By William Koreluik
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A Veregin couple, with roots that go deep into the rural lifestyle, has begun living their dream, having laid claim to a scenic acreage. It鈥檚 a place where her precious poultry, both rare breeds and the more common, can be raised with ease and the couple鈥檚 more traditional pets, including horses and dogs, can help them live the good life.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It has been nearly 10 years since Rick and Tracy Choptuik moved into their home in Veregin and about two years ago the couple purchased what they saw as being a piece of heaven: a former farmstead of about 11 acres that is located four miles north of the village.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n a crazy world, this is our sanctuary,鈥� Tracy said recently as she and her husband talked about their interest in raising poultry, producing eggs and their interest in their rural lifestyle.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e came here from North Carolina,鈥� Rick said. 鈥淚 was in North Carolina for six years, working with an insurance company and when we decided to return to Canada, we moved to this place, sight unseen.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Both originally from Winnipeg, Rick and Tracy have been together for 20 years.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪o how did you get into poultry?鈥� they are asked.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e both have been on farms all our lives,鈥� Rick said, explaining that during his youth, his summers were spent at the farm of his grandparents near Russell, Man.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he poultry is Tracy鈥檚 project,鈥� he said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淗ave you seen the price you have to pay for a chicken at the grocery store, or for a dozen eggs?鈥� Tracy asked.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎 while back I decided to never buy a chicken from a store again,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 decided I would raise my own. I had chickens in North Carolina.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淐oming to Veregin, we had decided we had wanted an 鈥榦ld homestead鈥� property so that we could start from scratch,鈥� she said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A couple years ago the Coptuiks purchased the 11 acres of the farm that had once belonged to Paul Morozoff. The property is the site of the former Morozoff yard.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Rick, who is a councillor at the RM of Sliding Hills, works for Murray Horkoff, an organic farmer in the area. He said that he and Tracy had wanted a farm home where they could first develop the outbuildings before turning their attention towards their own house.
So now the couple lives in Veregin, where they have a house and about five adjoining lots.
Choptuik points to the backyard and said that they had five rows of raspberries growing.
鈥淚t was insane,鈥� he said of the raspberry bounty they have enjoyed. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 keep up.鈥�
鈥淲e also grew vegetables, including corn, beets, tomatoes, peas and the Alaska Giant cabbages,鈥� Tracy said. 鈥淎nd we don鈥檛 waste anything.鈥�
Returning to the subject of poultry, Tracy said that her interest in the birds is a hobby, not a business. She started a year ago after acquiring some laying hens and a rooster from a friend.
鈥淭he hens laid the eggs and boy they tasted good,鈥� she said, contrasting their taste with that of store-bought eggs.
She acquired an incubator and bought fertilized eggs.
Currently, in their living room, Tracy tends four incubators, each with eggs. At one she explains that the Jiffy pen marks on each identify the eggs鈥� variety. At that incubator, she monitors the heat and humidity and regularly turns the eggs. The other incubators turn the eggs automatically. She explains that at a certain time in the pre-hatching process, an incubator is sealed to ensure proper heat and humidity.
鈥淣ow we have over 100 birds, ranging in age from day-old chicks to adults. We have about 15 breeds of chickens, including guinea hens, 鈥渘aked neck chickens,鈥� Russian Orloffs, Leghorns, Cornish and Rhode Island Reds.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got about 10 turkeys and 11 ducks that are laying eggs.鈥�
鈥淪o what do you do with all the eggs?鈥� they are asked.
鈥淲e do a lot of trading and bartering,鈥� Tracy said. 鈥淚n summer, we get four or five dozen eggs a day.鈥�
Tracy explained how they have been able to trade chickens and eggs for a horse.
鈥淚鈥檝e got three regular egg customers,鈥� she said, adding that she has been willing to donate baby chicks, or eggs about to hatch to schools so that young students can learn to appreciate the process.
鈥淲e have five horses at the farm now,鈥� she said.
And when visiting the farm she introduces the horses, including the one which she often rides.
The couple is careful to give their birds only organic feed, and in the conversation they are critical of other forms of farming practices and land management which are not respectful of the environment.
鈥淚 love animals,鈥� Tracy said, adding that the couple, in addition to the birds and horses, shares their lives with five dogs and some cats. The living room also contains a very large aquarium containing large goldfish.
Tracy belongs to poultry groups on Facebook where one is able to become involved in egg and chick swapping.
She brings out a large Styrofoam box, a bit larger than a breadbox, and explains how it can contain six dozen eggs.
鈥淲e use Canada Post and in two or three days, the eggs, properly packed, can reach any destination across Canada,鈥� she said, making favourable comments on how well Canada Post employees treat the boxes.
