Sparrow, thanks for all the info on the chickens and the pictures. Can you answer some more questions? How many eggs do you get from them each day? Do they ever not lay eggs just out of spite or if they have a bad day? What is the average lifespan of a chicken? Also, what do you feed them?
I thought free range was just a large outdoor enclosed space so they are still protected, I had no idea that meant they run free all over the yard. I'd be so scared to lose them to wildlife.
I wish I could have my own chickens.
How come you can't? Your community? You're not alone. There's actually an underground chicken movement sweeping the country, led by people who want to take back their food source but live in area where people would rather they didn't, thanks.
As for the eggs, I have four hens and they are at the peak of laying season right now, so I have been getting 3-4 eggs a day since the spring. That will slow down considerably as the cold weather - and molting season, when they lose and regrow feathers - approaches. I don't expect more than one or two eggs a week in the winter, optimistically, though some do have full laying in the cold season through the use of artificial lighting in the coop. I don't like to do that. Nature makes them shut down for a reason and I prefer to respect that. Chickens will stop laying for a number of reasons: molting, shorter days in winter, a fright, a change of routine, really it could be anything, they are pretty sensitive. For instance, this past week they have been slow. I'm attributing it to the fact that when I had a BBQ one of the visiting little boys amused himself by throwing a ball against the coop as hard as he could, making a racket and startling the hens (he wasn't trying to be bad, he just didn't realize that it wasn't a good idea!)
As for feeding, chickens are truly nature's disposals! We give them commercial layer feed - they always have access to this for free-feeding - and supplement it with table scraps. The love fruit, sunflower seeds, lettuce and raisins. Of course they also eat bugs, worms and greens. We also give them a commercial corn and grain mix called scratch, and oyster shell, which they need for their eggs.
There are a few things they can't have, like uncooked potato skins and avocados. Other than that, they will really eat anything!
