I guess I have a close, personal relationship with my flock of hens. I have 20, they answer to their names, they come when I call, (except when they have found a way into the veggie garden) and I'm outside a lot with them. I work on furniture, have many gardens, keep, or try to keep a chicken garden, and have 19 chicks who don't know their names, and 22 more on the way. The hens are loose in the 1/4 acre back yard, chicks in a coop and run. I feed them weeds from the gardens, spent broccoli stalks with leaves, various other things from the garden, they have layer feed all day, chicks have chick feed all day, they get mealworms and scratch and black oil sunflower seeds. They are friendly, healthy, and try to come in the dog door. As soon as I move to 2 1/2 acres, I will raise meat birds, they will not have names and I will probably feed them twice a day.
from California!
