The laying hens (and a few difficult roosters & drakes) are given a lifelong promise of yummy food and peaceful comfort, with me supplying food, protection from predators, and housing that gives them shade in summer and shelter in winter. In exchange, they give me (and you) eggs!
Their Food!
Who says you can't stand in your food while you eat it!
They get certified organic feed as needed. You might think less is needed in summer with all the juicy grass and bugs but they are also more active than they are in winter so it is pretty even.
In winter, they get occasional treats of USA grown dried grubs, organic, non-gmo scratch, and flats of alfalfa shoots that I grow just for them inside under lights. |
Hungry, Hungry Hens!
Roughly ⅓ to ½ of their feed is a premium, organic, non-gmo whole grain mix that I ferment by soaking in water for 3 days. Fermenting helps moisten the feed and makes the nutrients in it easier for the hens to digest. Their remaining feed is organic, non-gmo crumble that they prefer on the really cold days in winter as the fermented feed is harder to keep from freezing (even though heated dog water bowls help, but can dry it out)
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Their Houses!
Say hello to the rainbow hut crew! I house the birds in micro flocks that each have a hut or a-frame as their secure sleeping and egg-laying area and an arch-shaped run for daytime fun that is save from ground and overhead predators but lets them enjoy scratching the grass and pecking at the dirt. After the heavy work of the day is done, they all get let out to roam freely for the last few hours of sunset as I watch over them from a shady spot in a comfy chair with a cool drink.
The runs sport shade cloths in summer to keep the sun out and to help them stay cool and plastic in winter to keep the snow out and help them stay warm. The huts are like little Monopoly houses that they get to live in. They have comfy perches for sleeping and roll-away nest boxes for clean and easy egg collecting. They have screened windows for ventilation (very important for poultry). The huts are built to keep the little birds safe from predators, both big and small, as they sleep (their most vulnerable time). This means they are over-constructed with framing and plywood and all openings or gaps are covered with ½" hardware mesh (poultry wire keeps hens in not predators out). The runs are more lightly built with poultry wire to help with mobility and since the birds are less vulnerable while both them and me are not sleeping.
Both the huts and runs are lifted up onto wheels each week so I can shove them over to fresh pasture (not in winter). The hens get fresh grass and grubs. The pasture gets fertilized and kept manageable. All this means the eggs stay tasty.
The runs sport shade cloths in summer to keep the sun out and to help them stay cool and plastic in winter to keep the snow out and help them stay warm. The huts are like little Monopoly houses that they get to live in. They have comfy perches for sleeping and roll-away nest boxes for clean and easy egg collecting. They have screened windows for ventilation (very important for poultry). The huts are built to keep the little birds safe from predators, both big and small, as they sleep (their most vulnerable time). This means they are over-constructed with framing and plywood and all openings or gaps are covered with ½" hardware mesh (poultry wire keeps hens in not predators out). The runs are more lightly built with poultry wire to help with mobility and since the birds are less vulnerable while both them and me are not sleeping.
Both the huts and runs are lifted up onto wheels each week so I can shove them over to fresh pasture (not in winter). The hens get fresh grass and grubs. The pasture gets fertilized and kept manageable. All this means the eggs stay tasty.
The Hens (& Roosters & Drakes)
The 30 hens and 10 ducks are a mix of different breeds. There are little groups of 2 or 3 of the same but otherwise all different and all with names and their little personalities. There are 5 roosters and 4 drakes who mostly live apart from the hens. As of 2020 the oldest group of laying hens is 3 years old with the rest 2 years old. My farm and husbandry practice differs from most commercial egg farms that I let the hens live for as long as they can instead of being culled at 2 years old as egg laying begins to slow down slightly. Hens can live over 10 years and stop laying reliably around 7 years so these girls will live much longer than most chickens. When they retire from laying eggs they will move on to compost production since old hens still poop and still scratch in the dirt!
Their Eggs
There are 3 main colors of chicken eggs: white, brown/tan, & green/blue. Add then all to the same carton and you've got rainbow eggs! In summer they have the golden yolks from all the beta carotene the hens get from fresh greens. I never feed colorant to the hens to make their yolks artificially golden, but beware that many large commercial operations do!
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