Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Cluck and Quack Happenings: Why Chickens are Cool

I know what you're thinking...or at least some of you...chickens? cool? huh? But really, they are. And I'm not a crazy chicken lady! ::wink:: (Who said YET?! I didn't make any of those hooded fleece chicken ponchos I saw on Facebook, did I? Or the indoor diapers...)


My Top 5 Reasons Why Chickens Are Cool

5. Free ranging chickens forage, eating a diet of plants and BUGS. Now, I don't know about "your neck of the woods", but here in Maine we have a plethora of pesky insects: mosquitoes, black flies, Japanese Beetles, No-see-ums, and ticks. Chickens will eat them all! Devour! I know some of you love your bugs and they do serve a purpose, but I'm OK with a few less in the summer nipping me and the kids.

Our Coop and Run, Speckles, Balsam Fir with Chee (RIP), Egg Salad Sandwich, and White Pine with
Chee (RIP)

4. And those free ranging chickens don't stop at just bugs! No, they also chomp on grass, always leaving a couple inches close to the ground. Now, yes, LARGE flocks can decimate a beautiful, lush lawn, but my feathered 6 haven't. Well, OK, I do have a less-than-lush lawn...Anyway, less mowing. And the digging aerates the soil, and the, um, poo fertilizes it. 

3. Chickens help my family be more "green". Not only do chickens provide a natural source of, um, Miracle Grow for our garden compost, but they also eat veggie and fruit scraps, old bread, rice, spaghetti, and many other things from our kitchen. Obviously with the cost of groceries "going through the roof", we eat as much as our food as possible but now next-to-nothing goes to waste. We even dry and crush egg shells to feed back to the flock for a rich calcium source! 

Not Chickens, But They Were Foraging in the Woods. Tops of Celery From Making Sticks forSaplings'
Snack, Dandelions Pulled From the Lawn and Dropped Pumpkin Flowers from the Garden Make a
GREAT Duck Soup

2. I bet you thought eggs would be 1, but nope! ::grin:: Fresh chicken eggs are remarkably different than store eggs. Sure, they all LOOK like eggs out the outside, but the inside...Have you ever seen the BRIGHT orange-yellow of a farm egg? Store eggs PALE in comparison. Literally.


1. Our chickens help my kids live a healthier life. How so? Well, we free range under supervision. Our chickens are our pets and we do what we can to ensure their safety while letting them be, well, chickens. My kids are out almost every single day with our flock for at least a couple of hours...rain? yes! snow? yes! bone-numbing cold? some of the time. Fresh air and "foraging" is good for kids too! And no, they're not "foraging" for bugs, but they're building lean-tos in the forest, riding scooters, building snowmen and forts, searching for frogs, and gardening (depending on the time of year). They are more active because of our chickens.

Balsam Fir With "Twin" Rhodies, Chickens Digging and Foraging in Flower Garden, Chickens On The Search
for Bugs in the Fall Leaves, Balsam Fir with Chee (RIP)

So, what has your flock done for you lately?

Our Six Disheveled from Molting this Fall: Speckles, Onyx, Rhodie, Mustard, Little Rhodie, and Sassy

Linking up to these wonderful blogs:


13 comments:

  1. Great post on chickens. I enjoyed it a lot. We are still waiting for eggs, but I am sure we will be enjoying them pretty soon. It seems we have been waiting forever.

    Do your hens always stay in that enclosure? Or do you let them out to roam?

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    1. No, they're not always in the run. We try to get them out to free range (under supervision) 2 hours+ per day when the weather isn't absolutely miserable. In the summer, when we're outside for hours and hours anyway, they can be free ranging for 7-8 hours. See the garden and tree and leave photos? That's our yard. LOL They love scratching through the leaves.

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  2. Love! There's about a thousand reasons why chickens are cool...but you sure hit on the big ones! I love pictures of kids holding chickens - always makes me smile how the chickens are just happy (and so are the kids). I love the picture of Speckles. We have a chicken that looks similar to her but her name is Nefertiti. Great post, and very informative - especially to anyone who doesn't have chickens! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, MamaTea! Speckles is an Ameraucana (Roo) - White Laced Wydandotte (Hen) mix. I think. LOL

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  3. I so loved reading every moment of this! I think you would LOVE my edit challenge this week! :D
    its of ..... you guessed it ... a chicken! :D

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  4. Such cute chickens! And kids :) I love my chickens and I'd probably say it's safe to call me a crazy chicken lady! Like you, I love to feed the chickens scraps from our meals. Between them and the compost, we don't waste any food at all!

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  5. I love this post, Jessy! I so wish we could have chickens. I would if we could!

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  6. Our friends have chickens, and their favourite treat is earwigs, a problem on the island they live on. An added bonus!

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  7. Loved reading this. Found you on Tilly's blog hop.

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  8. hi. i'm following the "down home" blog hop. i would love for you to visit my blog and follow if you like it.

    http://www. blackinkpaperie.blogspot.com

    thanks
    new follower bev

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  9. I loved your post. Our chickens make us laugh daily, definitely good for our health.
    Here's an example:
    http://www.themessyorganicmum.com/2013/01/january-reading.html

    What you can't hear is my almost two year old saying "chicken jump jump!" and giggling. Definitely worth it.

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  10. My chickens provide entertainment too :) I love to watch them run and fight over tidbits...so funny :) They are my composters too.

    Thanks so much for sharing this on The HomeAcre Hop!!!

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  11. I LOVE your Speckles, she reminds me of my Cheeks, which is, I admit my favorite. I know its bad, but true. Thanks for visiting my blog A Healthy Life For Me. Your comment made me smile. Yesterday was warm 60 degrees and WET and today it was a high of 30 and snowing- yuck. Our poor chickens how do they do it. Thankfully they have us to support them. Have a wonderful weekend!
    xo Amy

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