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OUR EGGS
Before 2023, our hens were free-range (eating grass in our pasture). Below
is a description of the journey that led us to pull them out of the pasture.
March 2023
The young chicks are still not large enough to avoid becoming hawk food.
May 2023
Our hens are mature and out on pasture. They now eat both organic pellets and
pasture grass. They rely on protection from our large black rooster.
August 2023
We began losing chickens… possibly to hawks, the ravens, the dog? We paused
free-ranging for safety.
September 2023
We confirmed hawks were the predators. And, the first bird lost had been our
black rooster — likely defending his flock. We like to think he died a hero.
Today
Our flock lives in a large, netted enclosure. No more free range for our birds.
So, no more serve yourself. But...we do throw lots of greens to them daily.
During the winter and spring it rains and its easy to come up with greens,
lots every single day. Weeds are always available... And the hens go near
crazy when greens are tossed into their enclosure.
The remainder of the year it's not as easy to find an abundance of greens,
but most days we can feed greens. Usually we can collect a good amount of
alfalfa leaves that fall from the hay as the goats and sheep eat. And there's
always some weeds in the field, even when its hot, because we irrigate our
crops. It does take time to gather greens, but we gladly do this because it's
very important to some of our customers to have their eggs from birds that
eat greens.
Our chickens also get bones... because we frequently are preparing pretty large
batches of bone broth. This preparation process ends up with both our broth
and piles of fragile bones. These broth bones are so fragile that the birds can
eat them easily.
is a description of the journey that led us to pull them out of the pasture.
March 2023
The young chicks are still not large enough to avoid becoming hawk food.
May 2023
Our hens are mature and out on pasture. They now eat both organic pellets and
pasture grass. They rely on protection from our large black rooster.
August 2023
We began losing chickens… possibly to hawks, the ravens, the dog? We paused
free-ranging for safety.
September 2023
We confirmed hawks were the predators. And, the first bird lost had been our
black rooster — likely defending his flock. We like to think he died a hero.
Today
Our flock lives in a large, netted enclosure. No more free range for our birds.
So, no more serve yourself. But...we do throw lots of greens to them daily.
During the winter and spring it rains and its easy to come up with greens,
lots every single day. Weeds are always available... And the hens go near
crazy when greens are tossed into their enclosure.
The remainder of the year it's not as easy to find an abundance of greens,
but most days we can feed greens. Usually we can collect a good amount of
alfalfa leaves that fall from the hay as the goats and sheep eat. And there's
always some weeds in the field, even when its hot, because we irrigate our
crops. It does take time to gather greens, but we gladly do this because it's
very important to some of our customers to have their eggs from birds that
eat greens.
Our chickens also get bones... because we frequently are preparing pretty large
batches of bone broth. This preparation process ends up with both our broth
and piles of fragile bones. These broth bones are so fragile that the birds can
eat them easily.
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See Some Examples
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