So you have decided you want hens.
You have been leafing through catalogs, trawling the internet and buying magazines that feature chickens and visiting farm stores almost daily- it has become an obsession!
But the big question remains… which breed to choose?
There are so many different breeds out there. There are chickens that are eye candy, plain ones, speckled ones, birds large and small.
Some are docile and friendly, others can be flighty… [Read More]
Healthy, happy hens lay more eggs. Has it been proven scientifically? I don’t know, but from my experience a healthy hen will produce more eggs than an unhealthy, miserable chicken.
Obviously, we can’t speed up the ‘egg clock’, but by keeping your hens in tip-top condition, you can ensure they will be producing high quality eggs without depleting their body reserves too much.
We know that hens need lots of calcium and… [Read More]
The excitement of buying chicks is usually only surpassed by the arrival of that first egg!
While you are caring for them as chicks, there is much to do and think about. It isn’t until they become ungainly ‘teenagers’, eating us out of house and home, that our thoughts turn to the question- when will they lay?
You have steered them carefully through the brooder stage, they have feathered out by 12 weeks or so… [Read More]
Once the temperature starts falling, we know it’s not going to be long before we are making several trips per day to the coop to collect eggs. There is only one thing worse than getting to the nest boxes and finding all the eggs frozen- and that is your chickens not laying eggs at all!
The wintertime can be grueling for your hens and only certain breeds copy well in this weather.
Frozen eggs… [Read More]
An egg contains a phenomenal amount of nutrition for its size, but you already knew that right?
An average egg contains a mere 75 calories but gives you 7g protein, 5g fat and 1.5g of saturated fat. In addition it gives you vitamins A, D, B12, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, choline, carotenoids and cholesterol!
And as reported by Pennsylvania State University if you eat only pasture raised chicken eggs instead of generic supermarket… [Read More]