Aren't our chickens beautiful? These lovelies are Barred Rocks, and in the middle of the pack is our rooster. He's a little lighter than the girls. They hatched in the beginning of June, when they were sent to us the same day. Apparently, they didn't get the memo about when to start laying their awesome, bright-orange-yolked eggs! They are supposed to start at 5 months old, which they are.... so where are my eggs? I hate to admit this, but I had to buy store bought eggs! Ugh. Pale, lifeless imitations of the awesome eggs I expect from my girls.
We feed our hens (and Roo, as I affectionately call him) only certified-organic chicken feed milled from local grains at a local, family-owned grain mill. They get to peck at kelp, which gives them micronutrients, and oyster shells, which helps to keep their eggshells nice and strong. And whatever extras from the garden we have. They loooove strawberries! I found an old bag of berries (one year I got the "great" idea to freeze them whole, and we never ended up using them- the juice after cutting them was very watery and yucky. Definately cut them before freezing) and I brought it out and sprinkled it in the pasture, and they ran around, gobbling them up.
Every day I go out and peer into their nest boxes, full of hope. And every day I've been disappointed when all I see are the wooden eggs I've put in there to convince them that the boxes are the right spot to lay their precious eggs. *sigh*
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