Eggs from Cage-free Hens

Take the Cage-free Pledge?
posted by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

Today I received an email from the World Society for the Protection of Animals, which said in part: 

"Whenever we buy eggs -- or any product made with eggs -- we're making a choice about the kind of food we want to serve at our table, as well as the kind of world in which we want to live. By using the power of the purse to buy only higher welfare products, consumers can fundamentally change the way animals are treated.

Join the fight by pledging to take simple steps to help improve the welfare of these sensitive, sentient animals."
 
I chose to sign the pledge -- and thought that there may be a few of our blog followers (and Learning Farm egg purchasers) that might be interested in knowing about and/or signing it, as well.  If interested, you can go to The Petition Site.

Volunteering with the Learning Farm Chickens

A December Volunteer at the End of the Year!

posted by Sharon Gaughan

Sara Teemer, a freshman at DePaul University and a Mundelein resident, volunteered for the Learning Farm during her December break from college. For several weeks, Sara came to the farm for 3-4 hours every Tuesday and Thursday. Sara has a strong interest in animals, so at least some of her time each visit was spent working with and for our chicken flock -- but since she's studying to be a high school biology teacher at DePaul, we also got her involved with Mr. C. and the Montessori students.

I asked Sara if she would be interested in writing a post about her experience for our hen blog.  Here are Sara's words, and some photos that I took of her hard at work with our girls...

Volunteering at the Learning Farm
by Sara Teemer

I’ve always loved and been surrounded by animals. I’ve been kissed by a sea lion, fed a sting ray its dinner, and have even ridden an elephant. But before coming to the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm, I had never seen a chicken in person. Then on my very first day, there I was, face-to-face with one.

In addition to never seeing a chicken before, I had also never been on a farm other than ones that were meant for tourists in random parts of the mid-west. I also had no idea that my time on the farm would teach me more than a textbook ever could.

As many of us know, the month of December has the potential to be dull, monotonous, and very very cold, but from my very first day on the farm, I knew my December would be the complete opposite.

Among the different things I did over my few weeks on the farm, I really enjoyed working with the Montessori students and getting to practice my education skills. Most of my own learning came from Sharon and the chickens, though. Feeding, chasing, and being pecked on were some of the most entertaining experiences I had with them. Sweet-natured and otherwise submissive, the ladies (as I called them) welcomed me into their coop and with unending curiosity, followed along as I forked the straw and scraped poop off perches. They also really loved the colors on my boots, apparently!
 

As my time on the farm ends, I know that I’m leaving with a great deal of knowledge (especially understanding the real meaning behind “being as close to your food as possible”) and several funny memories, like practically playing hide and seek with Rutabaga as I tried to chase her out of the parking lot and back into the Children’s Garden.

Despite the fact that work got dirty – poop, mud, and worms aren't as bad as you think! – it was hard work that truly made me understand just how important farming and local agriculture is. We have the potential to be our best selves with healthy eating, and take care of the Earth with the same care it's provided us. 

I know that I wouldn’t have traded my winter break for any other experience, poop and all.

 

Forking straw in the henhouse...

 

Spreading feed in the chicken yard...

 

Picking kale to feed the chickens...

Happy Holidays!

 

 

Wishing you the very

Happiest of Holidays!

...from the Learning Farm staff
and all the happy, healthy chickens in our flock!

 

 

Feeding Our Chickens...

Chicken Gruel!
by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

In September, I had the opportunity to attend the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello in Virginia. I was interested in the festival for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which was the variety of “chicken workshops” that they were offering.  

One of the workshops that I attended was given by Pat Foreman, the author of several books on chicken keeping, including City Chicks: Keeping Micro-flocks of Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Suppliers (Good Earth Publications, 2010). I purchased a copy of City Chicks while I was there, and read it through cover to cover after returning from Virginia.

Pat has included a wealth of information in this book – but I’d like to share one particular thing I learned that was most immediately interesting and useful for me.

I had noticed for a long time that chicken feed has quite the variety of particle sizes – and I had also noticed for a long time that the chickens have a distinct preference for the larger bits and pieces. In City Chicks Pat explains, “Given a choice, they would rather eat large grains than fine crumble.  Perhaps larger pieces of food fill their crops faster and create a feeling of satiety, or maybe the larger pieces are just easier to see” (p. 153).

Before reading, I had wrongly assumed that the finer feed was the result of the feed company simply grinding it more than they needed to – and what a waste!  But Pat goes on to explain that, “The finer feed contains nutrients such as probiotics and vitamins, so it’s valuable and you want the hens to consume it. Add water or milk to the rejected food…to make a dough-like mash and the chickens will gobble it down greedily” (p. 153).

So, I tried it! I tried it first with Rhubarb and Rutabaga, the Children’s Garden chickens – scooping a bit of the leftover finer feed from their regular feeder, pouring that into a small plastic container, and then adding enough water to make the wet oatmeal consistency.  

“Yum! Chicken gruel,” I thought. And Rhubarb and Rutabaga did indeed “gobble it down greedily.”  

