| The Relaxed Poultry Flock |
| We keep a mixed poultry flock of chickens and ducks, kept for their eggs and/or entertainment in a stable next to a free-ranging paddock. The reality of their free-range life however is the fact that a great many of our birds simply come out of the stables in the morning, walk, waddle or fly over the barn and then spend the day carefully raking through all the goat bedding looking for tasty morsels!! And the second reality is the daily egg hunt because very few will lay in the provided nest boxes!!! Many a half hour or more is lost each day risking all as we climb straw stacks, peer under pallets and rummage through hay racks to find our evening supper!!! Breeds kept include: Indian Game, Maran, Legbar, Leghorn, Bluebells, Sussex, Lohmans and various crosses (chickens) and Muscovy (ducks). We no longer routinely breed from our birds but might occasionally in order to replace older birds that no longer lay. The poultry provide hours of entertainment and occasional worry (apropos foxes). Thanks to a light, airy stable; hard standing and lots of grass; workload really isn't too bad. They also do a great job of turning and aerating our compost heap as well as adding to it on a daily basis!! |
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