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We have 500 or so Plymouth Rock hens and about 30 roosters (raised from chicks) who are on pasture most of the year and they give us around 30 dozen brown eggs a day. December-March we generally have snow, so they move into a big coop with full spectrum lights and an outdoor run. They go outside every day, and love to eat snow for some reason.
We grow all of the grain they eat, for even when they are on lovely clover pasture, most of their diet is still grain. We choose not to feed soy to any of our animals. Green plants in their diet makes nice orange yolks.
We can answer any questions about how we raise our livestock. And, we think it is good that more and more people are becoming aware of what it takes to make cheap animal products.
We mostly get asked: "Are these eggs from your chickens?" "How many do you have?" "What do they eat?" "Do they live outside?" Simple questions that can give you a good idea what you are buying.
I'd love to get my hands on some of those eggs. I'll bet they are delicious. Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods there are.
Plymouth Rocks lay brown eggs. The yolk color varies from yellow in the winter to bright orange when the grass is green. Most roosters become chicken dinner. (The rooster may crow, but the hen delivers the goods.) Roosters are aggressive, and there is a limit to how many you can have around. A rooster can "perform" every 6 minutes....and if you have too many roosters, they are pretty hard on the hens. We keep just enough roosters to get mostly fertile eggs, because we think they are healthier to eat, and so that we can hatch out our own chickens.
We sell eggs to the neighbors, but most go to the local farmers markets that we sell at. Everyone should have a backyard flock...a half dozen hens and a rooster would keep most families in eggs. Backyard chickens have as much personality as any pet.
True! We had chickens around growing up and they definitely have a personality just like any other pet.
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