CaliforniaMountainChicks
Songster
I thought I’d finally start my own flock thread! I’ll start off with a little about me! I got my first chickens when I was 18, wanted only 2, read you should have 3, got 4. I wanted chickens because I am really into gardening and I loved that they eat garden pests, eat garden waste, turn all of that waste into fertilizer, and they are really great composters! Also farm fresh eggs are a huge bonus. I lived in the suburbs at the time on a small 1/4 acre lot in the inland valley of California. The chickens lived in a 400 sq ft side yard with fruit trees, shrubs, herbs, and a deep litter compost system, with the garden right outside of it.
Now I’m 21, moved onto 5 acres to a small community in the California mountains with my family and now I have 14 hens, and 6 baby chicks. Already planning 1-2 more hatches later this summer/fall. I do have to keep my numbers down though because my chickens do not free range. They reside in a predator proof 1,450 sq ft chicken yard with fruit trees, native plants/shrubs, herbs, berries, and other hardy drought proof shrubs! Their entire yard is a deep litter compost system where I add any garden waste, food scraps, wood chips, bedding, straw, leaves and more to create nice soil for the plants and the chickens. Whatever scraps and garden waste the chickens don’t eat just gets mixed into the deep litter and composts, no need to have a compost bin and manually turn it! My garden has never been better since harvesting compost from their deep litter system! All of my chickens have names and will retire with me, living out their lives in the chicken yard!
Now I’m 21, moved onto 5 acres to a small community in the California mountains with my family and now I have 14 hens, and 6 baby chicks. Already planning 1-2 more hatches later this summer/fall. I do have to keep my numbers down though because my chickens do not free range. They reside in a predator proof 1,450 sq ft chicken yard with fruit trees, native plants/shrubs, herbs, berries, and other hardy drought proof shrubs! Their entire yard is a deep litter compost system where I add any garden waste, food scraps, wood chips, bedding, straw, leaves and more to create nice soil for the plants and the chickens. Whatever scraps and garden waste the chickens don’t eat just gets mixed into the deep litter and composts, no need to have a compost bin and manually turn it! My garden has never been better since harvesting compost from their deep litter system! All of my chickens have names and will retire with me, living out their lives in the chicken yard!
