Display/Sale in SC last weekend

We had a good time at the "Discover the Farm" 2 day event in Swift Current last weekend.  Friday was the day for the display and we had about 150 school kids come through and do tours.  E was the presenter for the poultry section and he did a good job of it.  The hit was the incubator that was hatching chicks in it.  Most of the eggs were just pipped on the Friday and didn't complete the hatch until Sat. but the kids were still impresed and E had them all lined up to climb up the stepladder and take a peek.  Most of them had to be removed by their teacher or they would still be standing there looking in!

A couple who have Alpacas were there and the lady did a great demo, spinning the wool and telling the kids about the things she hand knits and felts while her husband let people lead around his pet alpacas who have the softest eyes I have ever seen.  The kids were also really interested in a lady who crafts the cutest animals out of wool.  Hope she forgives me for twisting her arm to get her there...you really have a neat talent Denise!
R enjoyed leading around the bottle fed Katahdin lambs and of course he loved the bunnies....



We had made display boards for the Buckeyes, Dominiques and White Chanteclers, also the Sebrights and Old English Games as those are the mature pairs we brought to display.  Overall it was really well received, the place was full on Saturday for the market sale and lots of people mentioned that they had no idea there were more than two kinds of chickens...brown and white!
I think people can't help but notice the difference between purchasing animals at this type of sale where they have time to view the animals and talk directly to the breeders/owners compared to the noisy animal auctions where you don't always know what you are buying or where they came from.

  We sold about half of what we had for sale including some hatching eggs at the prices we wanted.  Noone complained about the prices but I think it is still very much a new idea for people to raise and preserve heritage breeds of poultry.  However, I think a seed may have been planted for many.
  Lots of people came in the afternoon with their kids and grandkids mainly to look and that was great to see.

  E was tickled because he won the grand raffle prize after buying 3 tickets for $5.  It was a small chicken tractor that had been donated. 
  Our friends from MC were kind enough to haul it to their place for us so we just have to pick it up from there.

Plans are in place for next year and all in all a great event!