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Chickens in the yard

Chickens in the yard
Buff Orphington

September 30, 2010

Chickens in the yard

So lets start at the beginning.
A few months ago we stopped by an auction with the intent to purchase some plant material for a new garden bed. We did get some very nice American hollies but we also got a box of Bar Rock chickens. Novice that I am I put the chicks in our greenhouse. Poor things all but 2 died of cold. Ok we brought the survivors inside. Next I went to the local Farm supply, just for feed mind you, and came home with 10 more chicks. Thoughts of raising our own eggs danced through my head. Guess what, only one hen in the bunch. Then my wonderful friend gave me 4 hybrid hens. Ok now we have 5 hens. I need to do some research right. Internet to the rescue and lucky me I find a web site that sells pre-sexed ( that means they guaranty the sex of the chick) chicks. So I ordered 6 hens (2 Buff Orphingtons, 2 Plymouth Rock, and 2 New Hampshire Reds), we lost one of the Rock hens. So the end total is 10 hens. We had all but one of the roosters butchered, my husband just had to keep one of the roosters as a pet and has named it Fogghorn.
This all started last spring. Fast forward 5 months and we now have 3 hens producing each day like clockwork. Soon we will be producing enough to sell.  We have set a goal to sell 1 dozen a day, just to earn enough to pay our real estate taxes yearly. We purchase all supplies locally, our feed comes from a local mill. Our hens are cage free, hormone free, no antibiotics. They live in a comfy hen house with an attached run protected from predation. We let them out on a regular basis to forage. They are happy spoiled hens. But spoiled in a good way. They love tomatoes, sweet corn and radish greens. They get scraps from the vegetable garden on a regular basis.
I will be posting on a regular basis or as scheduling allows.