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Laying Hens
In the spring, summer and fall our laying hens are provided with the best grass and bugs available to round out their feed of custom blended grains like corn, wheat and soy. We provide them with plenty of calcium for strong shells and natural mineral sources that are easy for their bodies to digest.
In the winter, we provide houses that are deeply bedded to capture the manure for future use on the farm.
We raised the pullets out on pasture the same as we did the broilers.
This picture shows the large paddock sizes the hens get. There are plenty of bugs for everyone in paddocks this big. Hens are moved to new areas once a week or as needed.
Our new Henmobile will allow us to move hens more easily from one location to another. It is still in construction but we hope it to be ready for Spring 2006.
Young pullets quickly learn to fly and require roosts in their houses. This makes them incompatible to raise in the same houses with Cornish Rock Crosses that we raise for meat (who are too heavy and unconcerned with learning to fly).
When we started we didn't have access to a tractor so once they started laying we opted for a stationary house and rotated the paddocks in a pie fashion. This gave the hens fresh greens but we didn't have to move the structure. We had very limited budget but you can see how nice it turned out.
This was moving day to their new home.
What is this for?
Ahh, a nice, cozy place to relax. Often a pullets first eggs surprize her and don't end up in the box. If she has had opportunity to see other hens lay eggs she is more likely to figure out where to go and when.
Pullets lay small eggs initially. Often the really small ones will not have yolks! It is always fun to observed these. I often save them.
Here is a sampling of the size variation that we get in a day. We inspect and grade our eggs daily. The date on our cartons are the date the eggs were laid. You can always tell exactly how old an egg is when you buy from us. Fresh Grade AA eggs, the highest grade, will have yolks that "stand up tall". The egg white will rise high up on the yolk nearly to the top.
Our hens are all active foragers. They will often jump up to catch a bug flying by. You can tell how much grass a hen has been eating by the color of the yolk. A bright orange yolk is a good one packed with vitamins. You will also notice that the flavor is more mild and desireable as well.
This picture is over exposed but you can still see the rooster in the middle. Big Guy is a favorite rooster who is kind and gentle. Each rooster watches over his hens. They look for food sources like bug, ant hills, worms and even mice. The rooster will call his hens over to him when he finds something. Additionally, roosters spend a good portion of their day watching the skies for predators. We have lost very few grown hens to predators.
We wish to keep this way of naturally raising chickens part of our family and yours for generations to come. Please feel free to stop by and see for yourself the difference it makes.
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