five groups this year of 125 each.

We’re also researching the best hatchery to order some rare pullets (baby female birds) to expand our laying flock and add some more diversity to our already gorgeous variety of multi-colored eggs. Things have been busy in the poultry aspect of our lives and that’s a sure sign of warm weather just around the corner! It’s our plan to keep folks up-to-date on the workings, progress, plans and business as we grow the farm and share the fruits of our labor. Since so much of a farming lifestyle (even a small family-operated farm like ours) involves planning and design, we hope to post much of our research, trails, tribulations and architecture so there’s an appreciation for the quality of the products that we produce and so we can share ideas with others that may be along a similar journey.

Since our humble beginnings in April of 2009, we have enjoyed an amazingly rewarding year on our very little farm. We have learned A LOT and met a bunch of really wonderful people during our evolution from city-folk to country-folk, and we couldn't be happier. We love where we are, we love what we're doing, and we are very much looking forward to another growing season!


A Bit of History…

My husband Billy and I (Jules) built and moved into our home in rural southern Albany County, NY nearly three years ago.

Along with our three daughters, we've worked toward our collective dream of living on a small hobby farm. As a family we wanted to be self sustaining, build tradition, and be long lasting through quality virtues, enjoyable work and responsibility for ourselves. What mattered was the quality of life, the quality of our food and the environment that surrounded us. It was important to provide quality products and services for ourselves and our community so we ventured out to do it.

We purchased the land nine years ago with plans of building a small farm and raising horses…my childhood dream! Isn't that every little girl's dream? The poultry, horses, gardens and projects are all a part of the collective quality of life that drove us to this place!

We moved into the house in August 2007 and immediately talked about building a chicken coop! :-) Since we still had LOTS of work to finish on our house, the coop would have to wait.

In the spring of 2009 we built chicken coop as a family project and eagerly awaited the arrival of 25 day-old chicks; Black Australorps, Rhode Island Reds, Ameraucans, Buff Orpingtons, and Barred Rocks! We could barely contain ourselves!

Having the chicks was so much fun, and the thought of having our own fresh eggs was something we'd been waiting a long time for! While we waited for the hens to mature (it takes about five months for baby chicks to begin producing eggs) Billy began looking into the possibility of raising meat birds. WOW! All-natural chicken that we raised, we fed and cared for, something that our family would be eating. What a great idea! We researched, studied, planned and then put in an order for 30, Cornish-Rock chicks. They arrived as day-old birds. We constructed a  brooder box for them in the garage and a pasture pens for finishing them on the fields to begin the process. Our first run was a success and the experience was a step foward! The meat was flavorful, juicy and delicious! We were sold! There IS a difference in a small farm raised chicken – there really is! And as we expanded to our second batch we shared with friends and family and sold a few along the way and started what we set out to do. Our chicken coop was complete and it seemed that our "Meaties" were a hit!

Imagine, chicken that actually tastes like...well, chicken!

We continued to order more "Meaties" with plans to stock our freezer for the winter and sold the surplus to other like-minded folks who care about their food and what goes into it. So, as the freezer filled and then slowly emptied we spent the long winter drawing up plans for a brooder barn and a larger chicken coop and that’s our short history for now.

Warmest wishes,

Billy and Jules