18 July 2012

Country Does Urban: Does Your Grass Bring Eggs to The Yard?

These days the blogosphere seems to be all abuzz over Urban Farming. And why shouldn't we get excited about connecting with nature, beautifying our environments, turning a hard, grey expanse of concrete or chemically manicured, quilt of lawns into a eye pleasing edible greenscape? With the popularity of ever consuming technological devices, there is a growing digital divide - we as a society, are becoming less in-tune with our surroundings.

The growing force behind this country-does-urban  lifestyle is the feeling of less connection with our food sources, a lack of use of our primal "hunting and gathering" skills and just an overall want to be the architects of our futures - using our hands and hearts, not apps and alerts.

Now true to everything, comes planning. You might awaken some morning and say "Eureka - I will be an urban farmer!", which is all well and good, but researching best practices and laws in your area are musts before attempting anything. In this instant gratification culture, it sometimes can be disappointing to take things slow and have a thorough plan. Depending on where you live, there are probably city ordinances specific to urban agriculture.  
Alpha female surveys the yard.
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In my city, here in Oregon, you are allowed 6 chickens in a brood, on your premises, within city limits. That means one rooster (male) and 5 laying hens (female) or just 6 hens.

Why am I talking chicken? My children, with me in tow, got to be urban homesteaders for a week, minding our neighbors brood, while they were out of the country. We learned the fine nuances of feeding,   habits and behavior, of these odd descendants of dinosaurs.

You might be thinking - "Chickens - in my backyard? In earshot of my neighbors? How is that possible." I can reassure you, living just over the fence. That these creatures are less noisy than a barking dog. In fact, I have more trouble with barking dogs down the street than these birds.

Getting back to my first hand account, I will tell you that the weather smiled on us this week. We were blessed in the early mornings with bright beautiful rays of sunlight streaming across the yard, throwing looming shadows in striations. And the evenings were dewy and cool.

The first thing you must remember about taking care of chickens - wear old clothes and shoes that can be disinfected. If your chickens are "free range", this means an excess of chicken excrement on any surface the chicken can walk or perch upon, which in turn has bacteria, so you do not want your shoes tracking this into your house (those that garden know first hand that chicken manure is beneficial). So, after touching eggs, re-laying hay and feed - be sure to leave your shoes on your porch and wash your hands with soap and water. Toss your clothes in the wash.

Chickens, like children, are creatures of routine. They like to rise with the sun, and be told to go to bed. The first chore of the day is to open the hen house in the early morning hours. For precautions most doors are latched at night - to ward off predatory raccoon or possums. The hen house we watched over had no ladder or ramp, the chickens just jumped into, or out of the structure.

Get To Know The Hen House.
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As the chickens burst out of the hen house and down to freedom, now is the time to check for eggs, or the 2nd chore.

Eggs in the nest.
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This brood shared a nest, and would take turns laying among the 5 of them. These chickens all were of different origins, which made every egg a delightful color. Chickens, depending on age will lay 1-2 eggs on average daily. 

It is important to note that fresh eggs must be washed, before refrigeration, to limit spread of bacteria. Likewise you must wash hands after this process of handling.

Did you know eggs come in different colors depending on breed? Here is an infographic of different poultry by breed.

Source: wilco.coop via Amber on Pinterest
This brood was an Ameraucana, Black Australorp, Bantam Cochin, Golden Laced Wyandott, and a Black Sex Link. And let me tell you - they each had their own personalities and idiosyncrasies. And like most "packs" there was a leader, the alpha female (seen above), the Black Sex Link. She was queen chick in this coop! She would scold, fluff her feathers and get the brood all riled up.

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With the chickens and eggs evacuated from the hen house, and the pen now vacant, as the hens made their way out to the green, cool grass, for scratching and pecking, now the real maintenance could begin.






Hay spreading!
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Chore #3, laying fresh dry hay down in the brood's pen. The kids loved this part, spreading a layer of the sweet smelling straw. Chickens are programmed with certain behaviors - besides a pack mentality, pecking and scratching up their pen is the most common.  It is important to put fresh straw, to discourage pests and allow for a comfortable environment so the hens feel comfortable to do what they do. 





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The fourth chore, as equally important, is fresh water. A bowl they can drink from throughout the day is especially important - dehydration can affect egg production.

Here the Ameraucana hen takes a drink of the fresh water (pic at left). This chicken resembled most it's dinosaur cousins. Such a pre-historic resemblance. The cool thing about these hen's eggs is they are naturally a blue to green tinge. If you hard boil these eggs, they have a blueish green appearance, as opposed to normal eggs. It is a trip!

