Billie Warm lives on a small farm, which was originally a stage stop on old Cabin Mill Road near Mountain Home, Ark. When she and her husband, Tim, moved from Ava, Mo., she began by raising cows and horses. She now raises smaller animals, including sheep, goats and chickens. The sheep and goats are sold for meat and the chickens are raised for egg production.
Billie has several breeds in her flock of 40 laying hens, including Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Dominickers, Araucanas and Black Australorps. All are free-range chickens which return to the henhouse only to lay and roost. Billie and Tim believe that when chickens are allowed to forage far and wide, the consistency and taste of the eggs is better.
When it comes time to increase her flock, Billie prefers poultry swaps rather than allowing her chickens to set or buying chicks from just anywhere. She said, “I like going to the poultry swaps. I’m real picky about the chickens that I get. I make sure that their legs are clear from mites… and of course if you look at the back end and if they’ve had the runs, I really don’t want that because I don’t want to bring a problem into my flock. I check them out really well, how hefty they are. I can usually pick out good chickens.” Her favorite poultry swap is near West Plains, Mo.
Billie doesn’t have any problems marketing her eggs. She takes many of them to a local health food store in Mountain Home. If she has extras, she can always drive into town and sell on the square at Mountain Home’s farmers market. Quality is what her customers look for; they’re not concerned with price. They come to the health food store and the farmers market to buy her product because they know she raises her animals naturally and uses no antibiotics.
Billie has advice for someone who is thinking of entering direct marketing of small animals. She said, “The main thing is to make sure that your animals are healthy. You don’t want to sell anything that can come back on you.” She also advised to start small. Otherwise, there are huge feed bills and things may not go as planned. “You just have to think a little ahead,” she said.
As usual with farmers, Tim and Billie must supplement their farm income with side ventures. But they don’t have to work away from the farm. They both have “cottage industries” that allow them to stay at home. Tim restores antique and specialty cars, and builds hot rods. Just 2 years ago, Billie began creating unique pieces of furniture out of cedar. Billie refers to her furniture as rustic. She looks at the raw wood and envisions a table, plant stand, bench or chair. Then she starts working the wood to create a piece of furniture. All of her creations are worked by hand from wood found locally.
The Warms are another family who work hard to preserve the Ozark way of life.
