Posts Tagged ‘Free Range Eggs’
Living Culture visits Ken & Shelley Behymer of The Chick Inn. With 2 acres of land near Monmouth, Oregon, the Behymers raise about a dozen breeds of chickens. They also offer eggs, chicks, mobile chicken tractors, feed, and helpful advise to those interested in raising chickens at home.
Living Culture is a monthly television series that showcases cuisine and agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to generate interest in local foods through inspiring and positive media. This series is broadcast on KWVT in the Willamette Valley, CGN7 in the Columbia Gorge; cablecast on Comcast cable in Portland and Salem; and syndicated on 3 websites. Visit www.livingcultureonline.com. Produced by Nate Rafn.
Duration : 0:5:9
Having a pet is a wonderful thing for any family, but pets do have some problems. Some can be very expensive, including the veterinary bills, some tear up the garden, dogs bark at the neighbours and scare visitors, and what do you do with your pet when you go away on holidays?
But chickens don’t bark at the neighbours, aren’t expensive to buy or to feed, don’t get sick often and can safely be left for a week or more on their own if you do it right.
Not only that but chickens are productive, a fridge full of fresh free range eggs is the mouthwatering result from keeping chickens. In many respects chickens make the perfect family pet.
Whilst you can’t really put your chickens on your lap at night in front of the television there is still no doubt that children love chickens as much as adults, ours absolutely adore theirs.
Like all pets however you need to make a little effort to learn about keeping chickens. They will need a place to live, which is variously called a chicken coop, or chicken house or henhouse, and you will need to find a good place to buy one or else learn to make it yourself. The latter can be the cheapest method.
The chickens will sleep in the coop at night but generally are allowed out of the coop during the day, in many cases to run free around your garden. If they do this they will clean up many of the nasty bugs in your garden, though they may scratch the soil and peck at your flowers as they do.
One of their great loves is to peck at ripe tomatoes.
And if you prefer not to allow your chickens to free range around the house you can build a chicken run around the coop to allow them to roam there.
You will need to learn about feeding your hens. There are certain minimum requirements for protein and calcium which are important to meet if you want to get eggs, and so you will need to source some high protein foods, some shell grit to add calcium to their food and you will need to find appropriate appliances to deliver food and water.
And when holidays come it’s quite possible to provide your chickens with a large reliable supply of food and water and to go away to enjoy yourself.
Without doubt keeping chickens is a great way for the family and in particular the children to enjoy having pets. Although there is plenty to learn it’s fun and rewarding and the children will love having their chickens. So learn a bit more about housing and feeding them and then start looking for your first hen.
And once you have your chickens you’re on your way to a healthy lifestyle of eating plenty of healthy free range eggs.
