Jun. 20, 2006
Free Range Chickens
Posted in Homestead Barnyard
We have about 70 laying hens that are free ranging birds. This means they are allowed to roam our property during the day eating and enjoying a wide variety of grasses, weeds and bugs. By raising our hens this way we are giving them access to a more natural type of diet. This diet in turns produces some very healthy eggs! The egg yolks are high in Omega 3 oils which are so needed by our bodies.
Our chickens live at night in a coop and we let them out during the day. One obvious question that may come up if you are new to raising chickens is how do you ‘train’ them to go back to the coop at night? Well here is the good news; you don’t need to train your chickens at all! Chickens are ‘creatures of habit’ and will willing put themselves to bed in the same spot each night.
When we first move our chickens from the brooder to the chicken coop we don’t let them out of the coop for a couple of weeks. They stay inside and get use to their new home.
Then after this period of adjustment we open the door a few hours before dusk and let them out. As soon as it begins to get dark all the hens head right back to the coop to go to bed.
Over the course of the next few days we begin opening the door earlier and earlier until the hens have the routine down.
This method allows us to have the best of both worlds. Our hens are safely locked up during the night to keep them away from predators and have freedom to move around and enjoy roaming our property during the day.
Crystal Miller
Crystal and her husband Tobin, along with 6 of their 8 homeschooled children make their home on 18 acres in SW Washington State. Crystal enjoys caring for her home and family and her farm. You can visit Crystal’s website: The Family Homestead or Crystal’s Country Store where she sells her own goat milk soap, ebooks and more!
Comments
Jun. 20, 2006 - We love free range chicken eggs
Posted by Carol
There is nothing like eating eggs from "free range chickens". The difference from store bought to free range is absolutely amazing.
~carol
Edited by Carol on Jun. 20, 2006 at 10:27 AM
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Jun. 20, 2006 - We'd love to do that
Posted by HSBFrontPorch
So far, we don't trust our dogs enough to let our chickens free range so they are kept in a chicken tractor on fresh grass. Are all of your hens rhode island reds? How many eggs do you get a day?
~nancy
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Jun. 20, 2006 - Nancy..
Posted by quiverfull
Yes most all of our 70 chickens are Rhode Island Reds. Right now we have 20 that are laying daily. They lay about 18 to 20 eggs a day. The other 50 should start laying next month..
Crystal :)
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Jun. 20, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by southernbelle
I'm thankful to you for answering some of the questions I had about your chickens. I'm curious though about one more thing: How do you put so many eggs to use?
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Jun. 20, 2006 - getting chickens
Posted by shelley43022
Thanks for the good information. We are just getting ready to order our chicks. We havn't decided if they are going to free range or have a large fenced in area to run around in. Any good egg recipes?
joyfull homemaker
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Jun. 20, 2006 - All Those Eggs.....
Posted by quiverfull
SouthernBelle.. Two of my daughters originally got all these chickens for the purpose of selling farm fresh eggs. We started with the first 20 and soon had more customers than eggs so we bought 50 more. Crystal :)
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Jun. 20, 2006 - Joyfull Homemaker...
Posted by quiverfull
Uses for eggs... Egg salad, deviled eggs, quiche, scrambled eggs, ice cream (this helps use up the excess milk too! ;), fried egg sandwiches: my children's favorite lunch, hard boiled eggs (they make great snacks), angel food cake, crepes... the list goes on and on!! Crystal :)
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