The Hawthorne Country Store is holding their annual
Chicktopia from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 12 at their Santee
store, as well as their sister stores in Fallbrook and Escondido.
The Thelan family, who own all three store locations, holds the spring event to help locals expand chicken flocks and poultry knowledge. The annual celebration is the largest in Southern California with more than 115 varieties of baby poultry available.
“More and more families are finding that chickens are pets that come with great benefits, such as producing protein,
creating fertilizer, and recycling waste,” Hawthorne Country Store owner Heather Thelen said.
Thelen and her family regularly promote homesteading, and although they typically use the annual event as an educational opportunity for families to learn about raising chickens in their own backyard, they also tout the benefits of homesteading and self-sufficiency in general. The stores sell items for beekeeping, canning and cheese making.
“Homesteading is all about using what you have and learning how to get things done with what you have available,” Thelen said. “This is one of our most popular events of the year and we’re happy to be able to bring it back in its original form at all three locations,” Thelen said.
The Santee Hawthorne Country Store is located at 10845 Woodside Ave. Visit HawthorneCountryStore.com for more information.
