September 2024

This month, we have a case of “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” but with our chickens. Things with our original nine chickens could not have been going smoother. We feed them, move them to a new patch of grass every day, and watch them run around finding bugs—they are so funny to observe. It’s easy and so rewarding to get some fruit from our labor. We haven’t bought eggs from the store in months.

From the beginning we researched and figured out the best coop situation for our location. We also wanted to use the chickens to improve our pastures, knowing how important it is for them to always have access to grass, bugs, and dirt. We really take a “chicken-led” approach. If they like something, we keep it; if they don’t, we fix it until they do. This is especially evident in their egg-laying habits—if they don’t like something, they simply stop laying as many eggs.

Additionally, we have been using a no-corn, no-soy feed that gets delivered to us monthly. It’s been pretty easy. However, the company discontinued their feed, so I decided to make my own. I couldn’t find any other suitable options on the market. I created a beautiful feed mix using organic grains, legumes, seeds, and more. It was gorgeous. They hated it.

We had been getting about 5–7 eggs a day, but after switching to the homemade feed, we dropped to around 4–5 eggs daily. This is when I felt like the chickens were writing us letters, demanding warm blankets—if you know, you know. I later discovered that chickens apparently don’t like legumes. So, I changed their feed again.

At the same time, we decided to let them run free all day. They were in a coop with a bottomless floor covered in chicken wire, so predators couldn’t crawl under. They still had access to the same grass, but they seemed to want more freedom, so we gave it to them. Everything we read warned against this because of daytime aerial predators.

We let them run free for a few days. They didn’t wander far, staying near the coop and dust-bathing during the day, then putting themselves back in the coop at night. We would close the coop up each evening. However, we soon noticed that we were only getting a couple of eggs a day. I suspected they were laying eggs outside the coop. One night, after putting them up, we searched the area and found a hidden nest with seven eggs!

Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that absolute free-range wasn’t the answer. One evening, we pulled up to see a hawk flying away and realized we had a missing chicken. Two days later, we found the chicken—or rather, what was left of it. Whatever predator it was kindly returned the body to the coop... headless.

Our current situation is that we’ve cut out some of the bottom part of the coop, removing the wire so they can dust-bathe and search for worms without obstruction.

They’ve adjusted well and are back to laying normally. Sometimes, the humans really do know best.

-Kyra