Chasing Chickens
I have been raising chickens now for about three years now and I still learn something new everyday. I have Bantys, Leghorns and Buff Orringtons and they are all now grown. I have started allowing them to roam the farm and have to alternate letting them out of their coup in the daytime and the dogs out of their pens at night. I have found that to let them all out at once is unhealthy for the chickens especially.
I have 4 roosters and 43 hens. They are now laying over 2 dozen eggs a day and I sell them for a buck a dozen otherwise I have them running out of my fridge, literally. They are a sight to watch as they peck and roam around scrounging for worms and bugs and can make a mound out of nothing pretty fast. I was surprised to go out to the barn to feed and found my storage room where I put straw and hay for my goats all in mounds and hills. They work fast.
The other thing I am trying to learn is how to get them back in the coup when I need them there. If I wait until 8 pm they might go in pretty easy because it is getting dark but, there are days when I need them to go in earlier if I need to be gone or I know I won’t be able to be out at the barn at the time when they need to go in. Right now I am chasing chickens everyday to get them in. I seem to always have a couple stray away from the group and then it is a chore to get them back to where they belong. I am afraid to get one of the dogs out to help since Jessie has caught one or two before and they didn’t make it. So I run myself ragged just trying to get them in. I have had to leave a c0uple out once or twice just for the sake of not being able to get them where they belong.
I keep my hens healthy by feeding them Egg Maker Complete Chicken feed. This particular type of feed is designed to help the hens with all the nutrients they need in order to lay their eggs. Love my Chicks!
Tags: Cats and Kittens, chickens, minerals