Layer Flock

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Layer Flock

Our layer flock was one of the first income streams we had on the farm, and fresh free-range eggs remains one of our most popular items. Our birds have free access to fields and meadows, and they spend their days foraging for greens, seeds and bugs. That gives our eggs their deep orange color and firm texture.

Our laying flock is a mix of traditional and modern laying breeds, including:
Buff Orpington
Barred Rock
Rhode Island Red
Auracana
Americana
Silver Laced Wyandotte
Gold Laced Wyandotte
Black Sexlink
Cuckoo Maran
White Orpington
Redstar

Our layer flock is fed a custom-blended diet comprised of scratch grains, sunflower seeds, greens, vegetables, oystershell, kelp, alfalfa, and as many bugs as the birds can catch. They have a perverse love for earthworms and will gleefully chase each other when one of them manages to pull up a reluctant earthworm from the ground.

In wintertime we have the laying flock here at the home property with access to a large shelter to shed rain and snow. That dramatically reduces the amount of mud they have to contend with. In summertime, we turn them out on pasture so they can harvest the grass, the bugs, and the sunshine.

Our birds are protected from both terrestrial and avian predation by a pair of livestock guardian dogs which guard the birds and rabbits. That has reduced our predation losses down to zero in recent years.

We have been working for several years to begin breeding our own layer flock replacement chicks. In past years we have hatched out several dozen per year, but they were mixed breeds because the roosters generally circulate freely with the hens. So we were never sure which rooster breed had fertlized any particular egg. This year we have raised three sets of chicks which have all produced some really nice new layers. In future years we plan to segregate our breeds such that we can breed true replacement stock for at least some of our poultry breeds.

We have also been experimenting with raising our own feed, either as grasses that the birds can forage, or as harvested crops to be fed during wintertime. This year we'll be expanding the mix to include pumpkin and other squash, brassica greens, beets and other root crops, and other greens such as collards and comfrey.

Poultry Hatcheries
We have purchased many of our layer flock replacements as day old chicks, from Murray McMurray hatchery in Iowa. We have been very pleased with our purchases. Their customer service is great, their birds arrive in good shape, and they have a lot of the breeds we are interested in. We heartily recommend them. You can visit their website at McMurray Hatchery.

Heritage Breeds
Many heritage domestic poultry breeds in the US and abroad are no longer as plentiful as they once were, for a variety of reasons. Happily, a number of organizations exist now to preserve, promote and reintroduce these breeds for both hobbyists and commercial farms. Many of these breeds still have tremendous value on the small family farm, because they are thrifty, hardy, more resistant to disease, and easier to breed than their industrialized counterparts. We have frequently referenced the research material compiled by these organizations, as we have selected the breeds we'll use here on the farm. Their work is critical to the survival of many domesticated breeds, and we hope they continue to have success in that regard.

Two organizations in particular stand out as providing a tremendous amount of research, information and advocacy for rare poultry breed protection, preservation and reintroduction:

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
This organization is the national authoritative repository of rare breeds, both bird and mammal. Their genetics work and census counts throughout the years have brought modern genetics and political advocacy to the cause of heritage breed preservation. Their lists of Critical, Endangered, Threatened and Recovery breeds are the de facto national ranking system for all domestic livestock and poultry breeds. If you've ever wanted to support heritage breeds preservation, their work leads the way.

Feathersite Poultry Page
Feather Site is not a conservancy organization as much as a clearinghouse of information about all the world's poultry breeds, including the rarities. If you hear about some new chicken breed and want to see what it looks like, they'll have photos and information. They are affiliated with the Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities, but I am not sure which is the parent organization. The SPPA seems to be an offshoot of Feathersite, and its website has not been updated in awhile. Yet I have seen that organization referenced in other people's articles about breed preservation, so they are apparently still working for the cause.

Holistic Laying Flock Downloadable PDF
We have found the following downloadable PDF to be tremendously helpful in our holistic management efforts:
Layer Health Compendium
The information compiled here cover herbal, homoeopathic, and good old fashioned good husbandry techniques to both treat and prevent a wide variety of avian health issues. Highly recommended.

Poultry Books
If you are looking for books on how to raise chickens for either meat and/or eggs, whether it is for yourself, your family or for sale, click here to visit our Poultry Books page.

Live like you'll die tomorrow. Farm like you'll live forever...

SBI!

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