Joyful Chicken Farmers UNITE!! - 04:24, Thursday, February 28, 2008 |
| http://www.homesteadblogger.com/morninggloryfarm I was reading the blog from BornCountry and couldn't help but join in the fun of chicken discussions! My dh has devised a game for the "girls." It's similar to flag football...I call it "wormball." Steve takes a shovel he keeps leaned against the hen house and places it in the dirt. Immediately the chickens gather around, even standing on the dirt just above the shovel blade, watching the ground. He turns the dirt over and the game begins. Everyone tries to find a fat earthworm. When one is found, the lucky hen starts clucking and running. The others follow her all around the pen trying to snatch away the prize. If the first hen looses possession before she swallows it, the game starts anew. We watch a minute, then for fairness sake, he turns a few more shovel-fulls of dirt to let all the girls get a chance to play.  This is just one way we try to keep the hens happy through this cold season. I also supplement their grain diet with veggie and bread scraps. I buy them a canister of old fashioned oats a few times a month, too. They are now producing enough eggs each week to pay for their own feed. Giving them the veggie scraps is a bit of a sacrifice as I'm not able to grow my compost pile, but we have had to be on the watch for night critters (a killer 'possum-got 2 hens in late fall and my dh has spotted raccoon tracks), so we can't let the hens be free-range right now. Once in a while, when it hasn't snowed or rained for a few days, I pull clumps of grass up and toss it in the pen. Our mild climate makes for green grass year round. Even with all the extras we do for the chickens, every once in a while a couple will mount an escape from the pen. It's 8 feet high except at the gate, which is 6 feet high and one spot where the predator netting sags a bit. The hens spent the summer and fall running anywhere they wanted to be, including roosting in trees at night, so their wings are well developed. Most of the time the escapees are found just in the backyard, but a couple days ago my dh found 3 of them in front of the neighbor's house. He shooed them back around our house and they hurried to be let in the gate Chicken farming is not for wimps! It takes work, but the rewards are definitely worth the trouble. BTW, I'm currently looking into making my egg sales legal. Evidently, the government seems to need to regulate even that. I found out through the WVU extension service calendar that there are specific rules and regulations to be followed before I can hang a sign on my mail box. As this is apparently true for most states, I'll keep you updated on what I find out.  |
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 Trying to be like the original example of a homesteading woman: "She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast for her family, and organizing her day. She looks over a field and buys it, then, with money she's put aside, plants a garden." Proverbs 31:15-16 (The Message) CategoriesCooking Crafting Gardening Organizing Small Space Homesteading Studying the Word that you forget to make a life. Recent EntriesPlease Pray for the families of Joshua, Shawn, & ShelleyNever too young to start learning the Word! Baby Wipes are Wonderful!! Joyful Chicken Farmers UNITE!! Whole Grain Storage question
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Chickens - 05:04, Thursday, February 28, 2008
We also play with our chickens. We call it mouse ball. They play football with a mouse like your do with worms. See if people at your church would like to buy your eggs, or the Dr. office. That is where I sell mine. God Bless. mjPosted by smmagers