The chickens

What else can I say but that we love chickens.  Do not ever let anyone tell you that chickens are stupid or don't have a personality.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  Those kind of comments just make it easier for people to live with the atrocious treatment of chickens in factory farming settings.  At Nature's Harbor Farm we treat our chickens with all the respect they deserve as a living, breathing creature. 

The laying flock:

Brandon and I had both cared for chickens at various times but didn't start our own flock until November, 2007.  It started with 25 chicks of various breeds for a laying flock.  At the time, I couldn't imagine that we would be getting any more chickens for quite awhile.  I thougth that would be more eggs than we would ever know what to do with!  What a surprise when we tasted the first eggs from those birds and realized how amazing a free range egg from healthy, happy chickens tasted.  Luckily, our customers agree and it soon became painfully obvious that we did not have enough (and still don't) laying hens to meet the demand.  Our hens and their attendant roosters have the run of our entire farm.  Much to the chagrin of my husband, one of their favorite places to hang out is our front porch.  They dust bathe in our flower beds (what flower beds?) and sun themselves in the yard.  They spend much of their time hunting and pecking through the yards and pastures eating grass, seeds, and bugs.  They also have access to a chicken feed made at a local mill to ensure that they have everything they need to lay the best eggs ever.  We never feed anything that contains medication.  Medicated feed is only necessary when chickens are kept in less than optimal, crowded conditions. 

There is no comparison between a store bought egg and one from our chickens.  First of all, they are different nutritionally.  A true free range egg is higher in vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids and lower in cholesterol than a store bought egg.  The difference in the treatment of the birds is like night and day also.  Cheap eggs in the store come at the expense of the chickens that lay them and the humans that eat them.   There are many claims made on egg cartons in stores that can be deceptive.  Keep in mind that what cage free means is that the hens are kept inside a building on the floor instead of in battery cages.  In either case they have no access to the outdoors.  Also, there is much hype around vegetarian fed hens on store bought cartons.  This is actually not good for the hens.  Chickens are omnivores.  Not only do they love grains and plants but they are hunters as well.  Chickens love to eat bugs.  They stalk and kill small rodents and I've even seen one eat a tree frog. 

We have expanded the laying flock as much as we can right now.  Our birds are closed into a coop at night to keep them safe from predators and I will not overcrowd them just to get a few more eggs.  Chickens have a definite pecking order and they all know how high they can roost in the coop based on that order.  When I start hearing squabbling at night over who gets what roost, then I know that the coop is at capacity.  Depending on the individual personalities, the numbers range between 40 and 60 chickens in a 120 square foot coop.  Plans for an additional coop are in the making. 

Roosters are not necessary for egg laying.  Hens will lay whether a rooster is around or not.  Even though this is true, we usually try to keep a couple of roosters with the layers.  Good flock roosters add cohesiveness to the flock that is missing when we don't have any.  I notice a difference in the behavior of the hens when we don't have roosters.  Roosters watch out for the hens.  They keep an eye out for predators and will put themselves in between a hen and a potential threat.  They will come running if they hear a hen in distress and will also call the hens when they find a tasty treat in the yard.  A good rooster gives up all sorts of tasty morsels in order to keep his hens happy.  On top of that, roosters are just plain beautiful and are usually bursting with confidence and personality.

The meat birds: