Sustainable Community Living

We love our Chickens!

Perhaps we our a little crazy (pic on the left) when it comes to our chickens, but ya just can’t help it. They give us eggs, meat, feathers, and fertilizer for the garden. We have six different varieties at the moment, but I’ve been trying to develop a line of extra productive Australorps (pictured on the right here). Australorps have great egg layers and hold the worlds record of 365 eggs in a year. They come from Australia and are well suited for our environment here in California.

For the last two years we have not bought eggs, meat or fertilizer and that is a great feeling. We harvest seaweed from the coast, allow the chickens to eat it and the critters that live on it. Then we dry it and use it as bedding for their coop. In a few months…presto! The most amazing fertilizer you have ever seen. Of course this needs to be composted or we sometimes use it as a top dressing.

THE COOP Our coop is built on the side of the mountain above us. As you can see to the lower right it is anchored by two bei trees. The coop is roughly 16′ long and 8′ wide. It has 4 different areas, the end you see in the pic on the left is a feed storage area and double layer brooder for chicks. Because it is warm in there I also raise mealy worms and grow seedlings. The other 3 areas are coops separated so I can keep the breeds separate, all open out to the main pen and 30 acres. All the coops also have there own next boxes all accessible from the outside so I don’t have to bang my head! All the runs are covered by bird netting to keep the owls and hawks from killing our chickens. We also have all the coops and a one acre perimeter surrounded by a solar fence charger (shocker). This is really the only thing at the moment (till our Livestock Guarding Dog gets here July 1st) that keeps the wild critters at bay. Let me tell you, those critters are smart many a time the chickens have grounded the system out and we have lost chickens. It takes constant vigilance to make sure that the system is working well, but it is better than running out in the middle of the night when something is attacking the chickens. To date most of our losses happen when the girls leave the perimeter during the morning. We had a bobcat that would sit and wait for me to open the gate, let the girls out and then BAM! I no sooner got down the hill than I heard him grab a chicken and the chase would begin through the thickets. It would end up with him dropping the now dead chicken and disappearing into the cover of the woods. I would use that dead chicken to trap him later. Keeping your livestock safe can be a real challenge, but I love nature and I respect her critters as well. However, when it comes down to you eating or the bobcat sometimes some hard choices have to be made.

BREEDS We raise (hens & roosters) Pearl Leghorns, Americana, Barred Rock, Australorp, Brahma, and Javas. Pear Leghorns are famous for staying small (eating less) and yet producing a nice white egg almost daily. Americanas lay blue or green eggs…their nick name is easter egg chicken. Barred Rocks were bred from the Java and the Dominque. Barred Rocks were and still are one of America’s most popular dual purpose (meat and eggs) birds. Australorps are the favorites around here. They are well adapted to our weather, lay year round and dress out around 3-4#s. They make good moms and being pure blacks makes them more difficult for predators to see when hiding in the brush. The Brahmas I got for a good laugh with their tall bodies and feathered feet! Javas are extremely rare with only 2,600 known in existence. Once a popular barnyard bird in the 1900s just now making a come back on new sustainable farms due to their ability to forage for nearly all their food! You’ll need them with grain prices skyrocketing. (Java chick on right and Australorp on left). We have a fairly large flock and are trying to help with the preservation of this rare and valuable heritage chicken.

The Beltsville Small White Turkey was developed to fill a clearly identified consumer need. In the early 1930s most turkeys raised in the US had dark colored plumage, were medium to large in size and had a narrow breast without substantial meat. A 1936 survey found that 87% of home consumers wanted a New York-dressed bird (blood and feathers removed) weighing between 8 and 15 pounds. They also wanted a bird that was meaty, well-finished and free from dark pin feathers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture research center at Beltsville, Maryland, therefore, began a breeding program between 1934 and 1941 to create a bird that would answer the consumer demand for a bird that would fit apartment sized refrigerators, small ovens, and small families. Researchers developed the new Beltsville Small White variety from a genetic foundation that included the White Holland, White Austrian, Narragansett, Bronze, and Wild Turkey.

The Beltsville variety came into use in the 1940s and was recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1951. The height of its popularity came in the mid-1950s and, in addition to its use as a purebred, the Beltsville Small White also contributed to the development of other strains of medium and small white turkeys though these populations were never very well defined as breeds.

The Beltsville Small White turkey’s success was short lived and by the 1970’s it was nearly extinct. Although considered a fine bird for family use, it was less well received by the hotel and restaurant trade or by processors that desired a larger bird from which they could obtain more “slices.” The Broad Breasted White (or Large White) turkey, therefore, came to overshadow the Beltsville because, when slaughtered at a young age, the Broad Breasted White fit the processor’s niche for a smaller turkey but had the ability to grow substantially heavier weights for the commercial food trade. By 1965, the new Broad Breasted White had nearly taken over the turkey market. Despite this, the Beltsville Small White still had advantages. Beltsvilles had good reproductive qualities, including the ability to mate naturally, and so could be selected, bred, and maintained by small-scale producers. In contrast, Broad Breasted White turkeys generally required artificial insemination for reproduction. Young Beltsville turkey hens weigh 10 pounds and young toms weigh 17 pounds. The plumage is white, with the head red to bluish white. The beard is black, the beak is horn colored, and the eyes are dark brown. Shanks and toes are pinkish white.

Today the Beltsville Small White is quite rare and primarily by few exhibition breeders. Research flocks exist at both the Iowa State University and the University of Guelph, however, public access to these flocks is almost non-existent. In recent years there has been a revival of interest in this variety. Efforts are underway to locate and conserve any remnant flocks in the United States and Canada. We happily have one of those small flocks!

These are some book I would highly recommend. The chicken health handbook is a must!