Chickens are a natural, organic form of pest control. They eat mosquitoes, black flies and other insects so life is more pleasant on the farm and in the country without the need for insecticides. With their help we’re able to be naturally grown. Chickens are a great form of natural, organic pest control.
In addition to their insect patrol work the chickens also scratch the soil smooth, eat some plants and break apart manure patties out in the fields. All of this helps to contribute to better pasture quality and makes it so that we don’t have to use machinery on our swiftly sloping hillsides.
We keep heritage layer hens and they lay up a storm during most of the year without any feed beyond what they scavenge. These eggs are an excellent source of protein for our weaner piglets. Did you know that cooking an egg doubles the available protein?
bummer I was hoping the chicken section would be as good as your pig blog. In time I suppose.
Peace
Brian
Check out these posts about chickens for lots of articles on how we run our poultry. For us the chicken’s primary job is organic pest control. As a bonus they provide eggs which are a great source of protein for piglets, dogs and people. In the end there is the stew pot – our chickens are not the meaty roasting chickens but rather the heritage laying breeds that forage so well for themselves.
Gosh I didn’t know that about cooking the eggs!! I’d always assumed that raw was best (since that’s what the body-builders seem to do – yuk) but could never quite bring myself to eat/drink what I felt was slime!
What specific names are your heritage breeds chickens? I have Americanas. Marans, and a few sexlinked (Comet and Cherryegger) chickens and I am not getting many eggs even though they are completely free ranged plus get grain everyday. I have around 30 hens and 3 roosters and get 5 eggs a day. Any suggestions?
We have Americana, Buff Orpington, White Orpington, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire Red and a few others. They might be laying eggs some where you’re not finding. If the egg count is low in winter then you may need to give them light.