I can see why a lot of people do not want to raise chickens but if you have always wanted to and are afraid don’t be you can do this. It’s a unique journey and you may have to win your neighbors over but its well worth the trouble. I have thoroughly enjoyed everyday of my chicken raising and my favorite thing is how the chickens follow me all over the yard. Chickens truly love to hang out with their owners… now true they may just love me for my treats but I have a nineteen and a fourteen year old so I will take the love! LOL! I also love them for their beautiful tasty eggs!
I can guarantee that my gals eggs are larger, the shells are thicker, the egg yolk is richer, the finished cooked product is just superior to those regular eggs in the store and probably even better than some locally grown organic eggs. Because I only have a small flock I can control the quality better and know what my chickens are eating. My chickens get treats all the time so they get grapes, tomatoes, lettuce, oatmeal, and even quinoa all year-long.
Because our gals are not 100% Free Range chickens we keep them in chicken runs and this is because our Lil’ Suburban Homestead is only 1/3 of an acre so kind of hard to let them free range completely because they were eating up my gardens however they have a huge run which I will have to put some video up so you can see how large it is. I do let them out in the late afternoon to wander the yard while we are out working in the yard after work so they can eat up all the tasty greens and bugs all over the yard. They just need a little supervision.
Every morning my husband and I have to make sure the gals have fresh water and fresh food. Chickens must have a supply of fresh water and they often will run back to the coop to get the fresh water before they eat their treats. Sometimes I add a little vinegar to the water and one of my friends at Homesteading Today mentioned I may want to try some grapefruit seed extract to deal with the “doodie” butt which is a condition that chickens get sometimes. Their watering containers must stay clean, their coops need to be cleaned out weekly if not more often in the summer. For that little amount of work your chickens will reward you with beautiful delicious eggs and lots of entertainment.
I can vouch for the richer, tastier yolks. Yum!
I keep hoping I am going to talk you and Lisa into becoming Backyard Chicken owners! I can’t wait until I will have more eggs to share in the Spring!
We love our chickens as well…We only have five…but getting 7 more in November. We only have 1/2 acres…so they do not free range…but they have a two huge runs.
Connie thanks for commenting! I love keeping chickens for so many reasons and the eggs are nice too 😉 I will be posting pics of our runs this fall I will have to check out your blog too!