CARE
We LOVE our chickens!
At 3 weeks old our chickens were moved from our mudroom (never again) to their pens. We use Salatin pens for our chicken production. This ensures our chickens have 24/7 access to fresh air, water, sunlight & shade, the ability to forage for bugs/eat grass and they are able to freely move around BUT they are protected from predators! As they get larger, we prop the enclousures open during the day so the chickens have even MORE pasture to forage on. In the evening we put them back in for protection. We move them 2x’s a day and check their feed and water during these times as well.
When handling any chicken, they always get reiki. Lyndsey does with all of the animals on the farm when working with them. We believe this is an important part of what makes our farm unique and significantly contributes to our animals over-all well being.
FEED
We purchase our certified organic grain (this mean’s no GMO’s as well as many other benefits) for our chickens from a local farmer (within a 1/2 hour). We also provide grit & calcium for our chickens daily so they are able to digest all the grasses, buggies and grain they eat and have strong eggs!
BREED
New Hampshires
“The New Hampshire has a more triangular shape than the Rhode Island Red. They have a deep, broad body, feather rapidly, and are prone to go broody, so they make good mothers*. They are a dual-purpose breed*, laying about 200-220 large, tinted eggs a year. Some strains lay eggs with a dark brown shell color.
They are red, but closer to a chestnut than mahogany, and they may have pale yellow highlights – though the sun can bleach out the feathers to an even lighter shade. Roosters have black tail feathers, and hens may as well. Hens may also have black tipping on their neck and wings.
Their eyes are orange, and their beak is a reddish/horn color. The comb is single and medium to large in size; in the females it often flops over a bit. They have clean shanks and four toes which are yellow; there is a reddish line that runs from shank to toes. Their skin is yellow. Males weigh about 8.5 lbs. and hens 6.5 lbs.” Livestock Conservancy
* We specifically look for heritage breeds that have good mothering instincts and are dual-purpose (meaning they are good for meat and eggs).
Why is this important to us?
Our goal is to be a more sustainable farm, and for us, that means not relying on larger farms and hatcheries to purchase our day old chicks from.
We plan to raise ~20 hens, with a few roosters to see if they will procreate on their own. We don’t want to be in situations where we have to purchase equipment to incubate eggs to hatch, or keep purchasing day old chicks from hatcheries. We aren’t judging either! We purchased these birds from a local hatchery, and that’s ok. But we want to be better prepared incase there is a disease that comes along that kills hundreds of thousands of birds and then causes chick prices to go thru the roof… dare I say Avian Flu?
So we are trying something old/new and want to see if we can keep a decent supply of chicks coming-in by letting the hens express their natural instincts to brood and allowing them to pass that mothering instinct to their young. Some of the chicks we will use for meat birds and others we will integrate into our layers as needed.
1st day at the farm! Love how they drink. They have to tilt their head back... it look adorable. :)
Throwing it back!
Not even 10 days old and new feathers!
Just cute little peepers doing a photo shoot.
3 weeks old! It was warm enough to move them outdoors with 3 brooders, and deep pine shavings to create snuggy spaces for them. They love all the new things to see and play with!
Testing out their roosting skills.
5 weeks old and getting moved to the big pasture! During this process we had quite a few escapees, but all were rounded up...eventually. :)
They are on the move! Farmer Karl helping me catch, load and unload the chickies.
We had 2 hens that got ill. One made a full recovery (pictured above), while the other had to get put down. It's always a hard thing to do, but we know it was for the best, as her quality of life was quickly deteriorating.
8 weeks old and having a stare down. To jump or not to jump? That was the question. Fortunately, Farmer Karl talked her off the ledge.
9 weeks old and roosters are getting RED!
We have another jumper!
Actually, he was just discussing the gorgeous weather with one of Aunt Megan's chickens.
I can see you! 11 weeks old, and hiding in the tall grass.
She was VERY interested in my phone!
Floofy McFloof... one of Aunt Megan's chicks she added to our flock the first week. This lady will be a layer.
One of our friendlier roosters who likes to give me a gentle peck when I'm not paying enough attention to him. :)