OMGosh Yes! I raise them for food. They are easier/smaller to deal with, less dangerous with Grandkids running around, and all around cheaper to feed. They eat scraps galore but mostly I give them tons of garden scraps. I render lard, make head cheese and with the left overs? (fat, and so forth)...
Yes! I raise them for meat. They're cheaper, safer for older people like myself, to have, and they eat anything and everything. I have several wooded acres and they free range and rut everything. They will come running for treats and scraps and at butcher time I call my sons and older grandkids...
Free ranging is also healthier and you save a lot of money spent on feed. I never buy feed, have little to know problem with predators but then I have some pretty mean barn cats that were raised with my chickens and they protect each other fairly well.
YES, YES AND YES! Been doing it for decades. Raise hogs too and when there is left over fat (after rendering my lard) I freeze and bag HUGE chunks of fat. I'll go in and throw them a chunk....they free range and do NOT get feed so this is a treat for them. I also throw hog heads to them...
Did someone say they don't fly well? Because let me tell they DO and can get really high. Mine roost on the barn rafters and have done the same near the tops of my old oaks. Another thing they will fly over any fence and destroy your entire Garden. So clipping their wings keeps them where you...
I do free range on 5 acres. My flock has access to woods and a creek. I have often worried about predators but have to admit, the eggs and meat are FAR better if free ranged....I also get "more" eggs. I have taken small precautions....a few mean roosters, a couple of dogs who are friendly and...
Mine free range on 5 acres, woods and a creek as well and unsupervised. Pretty much the way all farmers do it around here. High fencing for veg gardens because chickens WILL get into and make a mess out of gardens. But if you want great tasting meat and eggs it is what we do:)
My son wants me to...
Chicken will destroy your garden faster then any "pests" might. You need to fence off and protect your garden if your chickens free range as mine do. I have been tempted to fence my chickens in but the fact is, free ranging is way better for them and if I want a decent garden I need to protect...
If they can't free range, they LOVE pasta, dry beans that ARE cooked, veggies, bread, scraps galore. I know in the winter when they are not free ranging as much and the cost of feed is high....I give them rice and beans on top of all the left overs each day and they really thrive:)
There is something worth adding, I do keep a huge compost pile going in the barn (dirt floor) and it not only gives them bugs but it keeps it warm in the winter!
I let all 34 free range on several acres (with woods and a creek they just love) and during the warm weather I do not feed them anything. They are huge and healthy and during the winter I do give them feed and yes, it seems once warm weather sets in they are a bit lazy at first but once they...
I would love to know what is and is not allowed. I know many places are coming around and allowing a few caged hens for eggs but you have places that do not allow it. Then again some people have them anyway LOL
Just curious if anyone knows the laws there