Why Did The Chicken Come to Churchill?

A couple of years ago (2024) the grade 7 class had the idea to raise chickens as a class pet. Our science teacher pitched the idea about how it would be cool to have chickens as a class pet. Fast-forward to last school year we thought about doing a science fair project, but we didn't have a plan on what we should do. After brainstorming ideas we came to the conclusion to have our science project about not having chickens as a pet but, how we could start a chicken farm as a sustainable, local, and fun science fair project. In northern communities like Churchill, the prices of groceries are expensive and they are not guaranteed to be fresh, we think that starting a chicken farm would help solve the issues of overpriced and unfresh poultry products. The chicken farm would not just benefit us, but benefit our town, as well as other rural northern communities.

We conducted an online community survey to assess the support for our idea of having a chicken farm in Churchill. Community members were asked about their willingness to purchase fresh and cheaper poultry products, and if they have any suggestions or concerns about the chicken farm. We conducted local interviews with residents who have raised chickens in Churchill, as well people from NWT. To determine accurate prices, we talked to our local stores to gather information about the current egg prices, and to develop a comparison chart to determine sustainable and feasible egg prices. We also consulted with our local CEO of Churchill to gather information about the next steps for establishing the business; this includes gaining information about the start up costs, such as the zoning requirements, land acquisition, building and business permits, and utility service fees. In the course of gathering data/information, we prioritized getting firsthand information to ensure the accuracy and reliability for our sustainability project.

Our results concluded that raising chickens in Churchill is sustainable as long as we have a customer base, and we keep reproducing and selling poultry products. to help us with the farming side of our chicken farm we talked with our local council and government, they guided us through the process and steps required to make our project a reality. We discussed building licenses and permits, land rezoning for agricultural use, utilities and service fees, and the town meetings we would need to hold to gather support from the community and council. Before moving forward with these steps we created a community survey to make sure this was something people would support and to see how much they were willing to pay for poultry products.

As for the chicken side of our chicken farm we interviewed residents in Churchill as well as the NWT who have raised chickens in northern climates, and contacted Manitoba's Conservation Department to ensure our chickens would be raised in a humane environment. We gained valuable information on how to keep the chickens warm, healthy, and happy, as well as what we would need do to keep up with consistent egg production. We talked with conservation about what kind of precautions we would need to take and how to avoid attracting any wildlife around our chicken coop. We decided that it would be beneficial to have some kind of humane animal traps around the area where we raise the chickens, as well as maybe some extra patrolling to keep predators away from our coop.

Unfortunately after researching business start up costs as well any expenses we would have, without any type of financial support, we estimated that profitability could take several months to multiple years, depending on product demand. However,after conducting the town survey we discovered that there is significant community interest about starting a chicken farm. Several survey participants said they would buy products from us, especially if prices were lower than local stores.

We also had a local resident volunteer to let us use his cabin that was located just outside of the town, which we agreed would be the best place to house the chickens to reduce the risk of any extra wildlife from wandering into town.

We discussed partnering or bartering with local companies for building materials to reduce construction costs as well as working with restaurants to use leftover compost to help feed our chickens and lower feeding costs.

Finally we want to give back to our community so we explored the possibility of using chicken manure that could be repurposed as fertilizer in the community garden to help with a more sustainable local food system.

Our project shows that a chicken farm in Churchill is feasible and increases food security within the community, as well as have the potential to be sustainable. With strong community support, financial investments, and potential partnerships with local businesses, our project could be viable.

After researching and estimating the costs, of shipping, building materials, business licenses and permits, and the costs of housing and raising the chickens it is too expensive for us to try and pay everything, without any financial support. If we were try and pay everything out of pocket, it would take months to multiple years for us to become profitable based off the amount of customers we have. If we were to secure government funding through either grants or subsidies, it would go a long way to help us start our chicken farm. This way we would be profitable sooner, or from the start of our business.

After pulling the stats from our online survey, we can say that this project would be beneficial to our community. By being able to provide them with fresh and cheap poultry products, our community would be excited to see us move forward with the next steps of our chicken farm.

We want to make our project community involved as much as we can so, instead of buying and shipping materials from elsewhere, we want to buy or barter from local stores so both of us can benefit. We also looked into the idea of partnering with restaurants in town, so we can use their food scraps as food for our chickens to help reduce waste in town as well as help us cut back on feeding costs.

This is the first phase of our project, it focuses more on research and planning. We aim to make this project into reality by following these steps: first, we need to present our final plan to our local government to ensure we meet any requirements and gain approval. Next we need to hold a public hearing to share our plan with the town and gain community support. Next we will consider local investments and contributions to help cover the costs. Lastly we need to secure government funding through loans, grants or subsidies to begin building and operating our chicken farm.

Thank you to everyone who help us with our science fair project: Ms. Edina-lil Preteau - Our project manager. Ms. Bailey Cole - Our Science teacher. Melissa Gibbons - Help brainstorm ideas, parent chaperone. Jessica Power - CEO of Town of Churchill. Ella Morris and Michelle Carriere - Our mentors. Jacqueline Monteith and Arif Kassum. Rhoda DeMeulles - Interviewed locally. Jonah Mitchell - Interviewed from Northwest Territories. Frontier School Division.

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