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Chicken Run

written by

Maria McIntyre

posted on

August 26, 2016

Our chickens came in last week!  It was an exciting day on the farm.  This was the first time we have brought this many chickens on to the farm at once.  We know there will be many trials and tribulations as we figure out how to take care of this many birds at once.  We look forward to sharing some of the stories on here and in person.    

We purchased the chickens as layers; they will not only be laying lots of eggs but helping us build soil in the pasture.  They arrived to us as a few day old chicks.  But man at this young age they are already super active as you can see in the video.  We have to keep them inside and under heat lamps because they are not ready to deal with the outside elements quite yet. 

Once they are old enough we will be moving them outside in our mobile chicken coops.  The plan right now is that the chickens will follow the cows around out in the pasture about 5 days behind them.  This will give the bugs time to start breaking down the cow patties.  Once the chickens come into an area it will be a smorgasbord of food for them to scratch and eat.  This will make the eggs that we deliver to you super nutritious and full of flavor.  The yokes will have a deeper orangeish hue and taste delicious.  Having the chickens eating bugs will also keep some pests under control, like the common fly, that can bother the cows.  The eggs that the flies lay will be eaten by the chickens helping keep fly populations down.  This is nature working like it is intended.  When we get out of the way and let nature run its course it does some pretty amazing things.  Working in a symbiotic relationship with nature produces great results.

 During the day, the chickens will be able to roam around and do their thing, which is basically foraging.  No cages, no little area the chickens have access to, they will be outside in the pasture roaming around.  At night, they will be put in their coops to protect them from predators.  This will be the only time they will be inside once they are old enough to handle the elements.

When we get the chickens get out onto the pasture we will have more pictures and videos to show.  I am sure we will have more stories as well.  For those of you who have had chickens know what I mean, they are pretty funny to watch and can get themselves in some interesting situations.  If you have a funny chicken story please share. 

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