Complete the Circle: Managing Your Flock

First. The chickens. We only raise heritage breeds here on the Farm. So, no. There will be no Cornish rock or meat birds raised (or served) here.  The reasons: 1. They cannot breed naturally, therefore they need to be purchased from an outside source each year. And 2.  We did raise meat birds one year, way in the beginning. It was awful. Those birds had no life at all. They could hardly walk at seven weeks, and had hardly a feather on their head. Not the kind of life we want for our animals here at the Farm.

We only keep one breed of heritage chickens here on the Farm. The reasons are: 1. We don’t have the room to separate flocks when it’s time for them to breed. Having only one kind ensures integrity of the breed (which makes them easier to sell). 2. We have children who are bound to have favorites and become attached. That’s harder to do if they all look the same. The chicken breed we chose was Golden Laced Wyandotte. They’re a good dual-purpose: friendly, but aloof (which means your children are less likely to become attached). The roosters come out well-sized at around 8 pounds (females at 6), and they produce around 200 eggs a year a piece. Not a bad gig.

Right now there are six chickens on the Farm; five hens and a rooster. And it will stay that way until mid-March, when we will let those mama’s sit on those nests and raise this year’s flock (We will also take a few dozen eggs and incubate them ourselves).  Those chicks will start producing eggs at about six months–about mid-September–after a whole Summer of grazing on bugs and grasses and berries. At that time, we will harvest any roosters (minus one), putting them up as we see fit. The eggs will be collected and stored via water-glassing (another lesson for another time). Giving us our eggs for the year. Finally, come November (or whenever the first snow flies) last year’s hens (and a few younger ones will be harvested as well, leaving us with our Winter flock of five hens and a rooster.

Six chickens are a lot easier to keep than sixty. And each of those chickens will need about a quarter pound of food a day all the Winter long. For us, that’s six months. November to April. 180 days. That means we will need 1.5 pounds of feed each and every of those 180 days (and a bit more for all those new chicks-to-be). That’s a total of 300 pounds. And this is how we do it:

On the Farm we have mulberries, rosehips, and cranberries that we dry.

Total: 20 pounds

An easy grain to grow in almost any climate, and about as vitamin packed as they come. Each plant produces 1-2 pounds of seed.

Total: 60 pounds

We grow a heritage dent corn for ourselves and our birds. Add those carbs they need.

Total: 20 pounds

Yup. You read that right. We put out Japanese beetle bags and freeze them little suckers and give them to our chickens all winter long.

Total: 30 pounds

Sorrel and other beet greens. And this year we will add mulberry leaves.

Total: 10 pounds

After we harvest all the green beans we need, we let them go to seed and dry in the pod. Those get ground along with the corn.

Total: 20 pounds

These flowers add beauty and pollinators to the farm all Summer long. And when they’re done, they feed our flock. Win/win.

Total: 100 pounds

Raspberry and blackberry leaves, oregano, thyme, and sage

Total: 10 pounds

And for a bit of freshness, the chickens get a fresh supply of wheatgrass all Winter long, straight from the green house.

Total: 10 pounds

As Autumn comes on, we save each and every one (some for next-year’s pumpkins and some for the birds).

Total: 20 pounds

Meets that calcium need to keep those eggs strong

Total: 1 pound

Zucchini and cukes, peppers and tomatoes. Whatever is left.

Total: 5 pounds

Now. Can you see how reducing your flock is key? If we were to feed all those birds all Winter long, we wouldn’t have any room in our garden left for ourselves! Now. As it is, we have space for both.

That amount of dehydrating would be too much for a single dehydrator to manage (or a dozen or so to manage). The game changer came for us once we discovered our small green house–the one that supplies us and the chickens with fresh greens all the Winter long–doubles as a very large and very capable dehydrator all the Summer long. We simply leave the racks where they are and load them with all the greens and berries to be dried and dry they do.

If you are not so fortunate as to have a green-house-turned-dehydrator, then you will have to do the next best thing. Use old screens. Yes. The kind used on windows. Simply set one down on safe spot, load it up (as in spread evenly the thing you wished to be dried) and cover with a second screen. A weight may have to be applied, if you live in a particularly windy area. Or if you have a curious dog. Be sure to bring what you’re drying in before it gets dark (dew doesn’t help the process) or if it’s raining (rain doesn’t either). The screens will need to be flipped to ensure both sides are sufficiently dried.

Or, in the case of the greens, amaranth and sunflowers, they may be hung in your basement until dried. And once you have your three hundred pounds, the work of drying and gathering all the Summer long, you must properly store it, or some animal other than the ones you intend will be enjoying all the fruits of your labor. We have two fifty gallon food-grade barrels on the Farm. One for the grains and one for the rest. We do this because we sprout the grains. That seems to make it go a bit further for the birds, and, we believe, adds additional health benefits.

That’s it for the chickens. I haven’t even gotten into the Turkeys. But, they are treated exactly the same way. One breed (Royal Palms), Reduced in the Winter (one Tina, one Tom), bred in the early Spring, They require slightly more feed per bird (.62 lb/day to equal 250 pounds of food for my birds and their spring young). The turkeys require a slightly higher protein diet, though. And they tend to be a bit wilder, so they get a higher amount of the wheat grass and bugs.