Hens at Feeding.
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And the most important chore of all #5, feeding the brood. The hens are fed two types of food - the first type is a balanced organic feed, which has all types of ruff-age, protein and nutrients. You can either buy organic chicken feed or make your own. It is important these hens get enough protein, or it will lead to disease, leave them prone to parasites and poor egg production within the brood.

The feed is measured out and scattered among the hay, to encourage the hen's natural behavior. Once the majority of the feed has been devoured, the 2nd type of feed can be scattered (in a limited amount) which is organic layer feed or chicken treat - this brood got bits of hard corn kernels.

The most fun was observing these birds and their behavior. Did you realize chickens have a complex language? It is true. They have all different types of clucks, squawks and clicks. They will grumble when scratching for food, send a high pitched clucking when on alert and even cluck hello if you are a recognized care-taker. 

The brood was allowed to explore the confines of the fenced yard well into dusk. Chickens are very inquisitive creatures. When darkness fell upon the yard, it was sleep time. The sixth and final chore was wrangling the hens toward the pen and into the hen house. This brood was rather intelligent - they were mostly ready and awaiting the signal for bedtime. All I needed to do was vocalize "bedtime" in a soothing way and the hens would jump up into the hen house one at a time. Of course, there were some stragglers, but there wasn't much resistance.

Here are the lovely eggs we collected:

Beautiful Eggs!
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Beautiful Eggs!
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Beautiful Eggs!
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Beautiful Eggs!
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Beauties aren't they!





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78 comments

8:02 AM, July 18, 2012 Reply  

This was a fun experience.

Waooh!
Amazing collection and research done on eggs.

2:53 PM, July 18, 2012 Reply  

@ Amber,
What a lovely pictures of the eggs!
Now we can see that each of them has different color and type.

3:03 PM, July 19, 2012 Reply  

I like eggs the white piggment is healthy to have.

5:10 AM, July 21, 2012 Reply  

hoho..now i know so many type of chicken's egg. :)

9:09 PM, July 21, 2012 Reply  

This is very good website. I like it very much. I think such types of sites are good for society.

12:16 AM, July 22, 2012 Reply  

Thanks - they were so pretty, all the different hues! so much better than the standard white ones bought at the grocery store.

12:34 AM, July 25, 2012 Reply  

Wow... that's great collection of many type eggs. I am surprised to see this pic and great information about eggs. So thanks for this post. Beacuse i like to eat egg.

2:05 AM, July 27, 2012 Reply  
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
8:54 AM, July 28, 2012 Reply  

I love eggs! It's the most salable product ever since human learn how to trade.

4:36 AM, July 30, 2012 Reply  

What a lovely pictures of the eggs!
Now we can see that each of them has different kind and color eggs.

Thank you so much for sharing with us.

12:04 AM, August 01, 2012 Reply  

I never knew you can tell which kinda of chicked egged an egg, judgeing by it's size and color. Awsome!

2:52 AM, August 01, 2012 Reply  

An egg collection is good. Nice post you have there.

5:06 PM, August 03, 2012 Reply  

wawww eggs is the best food for me

3:04 AM, August 09, 2012 Reply  

Great post with great stuff...!!!

4:57 AM, August 10, 2012 Reply  

Hey, I am extremely amazed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog. Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog site like this one nowadays.

Anonymous
12:51 AM, August 13, 2012 Reply  

amazing collection seems you had a great craze in farming and thanx for the information

the webartists

2:40 AM, August 14, 2012 Reply  

wow! great information about chickens and eggs!

12:32 AM, August 15, 2012 Reply  

My uncle has a chicken farm maybe this could help him improve the egg production. I'll inform him everything I read from here.

2:22 AM, August 15, 2012 Reply  

Wow! That's a great collection of eggs. You have a lovely urban homestead.
As I was young when I was a small boy, we had a small compound behind our house, we have chicken, and sometimes duck, so we can have eggs and meat, and fun too.

2:20 AM, August 16, 2012 Reply  

This is a useful blog with lots of info,thanks

11:48 AM, August 16, 2012 Reply  

I think it's interesting to keep moving forward in this way. I'm not sure that chickens are all that quiet though, we have some neighbors next door that have chickens and they are more obnoxious, if not louder, than the dogs. Nonetheless, urban farming is good for the environment, so a balance needs to be found.

12:03 PM, August 16, 2012 Reply  

Appreciate you sharing, great post. Really Cool.

7:53 PM, August 16, 2012 Reply  

I love eggs and eat a lot,, but only organic.

