Well, I am just as surprised as anyone that knows me, for some reason I wanted to have chickens. I love fresh eggs, who doesn’t? My first taste of them was years ago when my brother decided to have a chicken coop. This was before it was “cool” and before urban farming really started to become a trend. My family appreciated his venture and took advantage of the offerings.
Today we have our own chicken coop. I love how rich the eggs are and I also enjoy getting up in the morning and feeding them. One thing that I found interesting and humorous is that their earlobe color coordinates with the color of eggs that they lay! LOL! Egg color is based on genetics of the chickens. We have one Leghorn Chicken and her name is Daisy. She is a consistent producer! She produces a white egg and lays about 280 eggs per year! The other chickens we have are Rhode Island Red Chickens. Their names are Beatrice, Bonnie, and Bertha. They produce about 260 brown eggs annually.
We built a small house for them with a fenced in area. The chickens are let out to roam for 4-6 hours daily. I have to keep tabs on them because there are lots of predators around. One thing I love to do is give the chickens fresh fruit and veggies. Chickens can eat pretty much any vegetable or fruit except citrus fruits. You can feed them most of your table scraps, but I like to keep it simple with the fruits and vegetables. They love them. We also feed them grain and corn which can be found at your local Tractor Supply Store. If they are not producing many eggs, the eggs are strangely shaped, or you often have double-yolks, then they may have some deficiencies.
We have a name for our chicken business. “The Chicken Coop Group” and my daughter is the manager. LOL! She writes the schedule for the “employees” (which are kids in the neighborhood) and they take turns feeding, collecting and cleaning the eggs. We never seem to have enough eggs for the demand!
If you are thinking about hosting your own chickens, make sure you check with your local township regarding the regulations. Also, you can find most of the supplies at your local Tractor Supply Store.
No Comments