Circle Pond Farm: About Us
Circle Pond Farm is a small family run farm nestled on the eastern side of Chester Basin harbour where it slopes down toward the Atlantic. The farm has been in the Eisnor Family for four generations dating back to the 1860's and Captain Calvin Eisnor a coastal sea captain and farmer. The present caretakers are both teachers; Tony teaches grade 5 at Bridgewater Elementary School and wants to be a farmer when he grows up. Corinne is also a grade 6 teacher at Hebbville Academy when she is not mothering three children, 450 birds, 2 Labrador Retrievers, 11 sheep and their associated offspring as well as Tony. The entire family is involved in the Ocean Breeze 4H Club of which Corinne is the general leader.
The family home is a registered heritage property with much of the farm's old country charm still present. Many people can point to a time when they "began farming." We grew up with it from our parents and grandparents before them and just continued the tradition. In the late 1990's after Tony's father had retired from the biz we were down to two sheep and a small flock of mixed layers. Today, our family enjoys raising and promoting rare and endangered poultry, getting others involved in the hobby and showing birds at local exhibitions, poultry shows and 4H competitions. The farm has grown to include over 18 heritage breeds of chickens as well as turkeys, peafowl, guineas, geese and ducks all living on the family farm with the sheep, most of which are show quality lines from across Canada.
Tony got his first white call duck when he was eight years old and his first love remains the waterfowl. We have been raising birds since for over a decade and showing for the last 6 years.
Important Information: Before buying young birds from anyone ask where the birds originally came from and if they have been vaccinated by the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture for ILT. Make sure the parent birds come from healthy stock and haven't been purchased from questionable sources that do not practice proper biosecurity, or cattle auctions. ILT or Infectious Laryngotracheitis is a very infectious respiratory disease of poultry that is found mostly in chickens. There are many diseases that affect poultry, however ILT is of particular importance because it 1) can cause severe illness and death in a large proportion of a flock, 2) can cause a severe economic loss in commercial flocks through death, disease and decreased production, 3) cannot be treated, 4) remains in a carrier state in the flock after recovery, and most importantly, 5) is preventable.
Birds may recover from the illness within 2 weeks but can remain carriers of the virus for long periods of time afterwards. These carrier birds become a threat for other poultry owners. A bird that appears to be healthy may be introduced into a new flock and two weeks later all of the other birds are sick. The bird carrying the disease still appears healthy (as it has some immunity from its first infection) and, therefore, can create confusion when it is explained that an otherwise healthy appearing bird is the cause of illness in all of the others. Several outbreaks of ILT have been reported in the province of Nova Scotia already this year. It is up to all of us as responsible poultry owners to control the spread through proper biosecurity and poultry purchases.
The Circle Pond
