www.roanoke.com

Yes, these two ladies really are operating chicken ranches with 200 chicks. Angie LeNoir and her good friend Patricia Whitt have a business selling dressed, pasture raised chickens.

LeNoir is married to the camp manager of Camp Bethel and they live in a two-story brick home near the camp with their children just off Bethel Road. Currently, she has 100 chicks three weeks of age in a movable chicken pen and in a shed by her garden. Over in Lithia on Hodges Road, Patricia Whitt has another 100 chicks just a few days old in the same sort of set-up. They order the chicks from Mount Healthy Hatcheries www.mthealthy.com in Ohio.
Both women say their husbands are very supportive of their enterprise.

"When the chicks arrive, we get a call early in the morning from the Troutville Post Office to come and get the brood," said LeNoir. "There's a lot of peeping going on when we arrive."

The business is named Blue Ridge Poultry Co-op.
http://blueridgepoultrycoop.com. They call themselves Farmer Angie and Farmer Patricia.

They met seven years ago at a Bradley child birthing class and have been friends ever since. They have been doing the chicken pasture technique commercially for a couple of years. They have movable coops designed by the guru of chicken ranching and sustainable agriculture, Joel Salatin www.polyfacefarms.com from the Shenandoah Valley.

"Every where the coops have sat the grass is greener the next year." said Whitt. They have
the lighter weight models that women can move.

"Chickens feed on bugs, worms and natural products," she said. They also supplement with chicken food from Sunrise Farm near Staunton. " It isn't organic, but it is grown locally."

They raise a particular type of chicken --the Cornish Cross, a fast growing chicken that reaches market size- 5 to 6 pounds by eight weeks of age.

The duo has an electric feather picker -- they drop four scalded chickens into the large barrel that has rubber like fingers and a rotating bottom. A few minutes later they have feather-free chickens! Chicken will sell for three dollars per pound and dressed whole. A customer is to call ahead and make a reservation for the number of chickens they wish to purchase and arrive with a chest of ice to take the poultry home for consumption. Dates for May are May 17 and May 20 1p.m. to 6 p.m at Angie's Farm on Bethel Road and on May 31and June 3 1 p.m.to 6 p.m at Patricia's place on Hodges Road in Lithia.

Asked how they prepare chicken for the family, LeNoir fries her chicken in an iron skillet and Whitt bakes hers in the oven.

The first flock will be ready for consumption in five weeks. They will continue to order chicks throughout the summer into the fall. They have a steady client in Nancy Morelli of "Good to Go" a Roanoke Valley caterer said Whitt. "She says our chickens are very flavorful." LeNoir said they have been exploring becoming part of the Farmer's Market in the planning stages for Botetourt. They expect to have chickens for sale on their farms through October. For more information call 966-0158.

The movable chicken coop in the background, Angie LeNoir and Patricia Whitt are growing pasture raised chickens to market as a healthier alternative to mass produced chickens.