What Time Of The Year Is It????

First pick!!

A Backyard Forage Experiment

Now that the Food Patch finally is beginning to yield some spring crops I plan to begin a total backyard forage experiment. Except for certain meats, dairy and vegetables/fruits that  I can't grow myself, I plan to forgo all processed and mass packaged foods including my REALLY big weakness; corn chips in all of their various forms. I've been thinking about this for some time now but with the long cold spring, the garden and choices have been very limited. Now that I have lettuce, greens, chard, kale and eggs (and soon strawberries and raspberries), I may just be able to make this work. Wish me luck.

 The lettuce and greens with two early grape tomatoes caged up and ready to grow.

 The strawberry bed with the first berry just beginning to ripen.

The raspberry bed in full bloom.

That First Omelet

 Ah, that first omelet! Yesterday turned out to be our first "two egg", day; and in a second nesting box. That means one of the other girls has finally got the message and begun laying. This brings us to a little over half a dozen so far. Notice the color of the yolks. Nice bright yellow-orange. This is due to the carotenoids being carried over from the grass and other greens we have been feeding them. That is generally the mark of a pastured, or in a larger farm sense, free-range egg. We certainly can't claim any kind of "organic" certification with these, nor do we intend to. This is a hobby aimed at taking the backyard kitchen garden or mini-farm concept to a slightly higher level. The goal here is to have a happier outdoor bird eating the best she can (within budgetary reason) and laying the most nutritious egg within the constraints of our system.

As for backyard chicken nutrition, we are providing the same "at will" layer crumble that Rufus was feeding his big free-range flock. It is a custom formulation that he buys in bulk and he has offered to supply us at cost which turns out to be the same as normal commercial grade feeds. It is a complete ration in that it has adequate calcium and is digestible without having to provide any additional grit. It also is soy and corn free. So they could happily live off of just this feed if they were in a caged commercial operation. But they also mow down the grass in their run area, and they REALLY like Swiss chard (except for the stems), kale and beet greens. We also add in a little omega-3 supplement to their crumble which is supposed to boost the omega-3 fatty acid content of the eggs. This is not so necessary for pastured birds but will be critical for the fall and winter when the lawn goes dormant and they get parked in the garden plot. We also toss in a handful of sunflower seeds and a little mixed poultry seed treat when we think about it to give them something to scratch for. They also are free to eat whatever bugs they can find. For this reason we do offer a small tray of granite grit. 

The feed and watering bins I bought at the poultry swap last year were definitely worth the expense. It took about two days for the birds to learn to drink from the nipples but they have got it down pat now. It is hard to believe that in a commercial operation one nipple per twelve birds is the recommended ratio. The feed bin has worked flawlessly and kept the feed dry through multiple storm so far. These are highly recommended.

The other big news around the Food Patch is that both the strawberry and raspberries beds are in nearly full bloom. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we don't have a late frost like last year that really decreased our raspberry yield

The new kale, chard, and onions are coming along and we hope to have our first lettuce in about a week.

Who you looking at?

We Got Your Eggs Right Here!

The heart-to-heart talk I had with the ladies last Saturday seems to have had some effect. Perhaps it was the reference to the "soup pot" that got their attention; who knows. One of the hens (known to my daughter as "Nugget") has been giving us a daily egg like clock work since last Sunday. This seems to occur in the late afternoon and the funny thing is that she goes for the exact same nesting box every time (depositing behind door #3). Now if the other three ladies will just start putting out, we may eventually get the two dozen we need per week to make this whole experiment break even.

The Ladies Are Settling In (But Where Are The Eggs??)

A few short video clips from today. Where are those eggs?