But I had no idea what “gobbling down greedily” looked like until I did the same for our new flock of Bovans Brown hens!  I prepared the “chicken gruel” in a portable feeder (a long trough, about 5 feet in length) while still outside the chicken yard, then I brought the feeder into the chicken yard and set it on the ground. A feeding frenzy erupted before my very eyes, despite the fact that these chickens had already been fed prior to this gruel offering!

 

So now we've starting make chicken gruel for our hens about 2-3 times a week.  And now when they see that portable feeder, they know what’s coming. They no longer wait until the feeder is on the ground, but several will jump up onto it as I try to carry it further into the chicken yard.

Little do our hens know, they are greedily gobbling down the exact same thing that they earlier rejected eating from their regular feeders. All we did was add water and stir!

Pat Foreman, my chicken hat is off to you!

 

Chicken Greetings!

A Chicken Greets the New Week...
posted by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

At the start of a new week on the Learning Farm, I thought I would share a brief inspirational posting from the blog of author Jon Katz, Bedlam Farm Journal (December 3, 2012):


Out of the Roost.  Get Started on the Week.

On a Monday morning, I sought inspiration from the first chicken coming out of the coop, out of her roost. She  pops up on the edge, takes a look around, and plunges into a new week. She does not need the news to begin her day with sorrow and anger, she needs no warnings or tests or pills, she is first out looking for seeds, meal and whatever bugs and worms are surviving the end of warm weather. This is how I will begin my Monday. I will get to work on my training e-book, write it well, be grateful for every minute of my life.

"Chicken Literature"

Chicken Boy – the Book, the CD…

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

Several years ago, I read a book for kids (ages 10 and up, according to the book jacket) called Chicken Boy by Frances O’Roark Dowell (Antheneum Books, 2005).  I remember that I enjoyed reading it, but couldn’t remember much of the storyline – so recently I checked it out of the public library on CD.  

I listen to a lot of books on CD – mostly in the car, but also sometimes at home while doing some kind of mindless task.  One of the things that I’ve come to appreciate about listening to fiction on CD, is the performance quality that a talented reader can bring to the story.  The recording of Chicken Boy is a good example of that.

Tobin is "Chicken Boy."  Tobin is a seventh grader, going through a difficult time, but with the help of a new friend (Henry) and a few chickens, he makes his way through.

Here are some of my favorite “chicken quotes” from Chicken Boy...

“They want to know if we’ve got food,” Henry explained.  “To them, the world’s one big chicken restaurant and we are merely waiters.” (p. 33)

“Tobin, my man, you are going to learn about chickens.  And when you learn about chickens, you will learn about life.”  (Henry, p. 45)

There were a couple of reasons Henry knew so much about chickens.  One was that he thought chickens were the center of the universe.  The other was that he was doing an extra credit project on the inner lives of chickens for science class.

“Mr. Peabody doesn’t actually believe that chickens have inner lives,” Henry explained to me…  “According to him, their brains are too small.  But he hasn’t spent enough time around real, live chickens.  If he had, he’d know there’s a lot going on inside those little heads of theirs.”  (p. 49)

“Henry let me ask you something,” Granny went on…  “Have you once really and truly looked a chicken in the eye?  Son, if you have, you know there ain’t nothing there.”

“Mrs. Fletcher, I have to respectfully disagree with you.  I have looked a chicken in the eye, and what I’ve seen could fill a book.”  (p. 109)

As soon as they saw us, the chickens began to cluck and squawk.  That’s one of the things I liked best about keeping chickens, how they fussed when I showed up, like I was some big treat they’d been waiting for all day.  (Tobin, p. 111)

You might not know it, but you can get to missing a chicken.  (Tobin, p. 194)

I used to think chickens were dumb, and now I don’t.  I never would have thought you could be friends with a chicken, but now I do think that.  So how come I changed my mind?

Maybe I got to liking chickens because my chickens were like me.  Not as dumb or prehistoric as you might think after you studied on them some.  (Tobin, p. 200)

Learning About Chickens...

The A-B-C’s of Chickens!

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

To keep me thinking and reading about chickens on a daily basis, I subscribe to several other “chicken blogs.”  I’m continually amazed by how different each blogger is in their blogging approach, and in the variety of topics and types of information they choose to include.

One of the blogs that I follow, Fresh Eggs Daily (http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/) had a particularly fun post on November 26, 2012.  It was entitled, “A is for Albumen – Decoding Chicken Terms.” 

I learned a few new things while reading these Chicken A-B-C’s – check it out, if you’re interested, and see what new chickens terms you might learn!

Eggs Available!

Free Range, Farm Fresh Eggs Available!

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

Just a quick post to let you know that our new flock of 100 Bovans Brown hens (plus Rhubarb and Rutabaga) have been busy producing an average of 97 eggs each day for us!  So, as you might expect, we currently have plenty of free range, farm fresh eggs available for sale in the Long Barn ($5.00/dozen)! 

How do you enjoy your farm-fresh eggs? 

Scrambled?  Sunny-side up?  Poached?  Deviled?  Perhaps in a veggie or a Denver omelet?  There are many, many egg-cellent possibilities!