A bit of the feast that our birds enjoy! Out of date vegetables from the supermarket make a rich meal for our chickens. Those watermelons are the top prize. Lettuce is high on the list. Thank you IGA Chelan and Red Apple Manson.
Did you know? Chickens don’t taste capsican, which is the hot we taste in peppers. They munch habanero and jalapeno peppers without breaking a sweat.
We also get prep scraps from restaurants to feed our chickens. Sometimes a whole rack of ribs. Sometimes salmon fillet. Sometimes potato salad. Thank you Campbells and Artisan Bakery. Thank you Riverwalk Inn when you open up again April.
Collecting these chicken treasures is one of the days highlights. All this goodness was headed to the trash – instead it becomes daily gourmet for our flock – and better eggs for all of us. Compare the difference between these eggs and those from chickens on a straight grain diet. Chickens like variety.
Here’s some of the flock at the breakfast table. Eating great food and making great eggs. Portable hoop houses on the left. Cascade Mountains in the background. Lake Chelan out of sight below the horizon.
Egg update: We reported on the misshaped miscolored stressed eggs from the first days. In less than a week, all eggs are now round and properly colored! The chickens are still slow at laying as they get used to their new surroundings. We started out with 30 eggs. Now we are getting 60 each day. With 150 hens, we should end up around 120 eggs per day when everyone gets settled in and laying at full production.