Explore Local Regional Producer Profiles: Calico Farms

Krista and Grant Ball run Calico Farms near Blackie, Alberta. They raise the birds on land that has been farmed by Krista's family for four generations. Over the course of its 100 year history, the current chicken barn has previously been home to pigs, dairy cows, donkeys and beef cattle.




You can purchase Calico Farms products at the High River Farmers' Market, Hillhurst-Sunnyside Farmers' Market and through pre-orders on their Facebook page.





How Calico Farms began:

Raising chickens is part of Krista's family history. Her grandmother always had a flock and for as long as she can remember, Krista has loved chickens. In 2013, Krista began raising some laying hens in one of the farm's barns for her own personal use but soon word spread about the quality of the eggs and her business began to grow. She began with only five customers purchasing eggs from her 30 laying hens. Within three years she has seen a huge demand in the local community and now she keeps 50+ regular weekly customers and 300 laying hens.

Krista is also involved in her parents black angus beef enterprise which operates on the same farm. Being raised in a family with such rich agricultural history, Krista is carrying on the tradition. She has a degree in Animal Science from the University of Guelph where her studies focused on both genetics and poultry production.





How Calico Farms does it differently:

In the beginning Krista tried many different varieties of chickens to see what would do best for her. She settled on ISA Brown hens partially because they're well suited for her needs and partially because she loves their quirky personalities. Krista keeps two flocks: one that begins laying in April and one that begins in October, to ensure she has a steady supply of eggs year round.

Krista works with a poultry nutritionist to make sure her hens are getting exactly what they need. She supplements their diet with a high protein, high calcium feed to ensure they are healthy and able to produce strong, beautiful eggs.

Calico Farms processes meat birds a few times a year which are only sold by pre-ordering.







Their relationship with their customers and role in the community:

Many of Krista's extremely loyal regular customers have a reciprocal relationship with the hens in that they keep their garden waste or unused produce and pass it on to Krista to feed to the flock. This variety in their diet makes Calico Farm eggs super flavourful.

Krista is passionate about promoting agriculture in Alberta and building a market for all kinds of locally produced food. Something she really enjoys is engaging her customers in discussion about her product and processes. Many customers have questions and Krista spends a lot of time helping to educate the community about farming practices in general and how she specifically raises her flock.

She believes that people like to know where their food is coming from and how it is raised. Her customers appreciate the transparency in which she operates. The idea of buying local and knowing their farmer really motivates them to support local producers.





The future of Calico Farms:

In the future, Krista is hoping to receive a larger quota through the Egg Farmers of Alberta so she can increase the size of her flock. She hopes to expand production enough to supply some grocery stores as well as add new products to the Calico Farm brand.