6:16 PM, August 18, 2012 Reply  

I sure hope my partner doesn't find this post, she has gone animal crazy lately! I'm pretty sure she wants to recreate noahs arc in our backyard! Great info though thanks, I'll point her in this direction if she ever convinces me to get a chicken coop ;)

2:08 PM, October 06, 2012 Reply  

I don't eat eggs or non-veg. But I really appreciate your work. These are really nice pictures. I had never seen these types of eggs. Nice work!

2:52 PM, October 11, 2012 Reply  

It seems to me, lately, that more people are talking about 100-mile diets, and local harvesting. I thought, a few years ago, that this was simply 'the hippies', or 'the treehuggers', but look at the amount of people have bothered to reply to this ad.

If we all began to shop like this on a regular basis, imagine how it would affect the large chain supermarkets.

10:35 PM, October 24, 2012 Reply  

When I was a kid I used to help my aunty collecting chicken eggs. She had a quite big farm. I loved it because I love eating eggs.

12:54 AM, November 12, 2012 Reply  

Lovely photos indeed..

8:06 AM, November 12, 2012 Reply  

We have a lot of land and we've been meaning to get some chickens so we can have our own super fresh and yummy eggs but for some reason, we're dragging our feet. Your post puts me a little closer to imagining having chickens (instead of being chicken!). I love animals but I've never had chickens; for some reason they scare me a little (I suppose it's because I am not familiar with them) but when I see other people with them and they seem so comfortable handling and caring for them, it gives me hope and inspiration to have my own...some day.

Anonymous
6:49 PM, November 12, 2012 Reply  

interesting ..
Interesting article, thanks for sharing friend ....

9:14 PM, November 28, 2012 Reply  

Chickens are a nice hobby, but what do you do with all of the eggs? You must get 5-10 a day. Do you sell them or do you make a lot of egg dishes?

2:26 PM, December 06, 2012 Reply  

Amber, thanks for the great post. Are you going to be doing something about a 'West Coast' Christmas menu, or shopping tips? Everyone in our office is hanging on your every word.

8:37 PM, December 17, 2012 Reply  

Wow, until now do I know that the colors of eggs can show their breed. It's so interesting, Amber :)

12:27 PM, January 02, 2013 Reply  

your hens are so sweet. i love to have some with me.and eggs looks beautiful.superb post

11:20 PM, January 24, 2013 Reply  

I have just learnt something new about washing eggs before refrigeration to avoid spread of bacteria. I swear this is something i would never have known if it hadn't been for this article. It is also interesting to know that egg color entirely depends on the type of breed. Thank you for this eye opening piece

5:27 PM, January 25, 2013 Reply  

We're buying a house this coming spring and we plan to have chickens. Thanks for the great information! PS: You take excellent photos - so artistic! :)

10:49 PM, January 31, 2013 Reply  

Yes, This blog is very useful. Every one can get help.

3:05 PM, February 18, 2013 Reply  

Personally I am an animal lover. From my point of view people should not only be introduced with farming they should learn more about birds, almost extinct animals. Because if we know about them we will be able to collect them, protect them from extinction of their specious. Help them to increase, and by doing that we can use our farms as the home of rare animals and letting people to visit our farms to see them just like a zoo. I think unemployed people may find a way of living. Otherwise the way our world is moving on, in a very near future we are going to tell our grandchildren that "once upon a time their was an animal called tiger". I believe I'm not wrong. If I am please tell me. Thank you.

2:51 AM, March 07, 2013 Reply  

There is nobody who does not like eggs

12:11 PM, March 14, 2013 Reply  

Wow, those are some beautiful eggs. I want a farm, but I'm going to have to work myself up to it first. :-)

j.g
8:28 AM, March 19, 2013 Reply  

Amazing article. Gorgeus blog for sharing with all my friends.

2:10 PM, March 19, 2013 Reply  

Strange eggs, not very natural look)

4:14 PM, March 28, 2013 Reply  

I love the images. Let me be honest, I'm a city boy, and have had little contact with animals, other than a zoo, and definitely not in a farm type setting. This gives me a few glimpses into the origin of my breakfast, and dinner (at least on Weekends)

9:34 PM, April 05, 2013 Reply  

through the great influence of technology we have forgotten to keep in touch with our nature and we have no time to enjoy the nature but what i loves more is to keep in touch the environement

12:42 PM, April 22, 2013 Reply  

Thank your very much sharing a great post. why do not update your blog. all the best  Dev

4:24 AM, May 19, 2013 Reply  

I think it's exciting to keep continuing to move ahead in this way. I'm not sure that poultry are all that silent though, we have some others who live nearby next entrance that have poultry and they are more annoying, if not noisier, than the pets. However, city agriculture is excellent for the surroundings, so a stability needs to be discovered.
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10:20 PM, May 22, 2013 Reply  

The eggs are nice, you have a homestead. When i was a young boy we used to have a chicken, ducks at the back of my house. We eat a lot of eggs and meat.

