Our flock of laying hens currently includes Rhode Island Reds, Wyandottes, Cuckoo Marans, Welsummers, Barnevelders, New Hampshires, and Delawares. All lay brown eggs in different hues. (Although not necessary to get eggs, we do keep a rooster or two.) We also have Buttercups and Buff Minorcas laying white eggs.
Our hens enjoy a raw diet of unsprayed grass, weeds, seeds, worms, bugs, scratch grains, and all manner of the fruits and vegetables we grow, plus some hormone/antibiotic-free chicken feed, with fresh water at all times. This makes for delicious healthy eggs with viscous whites and "stand up" dark yellow yolks.
The girls have a spacious airy barn with off-ground nests for laying and a large roost for the night. There is an attached outdoor run with a screened top and multi-level perching bars for early mornings and evenings. During the day they have free access to our orchard for roaming and foraging. There they spend hours hustling their own grub in the tall grass or lounging in the dust pits they've dug under the apple trees. Maybe they do a little apple pest control. They have names. It's a good life for a chicken.We are committed to maintaining at least 100 square feet of clean pasture per hen.
Hawkeye, pollo que baila.
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