Chicken Treats

I shared this a while back:

A few months back I was walking in the produce aisle of my neighborhood market. I found myself wondering what they did with all the perishable fruits & vegetables that don't sell.

As I assumed, the store manager confirmed for me they toss a lot of produce out every day because of mandated FDA freshness regulations. The produce certainly still looks fine & perfectly edible when it's declared "expired", but the store is required to throw it away.

I told the manager I had a few chickens and asked if he'd mind if I came by every few days to nab some of the food they've tossed out. He loved the idea of supporting a local "farmer" (in my incredibly-suburban Silicon Valley backyard) and invited me to simply drop off a 5-gallon bucket in the morning which their produce inspector fills for me & then pick it back up at my leisure later in the afternoon.

I'm happy because I'm getting a lot of free, very high-quality, nutrutious food for my birds.

He's happy because his waste product is now going to productive use in the community. Plus he gets free eggs from me every once in a while.

My chickens, of course, are thrilled. 

Sharing as a model for you other backyard chicken farmers to consider...

I've since moved out of Silicon Valley since writing this, but was able to strike a similar deal with a local market in my new town within days of arriving.

If you can do this, it's a great way to get top-notch nutrition for your chickens for the price of a few eggs every couple of weeks.

When we built our coop last year we faced one of the windows toward the south and another to the east so they would get as much light as possible.  So far our six are still laying 2-4 eggs a day.  Today we got three.  

They are a riot and each has their own distinct voice and personality.  

Our coop isn't too bright, but they're outside on all but the coldest days.  We've been getting about 3-4 eggs per day from 8 chickens. 

We put an electric light in the coop on a timer so that, between natural and artificial light, and a south facing window, they have light about 12 hours a day.  We also have a warmer in their water so it doesn't freeze.  From the six hens we are averaging 4-5 eggs a day, although it has become a bit more erratic in the past month or so.  We have apparently conditioned them to lay earlier in the day as we don't let them out of their run until they lay at least 4 eggs, usually by noon.

Fortunately, our neighbors are very tolerant of the chickens visiting occasionally, so they get to "free range" a lot of the time.  We share eggs with a couple neighbors and a local food bank.  It helps keep us in touch with the community.

The one downside is the rooster attacks.  He's gotten sneaky about it, so I am constantly wary when anywhere near him.

Doug