03-16-2008, 04:12 AM
Take a can of food and you can "herd" chickens anywhere. Our chickens will follow the food can in droves. We also have a border collie who's mission in life is to keep the chickens in a group.
We have a fairly relaxed routine in the backyard with the chickens. In the morning they come to the back window to be fed their ration of cracked corn, pellets or table scraps. At some point during the day the hens lay an egg in the nest box next to the window. During the day the chickens scratch and peck around the yard eating grasses and bugs. Late afternoon they go into their chicken coop and sleep. There are a couple watering places around the yard for the dogs and chickens. The dog keeps the chickens in a group (which they usually want to be anyway) and eventually she falls asleep under a coffee tree while the chickens are usually dozing in the sun.
The flock is mostly araucana with some Cuckoo Marans, Lakenvelder, Buff Orphington and Rhode Island Red mixed in. They don't lay as prolifically as I'd prefer and am considering getting in some pure Rhode Island Reds. I've heard that Rhode Island Reds will continue to lay through winter which would be a good thing. The current flock took almost two months off from laying eggs this year and with the price of eggs we ended up doing without instead of buying any.
We have a fairly relaxed routine in the backyard with the chickens. In the morning they come to the back window to be fed their ration of cracked corn, pellets or table scraps. At some point during the day the hens lay an egg in the nest box next to the window. During the day the chickens scratch and peck around the yard eating grasses and bugs. Late afternoon they go into their chicken coop and sleep. There are a couple watering places around the yard for the dogs and chickens. The dog keeps the chickens in a group (which they usually want to be anyway) and eventually she falls asleep under a coffee tree while the chickens are usually dozing in the sun.
The flock is mostly araucana with some Cuckoo Marans, Lakenvelder, Buff Orphington and Rhode Island Red mixed in. They don't lay as prolifically as I'd prefer and am considering getting in some pure Rhode Island Reds. I've heard that Rhode Island Reds will continue to lay through winter which would be a good thing. The current flock took almost two months off from laying eggs this year and with the price of eggs we ended up doing without instead of buying any.
Kurt Wilson