1:15 PM, July 17, 2013 Reply  

I am extremely amazed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog.
www.executivovip.org

1:08 AM, July 19, 2013 Reply  

Hi Ember. World of today need people like you. I have a dream of seeing this world as a pollution free and the only way its possible is through plantation. Great content! keep the good work on.

6:53 AM, November 11, 2013 Reply  

GRRRREAT post. Informative too. Just wanted to say something about hen houses. Friends of ours had urban chickens and a big problem they had was dealing with local wildlife, especially raccoons. Nature's bandits are so smart and their little paws so human like that they are not the least bit intimidated by simple gate/door mechanisms. Our friends discovered this the hard way.

Anonymous
6:46 AM, December 28, 2013 Reply  
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
11:20 PM, January 02, 2014 Reply  

Nice and interesting share.

Anonymous
11:42 PM, January 07, 2014 Reply  

Loved the photographs used in this article. I live on a farm myself and we have some chickens too. Love me some fresh eggs in the morning. Thanks again.

9:02 PM, January 15, 2014 Reply  

I like the theme of the weblog is it free or paid one?

11:45 PM, February 13, 2014 Reply  

i love eggs specially semi boiled... is their any difference between brown eggs and white eggs.. i heard brown one are better that white one.

1:45 AM, March 18, 2014 Reply  

Those are amazing looking eggs. My parents are raising a few chickens in our yard as well. They are easy to maintain however their eggs are white. I love the colors of the eggs you posted here.

Anonymous
1:09 PM, July 18, 2014 Reply  

Great post! Chicken poultry is a good business! Nice blog I could share this with all my friends!

8:41 AM, August 18, 2014 Reply  

My mom would love to have some chickens in here backyard, Thanks for the interesting informations

Great article. Thanks for this wonderful article.....

9:13 AM, August 29, 2014 Reply  

That beautiful everything! How much nature!

10:37 PM, September 15, 2014 Reply  

I never knew you can tell which kinda of chicked egged an egg, judgeing by it's size and color. Awsome!

4:02 AM, September 16, 2014 Reply  

Very Nice Photo............

Jessy
6:28 AM, September 20, 2014 Reply  

It is true that the traceability of what we eat is often complicated while it is essential and should be more transparent. It is indeed a great idea to grow crops and rear cattle at home if we do have the means and the legal right.

3:10 AM, November 05, 2014 Reply  

What a beautiful life. Please start blogging again. I do love ur writing.

4:07 AM, January 30, 2015 Reply  

Those are yummy eggs. My favorite side dish, main dish is egg. lol

8:14 AM, February 14, 2015 Reply  

nice post and amazing photo , I love it

1:58 PM, May 03, 2015 Reply  

Eggs are the best! Interesting post

Elizabeth O.
2:06 AM, June 06, 2015 Reply  

We love eggs! My grandma used to raise hens when I was growing up. It was so fun helping her harvest eggs in the morning.

3:40 AM, June 06, 2015 Reply  

What an interesting article. I don't know anyone with chickens, so I never would've known any of this.

2:27 PM, June 06, 2015 Reply  

There is nothing like fresh eggs. We used to raise chickens on the farm I grew up on. I actually miss it. Great experience for your kids too!

10:05 PM, June 06, 2015 Reply  

I swear to God, just a few hours ago my husband and I were talking about this with the egg shortage. That it would be soooo cool to do and we were serious about checking the laws here in Phoenix. I'm really wanting to get closer to more natural stuff

7:42 AM, June 07, 2015 Reply  

Its really an very interesting post indeed. The pictures of eggs are amazing pictures and looks like you had done great research on it. I am really amazed with your skills on differentiating eggs with its size and color. Thanks a lot for this information.

7:45 PM, June 07, 2015 Reply  

I want a chicken coop. I think I would enjoy but I don't have the time for it.

8:20 PM, June 07, 2015 Reply  

we get farm eggs sometimes, especially now that prices at the store are going up! very cool!

9:55 PM, June 07, 2015 Reply  

I never knew about the different colored eggs. Looks like it was a lot of hard work, but fun too.

3:19 PM, June 08, 2015 Reply  

Wow! So beautiful. I would love to raise chickens and have farm fresh eggs every morning. What a healthy treat!

11:38 PM, June 08, 2015 Reply  

So much I knew nothing about before about eggs. Miss eggs, now we are severely allergic to them as a family. :-/

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