Every farmers market, every phone call, every email we do the spiel. I was trying to avoid being so business-minded on this blog - but who am I kidding, the very creation of this blog shows how proud of our business we really are.
So for any of you unaware of what Renegade Poultry or Renegade Rent-A-Coop is, this one's for you...
We
are a two-person team working towards building a local, organic,
hormone/antibiotic-free poultry farm here in New Mexico for the local
community (a real emphasis on local). This would be "The Renegade Poultry Project" which really only sprouted in Cameron's mind less than a year ago. In its infancy stages, we are currently looking for land hopefully in the Sandia mountains East of Albuquerque to avoid the summer heat at city-level. We have most of the vision sorted out so far, at least how we would like the farm to function. I doubt that what we plan is what will be implemented to a tee, if we have learned anything so far its that the unknown is all knowing.
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| The Sandias at sunset |
Rent-A-Coop actually began right after Cameron and I met last June. He had read online about companies renting out chickens, most operating in the Northeastern states where normally city folk don't keep chickens. But this is the Southwest, most people (even inner-city) have had chickens or have had contact with chickens. We found this out quick at the market, where our hook was "hey there, do you got chickens?" and a lot more people than expected would confirm immediately, then proceed to tell us all about their chickens. People who have chickens, love chickens and love to talk about them...including us!We are the first to rent chickens in New Mexico and the locals seem to really love the idea so far, we've even had a few magazine interviews. Mile-Hi Farmers' Market debuted as the first market in the Mile-Hi District, but despite all the effort pushing through the bureaucratic system we only got 8 weeks of market. We feel pretty accomplished for such a short time on the market and all the buzz we've received online. Since our coops are visually appealing our Instagram account has been a hit (@renegadepoultry) *shameless plug.
Renegade style coop
from our 1st season
All
our coops are hand-built and hand-painted by us, and no two coops
are alike. Renters can sign up for 2 egg-laying hens or for 4 teenage
hens,
which can be raised into egg-laying hens for the same monthly price ($20). Cameron
has come up with a more streamlined design with roost bars and raised nest boxes for this new season. The renters have the choice of color scheme
to try to fit into their backyard decor: Natural, NM pride, or
Renegade. Renegade is the preferred choice, it means whatever I feel
like painting/let my creative juices flow...and it works out
even more wild than I envision most of the time. Then we drop off the coop to their backyard, and it stays for as long as they want to rent it. If the renters enjoy their chicken-renting experience, we hope they will purchase our coop and chickens to become real chicken-keepers. We help them get used to the idea and try it out without all the upfront costs of chicken raising...plus the only choices in NM are Chinese-built coops to purchase from national chains, even the local feed stores sell imported coops.
Rent-A-Coop is our baby right now, we are constantly building & painting, attempting to acquire new hens, trying to get the word out, dropping off coops to new renters and experimenting new ideas. This winter our goal is to be ready for spring by building a stock of coops, so come spring when a renter signs up there is no waiting period.
That's all for now!
Check out our new style for 2015 - much bigger this year to accommodate future additions to the flock, chickens are addicting, well at least the fresh eggs are...
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| First coops of the year |
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| Zia NM Pride coop |
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| Tri-design coop |
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| Snow Patrol circa 1984 coop |
forever grateful*
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