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DELINE/FORT FRANKLIN
Theresa Bitzer of Deline is now the proud owner of 175 freshly hatched chickens and turkeys.

Deline's Theresa Bitzer received 50 hens, similar to these photographed in Inuvik in 2011, on May 17. - NNSL File photo

Bitzer, who is business manager for the Deline Land Corporation, received 100 butcher chickens, 25 turkeys and 50 egg-laying hens through the Commercial Harvesting, Marketing, and Processing of Fish and Meat in the NWT program with the Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment.

The chicks travelled by Canada Post from Edmonton Rochester Hatchery in a regular cardboard box with a few holes cut into it.

"They're shipped after they hatch," said Bitzer. "They take a day to travel and that's OK because they are still sustained by their yolk sack that's in their stomach."

The chicks are a private endeavour for Bitzer but she and the community are looking at it as pilot project for Deline.

"We'll see what the costs are associated with running it on the small scale and see if it's feasible to do on a large scale," she said.

Even after only one week, Bitzer had a lot of enthusiasm for the project.

"I think everybody should try it," she said. "Maybe not on that large of a scale but anybody could do it. You get your chicks in May-June and you're butchering them 12 weeks later. Everybody can grow enough chickens over the summer to fill their freezer. It's just a matter of putting the planning in place because they take special care when it comes to heat."

Bitzer said chicks need heat lamps for the first four to five weeks of their life, until they grow in all their feathers. After that, the poultry only need a coop, fenced outdoor space, and an indoor alternative for the laying hens in the winter. Planning for the chicks' feed was also important because it had to be brought in over the winter road as Deline does not have year-round road access, she said.

Andy Short, regional superintendent for Sahtu with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, said similar projects have run very successfully in Norman Wells and he's glad to see other communities in the Sahtu taking advantage of the opportunity.

"I think one of the big benefits is having fresh chickens available right at your door," he said. "I know in Norman Wells, the average cost of a chicken here is probably about $28 in the store and those are fairly small chickens. That's one of the cost benefits itself."

"We've got a guy in Norman Wells that bought 200 chickens last year through farm sales and I know myself and my family, we purchased 10 of the chickens, and they were absolutely delicious. They're almost like small turkeys they're so big."

Short said the other benefit to raising chickens privately or in the community is having a greater control over their feed.

"Right off the bat you're getting a fresh product that has no steroids and no chemicals," he said. "It's really good."

Short said community grown vegetables and meat are an effective way for individuals and communities to reduce the high cost of living in the Sahtu region. Federal and territorial programs such as the one Bitzer used or the larger Growing Forward program, can give residents the support they need to get started, he said.

"Our region is the only ... region in the territories that's left without a full-time road system and the costs of living in the Sahtu are probably a little bit higher than most of the regions on average," he said. "I think by taking advantage of some of these government programs and growing more locally raised vegetables and poultry and harvesting local animals, then your family has a better chance of having a few dollars left at Christmastime to pay some of the bills and that."

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