Backyard Chickens: We are what our food eats.
Chickens!!
Our family is very excited that getting a half dozen chickens is becoming less of a fantasy and more of a possibility in the near-er future! Most of my spare time has been spent watching YouTube videos on how to raise backyard chickens so that we can be as prepared as possible. This will be one of the first major steps towards my Blogs original goal of introducing our family to Suburban Homesteading. So far we have done a couple minor things like getting a handle on Brewing Kombucha, I'm able to brew 2 gallons of yummy goodness every 8-10 days.
Like so many Americans, I grew up in a normal suburb with fences, cats and dogs, and a lot of lawnmowers. No one had anything more exotic or farm-like than an occasional pet snake or a gerbil. It wasn't until adulthood that I developed an interest in having pet chickens. "What? Pet chickens!? You cant have food for a pet." That's my voice up until I was about 27. Lots of things have walked me down the path of chicken husbandry. A major factor is my kid(s). Children are zombies these days, and slaves to electronics. I played my fair share of video games and watched plenty of television as a kid, but the phone epidemic is just that, an epidemic. I want my kids outside and playing as often as possible. Also important is having a little bit of responsibility. Most chicken raising families have their children feeding the chickens, collecting eggs, and interacting with chickens as early as 2-3 years old. As the kids grow up they will be able to sell eggs for a little profit, and will be able to learn from a young age about the work it takes to earn some dimes.
Earning them dimes!! That's a lot longer down the road but eventually our goal will be to have the ability to give away or sell eggs. This spring/summer we will only be able to get 6 chickens which is the maximum number allowed in our county. However, we have been able to visit a friends house out in the country where they have 19 and its so fun! The property doesn't stink (from the chickens, its next to a cow farm that supplies the aromatics). And they get more than a dozen eggs a day! See, chickens lay an egg usually every 1-3 days depending on the season, type of bird, quality and quantity of food, quality of life, stuff like that. Let me paint a picture of why I think eggs from a local source like a friend or your own backyard is important, Eggs from the store need to be refrigerated, and will go bad after a couple weeks. Or less. Pasture raised organic eggs can sit in a basket on the counter for up to 6 months!!!! Holy Heck. I literally had no idea. Eggs from factory farms basically get a chemical bath that wipes out a protective coating that would keep the eggs good.
Besides the chemical baths that factory or conventional grocery store eggs get, they are also usually fed grain diets, kept in cages or even just huge warehouses, treated with antibiotics and goodness knows what else. it's not the best situation to say the least. I found a great article I want to share here that explains very simply the differences between egg terminology.
The author Kris Gunnars does a great job differentiating between the confusing terms like Conventional, Organic, Pastured, Free Range, and Cage Free. He also supplies you with nutrition charts explaining how many more healthy nutrients are in homegrown chickens that can enjoy backyard foraging. Lots of egg brands in the store will boast that their chickens are vegetarian fed, which is crazy, because chickens are Omnivores meaning they eat both animals and veggies. Chickens love going on a good bug hunt, and it's good for them.
We are what our food eats. If we eat plants that suck up good nutrients from good soil, that's what we are. If we eat plants covered in chemicals, that's what we are. If we eat animal products full of chemicals and antibiotics then we are full of chemicals and antibiotics.
I cant wait to be feeding our own backyard chicken eggs to my kids, watching the kids run around our yard chasing them, and having a conversation starter with people in my neighborhood about Suburban Homesteading.
The nutrients are in the flavor. See below, I got to make a delicious breakfast with eggs from my friends farm. There is no way I could go back to conventional white eggs from the grocery store after having these. The carton of a dozen shown above are the first dozen I brought home a few weeks ago with Brown and Green Eggs in them. The top picture is my wife holding my son as they got familiar with a couple of the chickens, and the picture of the lone white chicken is called a Silkie which is the type we are hoping to order first. Generally very docile and good with kids, as well as being fluffy and cute.
If you have spent any time around me lately you have likely heard some talking point about chickens and gardens, and if not here is your heads up, this is my new obsession. Haha. I hope this has been informative as to why my Facebook and Instagram will be getting more pictures and posts about chickens and eggs, and maybe even opens a door in your mind about getting some chickens for your family in the future. Here are some of the Youtube videos I have really enjoyed explaining chicken life at your home. Go give them a watch, a like, and a comment. they are the experts. I haven't gotten started yet!
Backyard Chickens- is it really worth it? 9 minutes long.
This is a good sum-up of everything I've talked about in this Blog Post, and is the most like what we will be doing.
Quitting your job to farm on a quarter acre, 34 minutes long.
Chicken Math: Are backyard chickens work it? 7 minutes long
Beginners guide to raising backyard chickens. 1 hour 15 minutes
(This is a hecka deep dive video about the first few weeks of having chickens so be prepared, very informative)
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