A future farmer.
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CHICKENS M
arshmallow is a 2-year-old Ameraucana Chicken which belongs to Sophie and Sebastain Langenberger at their 30-acre farm, Poplar Path outside of Middleburg. She lays five to six blue-green eggs a week during the summer. She is very sweet natured and loves treats, as they all do. Chickens are very food motivated animals. It was Sophie’s idea to first get egg layers, but they quickly have become one of her favorite animals. “They have so much personality and bring a lot of fun to the farm,” she noted. They also raise about 50 meat chickens in two batches, one in the spring, one in the fall, every year. Sebastain processes them after about eight weeks. “It’s a lot of work but eating sustainably is very important to our family,” he told Country ZEST, “and I take a lot of pride in knowing all the meat we eat is either raised by us or another local farm when we buy beef and pork in bulk.” And finally, there’s Berend, 17 months. He has loved animals and been outside from the very beginning. From the moment he wakes up, he is running to the door asking to go outside to say hello to the chickens and goats, even if it’s very cold. It takes a lot of coaxing to get him to eat breakfast and get dressed first. He is famous at the barn for wanting to pet every horse within reach. He’s visited a friend’s Shetland pony and he already knows how to get a handful of sweet feed to get him to come over for a visit.
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Photo by Doug Gehlen Middleburg Photo
Marshmellow
MIDDLEBURG SUSTAINABLE COMMITTEE| Winter 2022
