Here at the farmstead, we’ve had chickens for many years – at least since we realized you could buy them outside of a bucket of original recipe.
Chickens, like children, start out adorable.
They become gangly teenagers.
And then they fill out into a mature version, with attitudes and personalities all their own. Some are friendly and sweet, and some just want to peck your eyes out. Most get along just fine with other farm animals.
And some just get into mischief.
Like most farmsteaders, we wanted free-range chickens. Free-range is a Latin term which translates to “chicken poop on the porch” and “lunchtime for varmints,” so we quickly nixed that idea and moved on to a chicken pen.
After exploring many different housing options, we decided it was time to stop waiting on these children, I mean chickens, hand and foot, and make them earn their keep. Thus the chicken tractor.
The tractor includes a coop and a yard and can be moved by one person (with a bit of tugging, pulling, cussing, and occasional stubbed toes) from one spot to another, providing fresh grass, insects, and the occasional snake – everything a growing gal needs – on a daily basis.
If you leave the tractor in one spot for a bit longer, the chickens will clear it out nicely, as well as fertilize it. This leaves a nice spot for veggies, flowers, or just sowing some new grass seed and ridding your lawn of crabgrass, grubs, anthills, and other delicious, leggy treats.
Chickens, nothing more than feathered raccoons, will eat anything: bugs, frogs, snakes, mice, a failed attempt at eggplant parmesan…in fact, they are wonderful for recycling leftovers (and recipe disasters) into fresh eggs.
Of course a free-choice pan of feed and fresh water is also important, because we all get the munchies from time to time. Elzy mixes a great layer mash – the chickens love it, and they will even eat it when it gets wet. And, unlike some commercial layer mashes, this one doesn’t smell like rotting garbage when it’s wet.
Aside from the garden work, keeping chickens is all about the eggs. Those little white golf balls that pass for eggs at the store are no comparison to fresh, real eggs straight from the chicken’s derriere.
When I was a kid, someone told me that brown eggs were fertilized eggs, and white eggs were not. I won’t embarrass myself by telling you how long I believed that.
The breed of chicken actually determines the color of the eggs. Araucanas/Ameraucanas lay green, pink, and even blue eggs, and other breeds lay white or multiple shades of brown. No rooster required, unless you are planning to hatch chicks.
Farm eggs generally have better yolks than store eggs. That dark orange, almost red color comes from all the fresh green grass they eat, which is another advantage to the chicken tractor, and worth every stubbed toe and strained muscle from lugging it from place to place.
There is a common misconception that hens don’t make noise, other than clucking. Not true. They tend to be a bit vociferous about egg laying. If you were passing an object twice the size of your head, you’d squawk, wouldn’t you?
We spend a lot of time having coffee and watching the chickens. The clucking of the hens can be soothing. Chickens can also be entertaining – toss in a handful of treats and yell, “Sale! Pantyhose half-off on aisle 5!” and watch the hens run like plump little old ladies looking for a bargain.
Who needs television with wholesome chicken entertainment? Keep calm and cluck on.
