Thanks to a recent grant awarded to Union Mission from the Pallottine Foundation, Union Mission has a renewed effort to establish our agriculture program. The funds provided by the grant will allow us to purchase most of the infrastructure we need to test 3 specific areas:
- Raising Egg Laying Chickens to provided quality protein for men and women and recovery
- Planting a Garden to grow a specific crop that can be preserved for consumption by our men and women in recovery
- Running Broiler Chickens on campus for protein for recovery
At this point in February, we have our chick brooder built in one of the buildings here at South Park and it currently houses about 70 chicks that will be our egg laying flock.
The next step is to build our permanent coop to house the chickens once they are old enough to be moved out. Our permanent coop will be built out of site of the road on a portion of our property that is rural and wooded.
24x10 Coop Plans
This is our initial design for a coop that can house our chickens and more
This coop will include rain catchment so we won’t have to transport water as much as well as storage for feed inside the building to keep critters from spoiling our feed. For security of the chickens, are entire run will be surrounded by electrified poultry netting. This will the only successful way of keeping the birds safe from predators like coyote and bear.
WE NEED YOUR HELP ON THIS FIRST PHASE
While the grant helps cover our basic infrastructure needs, we would like to raise an additional $1500 to upgrade some elements such as nesting boxes and water storage and heaters. Would you consider helping us hit our $1500 goal for the chicken coop?
You can give via the donation button at the top of this page (choose Chicken Coop campaign) or us the link below.
(Please note, any designated funds received after we reach our $1500 goal will be reallocated to our most critical areas of need)
