Madison, Wisconsin was the best place for me to live while I was writing How to Raise Chickens! The University of Wisconsin’s Steenbock Memorial Library , has a world-class collection in agriculture and life sciences. Their research librarians are the best! One in particular took an interest in my project and found me all kinds of wonderful material. Even if it didn’t make it into the book, I learned so much.
Robert Frost’s poem about his wonderful chicken, a White Wyandotte, A Blue Ribbon at Amesbury, did get into the book. It’s also in the Complete Poems. The Frost estate was thrilled to have this little-known poem offered to an appreciative audience. You’ll love it – this pullet was like Mother Eve to him!
If there is a university near you, make use of its resources. They are eager to support local people and reach out to their communities. Where I now live, on California’s Central Coast, California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo is the local educational center. They have a Town Patron card for $60 a year, which gives you full access to all their facilities. It’s an invaluable resource. In this digital age, it’s amazing what they can find: artworks, scientific research, videos of all kinds.
Madison had Mad City Chickens, a group of local chicken people who worked with the Common Council, the city’s elected governing board, to make chickens fully legal in 2004, just before I arrived. So chickens were gaining in popularity. Two local film producers made a documentary about chickens and interviewed me. Mad City Chickens, is available on DVD. Ask for it at the library!
Last Saturday the local feed store, Farm Supply, sponsored a Chicken Workshop. They set up 175 chairs but over 200 people showed up! They were enthusiastic about chickens! The store stocks traditional breeds but had only Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds that day. Nothing wrong with them! Both are wonderful breeds with long histories of serving well. But check Purely Poultry’s catalog for a wider choice of breeds and varieties.
One mother approached me to explain that her son had taken an interest in chickens, and now she found herself unprepared for her new role as 4-H Poultry Leader. Her son wanted to start with Belgian Bearded d’Uccles. They are a good choice for a youngster without other experience. They are attractive, have a good disposition and are small and easy to handle. I predict a good chicken future for this family!
Check with your local feed store to see if they will sponsor a Chicken Workshop. People find their way to poultry along many routes. There are many adventures along the way.
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This review appeared in the April edition of The Poultry Press, on page 51. We are happy to share it here, as well.
Wisconsin native Patricia Lacey has written a detailed, extensive history of the American Bantam Association, called All Cooped Up. The title is interesting, because, of course it refers to chickens, but also perhaps to the fact that the ABA began its history somewhat restrained by the American Poultry Association. The book is short, but packed with historical data and has clearly been extensively researched.
There are a couple of things that All Cooped Up is not. It is not a book for a novice. If you just bought a few chicks to raise in the back yard, this book is not a good place to start. If you are looking for information about how to raise or breed bantams, this book is not for you.
However, All Cooped Up is an appealing book for die-hard bantam fans. Anyone who is or would like to become a licensed poultry judge through the ABA might want to read this book to understand the politics of bantams and why the ABA exists. Have you wondered why the ABA has different rules than the APA for exhibiting bantams? You will likely find answers in this book, and people who are members of the organization and would like to learn about its history will find Lacey’s book worthy reading.
Lacey begins with an overview of the poultry fancy, and the very beginnings of organized exhibitions and competitions, then continues to chronicle the beginning of the American Poultry Association, and the early issues that bantam breeders had with that organization. The next section of the book begins to look at the year-by-year changes the ABA made, along with challenges it faced.
Each chapter covers a decade and begins with a fairly detailed overview. In some ways, these overview pages of each chapter are the best part of the book. The voice is clearly Lacey’s and these sections are easy to read and follow. After the overview, each year within the decade is documented, based on the ABA Yearbook, the minutes from meetings and various other publications. This is where Lacey’s training as an historian is particularly evident.
Depending on your level of interest in organizational behavior, the year-by-year sections can get a little boring, partly because you already know what is going to happen based on the overview at the beginning of the chapter. However, if there are events you find of special interest the yearly details provide plenty of detail. For instance, the organization undertook some major projects in the 1960s so the yearly descriptions are helpful.
This book helped me understand why there is an American Bantam Association. I believe in the power of unity so I was always surprised to see so many separate poultry associations formed. Canned Heat’s song “Let’s Work Together” and the concepts of “United we stand or divided we fall” are concepts that I hold dear. The concept of the United States being a 50 state union, with both individual state governments and a federal government is a good system that has lasted almost 235 years. Through this book I can see why there was a need for the American Bantam Association to stand up for those little bantams. In our past the bantams were not respected and needed a group to represent the breeders interests.
All Cooped Up is a must-read for anyone who is seriously involved with exhibition poultry. As the saying goes “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Learning about the history of an organization in which you invest your time and energy is crucial, if you plan to make an original contribution. Patricia Lacey can easily count All Cooped Up as a valuable, original contribution to the ABA and the bantam fancy.
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