鈥淏ut most of the eggs we use for trading.鈥�
Tracy explained that she sells breeding eggs and depending on the breed they could sell for as much as $75 a dozen for a rare breed.
鈥淔or a backyard crossbred variety, one could get $10 a dozen.
鈥淭his is a hobby. When your heart is in it, you enjoy it.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 do this for the money. If we make enough for the feed, we鈥檙e happy.鈥�
Tracy said that among her dreams for the future is to have additional breeds. She had tended exotic breeds in North Carolina and some of the birds that become pets are given names.
鈥淚f the bird has a name, it does not get butchered,鈥� she said with a laugh.
On the tour around her living room incubation headquarters, Tracy explains how the eggs are moved from one incubator to the other, and then to the pen located in the centre of the room. She picks up one of the smallest of the several chicks pecking around under the heat lamp.
鈥淭his one hatched today,鈥� she said.
Explaining their daily rituals with the animals, Rick said that in the mornings they go to the farm to feed and water the animals and spend time with them.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e so used to us, they don鈥檛 scatter,鈥� Tracy added. 鈥淎nd with all the birds on the farm, it is wonderful the way there are no bugs. You can sit outside in summer and not be bothered by the bugs because the chickens have eaten them.
鈥淭hey eat the ticks too,鈥� Rick said.
Discussing last fall鈥檚 butchering sessions, Tracy said that they butchered about 50 chickens which weighed between six and 10 pounds each, and 12 turkeys that weighed between 24 and 30 pounds.
鈥淲e have four freezers,鈥� she said, adding that the people that helped with the butchering were paid with the meat.
鈥淏ut the named birds are what I call the 鈥榣ifers,鈥� they don鈥檛 get butchered. They鈥檙e the pets.
鈥淲e love animals,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e both hunt and we don鈥檛 waste what we kill,鈥� Rick said. 鈥淲e believe in protecting the animals and the wildlife.
In addition to being an incubation room, the couple鈥檚 living room is also a trophy display room because on each of the walls is mounted a huge deer head, testaments to each of their hunting and shooting skills.
Asked about diseases or other hazards of raising poultry, the Choptuiks do not express much concern.
鈥淭he biggest thing is that they can catch a cold if not treated,鈥� Tracy said, adding that they have purchased an antibiotic for their animals.
鈥淲e learned a lot by trial and error,鈥� Rick said, adding that both he and his wife had spent their youths on farms as well as having tended an acreage in North Carolina.
鈥淲e want this to stay as a hobby, and we want to be as self-sufficient as is possible,鈥� he said.
Asked what the difference is between the eggs with the brown shells and those with white shells or green shells as some of the breeds lay, Tracy said: 鈥渘othing.
鈥淎ll eggs are the same, except when bought at the store, you never know how long they have been sitting in the carton.
鈥淪tore-bought eggs seem to taste flat. They have no taste. A farm-raised egg, if from a healthy bird, has flavour.
鈥淚n summer, all the chickens are free range,鈥� she said, adding that friends and neighbours, after having been introduced to their eggs, have often said they don鈥檛 know how they were ever able to eat store-bought eggs.
On a tour of the farm, Rick and Tracy go first to the old farmhouse, which is now a large chicken coop. What was once a living room and a bedroom, are now two rooms of a large coop, enhanced throughout with two-by-four railings upon which birds are roosting. Adult birds are everywhere: on the floors, on the windowsills, along the railings and under foot.
Another bedroom contains drums of feed and another has pens, a heat lamp and more chicks, a few days older than the chicks still in their living room.
And then there is the old barn, which is now another large chicken coop. The barn has been augmented with a large chicken-wire outside pen, allowing the birds independent access to shelter or the outside, while keeping them safe from any wild predators. There turkeys and ducks parade around with the many breeds of chickens and, during the tour, Rick and Tracy occasionally stoop down to check a straw-lined nest to pick up a freshly-laid egg.
鈥淟ast year we found two wild duck eggs,鈥� Rick said, adding that they are eager to see if the ducks that had hatched from them would return to the farm.
In the discussion, Tracy disputes, with a passion, the old supposition that turkeys are stupid and instead points to one large bird that is a pet, a 鈥渓ifer鈥� with a name.
鈥淲e love animals,鈥� she said, acknowledging that the bales left for the horses are often visited by the deer in the winter.
Asked what breeds of birds are on her wish list, Tracy immediately said pea fowl, the peacock and hen, which she鈥檚 had in the past and says could do well here in spite of the cold winters.
鈥淎lso a red bourbon turkey or a blue slate,鈥� she said, describing the attractive attributes of each.
