Dalton Backyard Farm- our story

Times are changing and we are changing with the times. 

learning to live a more self sustainable life style. 

Hello,
We are Ranny and Rhonda Lane  we live in Dalton Ga. you may know it as the Carpet Capitol of the World. Dalton Ga. is about 90 miles north of Atlanta Ga. and 30 miles south of Chattanooga Tenn. It's a beautiful place snuggled between Dug Gap mountain to the west and Fort mountain and Grassy mountain to the east, with rolling hills and winding roads that can literally take your breath away.  It was a booming industrial town a few years ago, but like many towns across our nation it was hit hard with the economical fall out of the housing market in 2008. and still has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Our life style like many others has changed in the past few years, but we are not looking back we are counting our blessings and changing with the times.

 As children  we both grew up with chickens scratching around the yard as most of our neighbors did, it was an ordinary site to see in the 70's, but times were  changing and the 80's brought a whole new approach to the way we thought and lived, and raising chickens in the backyard for eggs and meat was something our parents did, not us. Keeping chickens was a thing of the past, we were to busy raising children, trying to climb the ladder of success, and pulling up at the drive thru window on our way home to feed the family a quick bite before heading to the ball fields.
Fast forward 29 years, and we wonder were the time went. Our children grew up and moved out, that ladder of success we spent countless hours climbing, was not stable anymore. Times were changing once again, friends and family were loosing their jobs. We lost our rug business we had dedicated the last 10 years to building. The price of living keeps going up and the companies we work for aren't giving raises due to the economy.  Gas prices keep rising and the cost of food is sky rocketing while the quality of the food is diminishing.
 We started thinking more about our future than ever before and what we realized was, our grandparents and parents raised a portion of their food in the backyard. They planted gardens in the spring, harvested fresh vegetables in the summer, replanted a summer garden and harvested again in the fall. They raised chickens, for meat and gathered fresh eggs every day.  Our grandparents used their skills and trades to provide income to support their household. But somewhere along the way our generation lost site of all that.
And that's how our backyard farm came about. We wanted to live a more self sustainable life style. By growing and raising a portion of our own food, we can provide more for our selves in this economy and be less reliant on the state of the economy in hard times.
 We are now grandparents, and our grandson loves visiting and helping us tend to the chickens. We hope to teach him and our future grandchildren a quality of life, they can pass on to the next generation. Our blog gives us the opportunity to share our joy of raising chickens, and inspire more backyard enthusiast to add a flock of chickens to their hobby.
We did not want the run of the mill hatchery birds. We took our time to find growers that knew the history of there own flock, and wanted to share information on how to care for them. We wanted our flocks to be able to free range and live as nature intended them to during the day and close them up at night in a safe coop.
Our goal is to help others the same way we received help when we started our adventure, from choosing the breed that is best for you, to starting your own flock with day old chicks.

We are now to the point in our journey were we can see the advantages of being more self sustainable. Not only does our hobby provide us with fresh eggs and meat for our family, but it is also teaching us that we can survive from the fruit of our land, and the skills God has given us, when we use our hands and apply the work

We are always eager to answer any questions you may have on raising chickens, care of day old chicks, and more. We enjoy keeping our little feathered friends and love that we can share our enjoyment with others.
Thank You and God Bless
 Ranny and Rhonda Lane