I met Bill Arning a couple of years ago in his storefront exhibition space. He has had a long career as a dealer, Houston, New York, art fairs, the whole deal, and had recently decided to move upstate and open a small exhibition space in Kinderhook. During his tenure as proprietor of his tiny jewel box of a space, Bill presided over a host of fantastic shows, and his openings were always fun.
Digging deeper revealed that this man of the arts is also a passionate keeper of a flock of happy hens who, in the summer months, enthusiastically offer an overabundance of eggs. Bill was searching for placement and we provided. Bill’s eggs are as fresh as can be and a brilliant counterpoint to our field-grown produce and flowers vibe.
Like many of us Upstate whose passions veer toward the agricultural and artistic, Bill cares a lot about his hens. “Making sure my chickens are happy and living their best lives is important to me,” he said recently. They have a beautiful Amish coop with plenty of indoor space for sleeping and sheltering from bad weather, along with a thirty-foot covered run that’s large enough that they don’t need to free-range.”
The problem is predators, Hawks, foxes and even domestic cats can be deadly. This spring, with a few days liberty in the wide-open fields, a young fox attacked La Contessa, one of Bill’s favorites. She suffered a nasty bite and lost most of her feathers in the attack.
Chickens are remarkably resilient and heal quickly, but La Contessa needed to be isolated from the rest of the flock until her feathers grew back. For five weeks she lived on Bill’s home office desk, occasionally poking her head into meetings. “It became a surprisingly sweet and special time and when she was finally ready to return to her flock, I found myself a little sad to see her go.” he said. A poignant end to a dramatic rescue. Typical of the dedication of the admirable chicken farmer.
Bill’s happy girls are laying and we are the happy recipients. Their eggs will make an appearance in our CSA box over the course of this summer. Lucky hens. Lucky us!
