My Adventures in Animal Husbandry Begins

I journeyed to this point in my life of animal husbandry last spring. My husband read an article in his Life Extension Magazine about the benefits of eating free-range laid eggs vs. store bought eggs. The article showed overwhelming evidence that the free range eggs were vastly superior nutritionally.

So in his way he said, we need to eat free range eggs. Loosely translated that means I needed to get some chickens and raise them so that we will have fresh eggs.

Not having any experience in the venture he thought you get a couple of chickens and you will have all the eggs you need. Sounds good, but the reality is someone needs to buy the chicks, raise them up in a healthy way and then tend to them daily, especially while they are very young.

This requires time and money. I spent most of April, all of May and a good portion of June nurturing my brood. Not having a lot of experience with chickens, but quite a bit more than my husband, I underestimated the time involved in raising them the way I wanted them to be raised. I also under estimated the mortality rate, or should I say lack of mortality rate when you really nurture them in a healthy way.

When the decision was made to raise chickens for eggs I went to the internet to research which breeds were the best layers. I narrowed down my want list considerably doing this. I also knew exactly which breed I wanted when I went to the feed store.

I originally bought 2 Chinese White Geese and 20 pullets and one straight run chick, hoping that maybe 12 might survive, and I gave myself a cushion for the “pullets” that would crow. (these are the ones that someone sexed incorrectly). The last time I tried raising chickens, about 8 years ago, 5 of my six Rhode Island Red ”pullets” grew into the biggest meanest roosters.

The result was 2 Leghorn Whites, 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Jersey Giants, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Delawares, 2 Ameraucanas, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Silver Laced Wyanottes, 2 Australorps, 1 Crested Polish and one Grandma please, please!!! (a little Mille Fleur Bantam)
The first 18 were pullets; the last 2 were Straight run, so I had a 50/50 chance on the sex outcome.

Every morning I would take them from their night cage and place them outside in
the 6 foot animal pen I had. I covered the top with a sheet to keep them from the site of overhead predators.

By moving them outside daily they could get fresh air, grass and any little bugs that had the misfortune of entering their space. I moved the pen every day, sometimes two or three times a day depending. In the evening and sometimes the morning I would take them from the pen and just sit on the grass with them. I wanted them to become bonded to me so that my presence in the pen would not stress them in any way.

I especially took great efforts to bond with the geese. I had no desire to be
at the other end of an upset goose’s beak, been there, not that, do not want to repeat the experience.

At night I would gather them up place them in their sleep cage, with fresh bedding, water and a warm night light.

The geese were always included with the flock until they became too large for
the night cage. After that I had them in the same area as the chicks so that they
were able to hear each other.

My method worked out better than I had hoped for. The geese watch over the flock and everyone is totally mellow with me. Even my young grand children can go out to the pen, pick up a chicken and not get anyone upset.