All Organic Eggs

One of the main reasons for building our chicken coop was to have our own fresh “real” organic eggs. This didn’t mean feeding our chickens corn products or other feeds from feed stores. Nope – we made our own chicken meal from scrap produce and day old bread. The chickens were crazy for it!

… and we reaped the rewards of having the freshest, sweetest eggs in the city!

One crack of our eggs and you can tell just in the shell that the eggs were sturdy and not thin, like store bought eggs. Since we also opted to feed our chickens a little bit of chicken shell back in their mix (ground fine of course)  this only bolstered the hardness of the shell by adding more protein into their system.

Making omelets, scrambled eggs and eggs every which way – our families and guests have really tasted the difference. They all claim the eggs are much creamier – maybe its due to no stress egg laying – we’re unsure as we are not scientists or doctors – but we have become really good farmers!

If you are interested in raising your own chickens, and it doesn’t take many – typically only one or two per family (and some people have more dogs and cats than that!), have a look at Dan Kennedy’s book on how to “Make Your Own Chicken Coop.” It was really easy and the videos were fun and inspirational to watch – not to mention educational!

What Type of Chickens To Have on The Farm

Now that your coop is built the next question would be what type of chickens would you need (or want) to include in your organic free-range chicken farm.

Rhode Island Reds - Perfect Eggs Everytime

For our farm we decided to get Rhode Island Reds. The eggs from these birds last longer as well we discovered that the shells are a bit stronger and can take much more abuse. Then again we also discovered that what you feed a chicken also helps in the creation of its egg. But that is for another post.

We were actually fortunate enough to find a farmer growing free-range birds only 30 miles from our home. We were adamant that the birds be free-range and organically fed becuase we wanted only pure, country style eggs.

Thankfully the farmer who sold us the birds also had trimmed their wings prior to us picking them up. Trimming a chickens wings is important as it keeps them from flying up or attempting to fly.

So we get our birds home and as soon as we had them out of the crate they were off inspecting their new home. It was truly amazing to wathc as they took to this new home like they had lived there their entire lives.

The pecked around a bit, managed to find their way intot the coop and started to walk the yard.  After a small feeding we left them alone to discover their new surroundings.

The Next Morning

Early to rise! The next morning I went out to feed and water my new birds – lo and behold – 2 EGGS! I was ecstatic. Almost as good as Christmas, having those two eggs sitting there re-assured me that this was going to be the best opportunity for fresh produce and better for my health.

I called my partner and she came right over – we enjoyed those eggs with a little toast – we call it “Toad In The Hole” – you can find it in our recipes section!

Till Next Week!