After a brief lull, the egg production is starting to increase slowly. There are plenty of eggs in the Long Barn for sale today! We expect production to slowly increase as the days get gradually longer after the winter solstice.
That's good news for everyone who loves farm-fresh organic eggs, and for those of us who look forward to more daylight hours!
Stop by the Prairie Crossing Long Barn today to purchase eggs for last-minute holiday baking! To purchase eggs, follow the posted instructions in the barn.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Hen House Helpers, hens and hawks -- oh my!
I have had the pleasure of volunteering at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm for almost a year now. I was so excited for the opportunity to care for (but mostly pick up and pet) chickens! Since last December I have gone to the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm in Grayslake as much as I could to see those little balls of fluff, and every time I’ve been delighted with the squawking, energetic hens awaiting me.
Perhaps that’s why, only several weeks ago, I was especially surprised to walk in and spot a bird in flight in the henhouse! Somehow a clever hawk had made its way into the henhouse and was swooping over the poor chickens. My mother and I panicked and ran to get help.
Luckily two farmers were just next door. They ran into the Hen House and tried coaxing the hawk outside, but had no luck. As soon as the other helpers left to get more equipment, my mother opened a large side door and the hawk successfully flew out of the Hen House.
This experience demonstrates how in touch with animals we seem to have gotten since volunteering! Between watching them grow and (sort of) saving their little lives, volunteering at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm has always been exciting.
Hen House Helper "D"
[Editor's note: Thank you to "D" and her parents for volunteering as Hen House Helpers! Thanks also for sharing this story with our blog readers.]
Perhaps that’s why, only several weeks ago, I was especially surprised to walk in and spot a bird in flight in the henhouse! Somehow a clever hawk had made its way into the henhouse and was swooping over the poor chickens. My mother and I panicked and ran to get help.
Luckily two farmers were just next door. They ran into the Hen House and tried coaxing the hawk outside, but had no luck. As soon as the other helpers left to get more equipment, my mother opened a large side door and the hawk successfully flew out of the Hen House.
This experience demonstrates how in touch with animals we seem to have gotten since volunteering! Between watching them grow and (sort of) saving their little lives, volunteering at the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm has always been exciting.
Hen House Helper "D"
[Editor's note: Thank you to "D" and her parents for volunteering as Hen House Helpers! Thanks also for sharing this story with our blog readers.]
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Where are the eggs?!
You may have noticed that the Learning Farm egg production is low right now -- I wish that this were not the case, but unfortunately it is. As with everything else we do, this situation presents a learning opportunity.
The Learning Farm chickens are heritage breed birds. They are selected for their friendliness and so best serve our core mission of education, but they are not known for prolific egg production. Egg-specialist breeds raised by commercial egg operations produce more eggs, but are more flighty and not as nice to work with, particularly for children.
We’ve had this current flock for about a year now. At this point in their life cycle they are molting -- they gradually lose their feathers and put much of their energy into re-growing them, which negatively impacts their egg production. The shorter days also cause their egg production to decrease. We are not currently providing supplemental lighting to increase egg production, but will begin to do so later this winter as daylight hours increase and the extra light supports the hens’ natural rhythm. Our flock management strategy is intended to respect the chickens, and allow them an opportunity to rest and rejuvenate during this time period.
Some egg operations butcher the hens when their egg production decreases like this. Other operations push egg production in ways that are stressful and shorten the hens’ life span – which doesn’t matter to them. Our chickens are used to provide learning and joy, and that extends beyond their ability to produce eggs. For example, 8th graders at the Prairie Crossing Charter School are tracking egg production data and analyzing the downward and upward trends. A volunteer group of parents and kids are doing an independent research project on food safety as it relates to egg operations, and contrasting the Learning Farm model with large commercial operations that have been reported about in the media. Younger kids love to pet the chickens whether they’re laying eggs or not.
The current plan is for the Learning Farm to maintain this flock until fall of 2012 – about one more year. I hope this information helps you to understand, to be patient, and to anticipate and enjoy fresh organic eggs that much more when production rises again. Thank you!
The Learning Farm chickens are heritage breed birds. They are selected for their friendliness and so best serve our core mission of education, but they are not known for prolific egg production. Egg-specialist breeds raised by commercial egg operations produce more eggs, but are more flighty and not as nice to work with, particularly for children.
We’ve had this current flock for about a year now. At this point in their life cycle they are molting -- they gradually lose their feathers and put much of their energy into re-growing them, which negatively impacts their egg production. The shorter days also cause their egg production to decrease. We are not currently providing supplemental lighting to increase egg production, but will begin to do so later this winter as daylight hours increase and the extra light supports the hens’ natural rhythm. Our flock management strategy is intended to respect the chickens, and allow them an opportunity to rest and rejuvenate during this time period.
Some egg operations butcher the hens when their egg production decreases like this. Other operations push egg production in ways that are stressful and shorten the hens’ life span – which doesn’t matter to them. Our chickens are used to provide learning and joy, and that extends beyond their ability to produce eggs. For example, 8th graders at the Prairie Crossing Charter School are tracking egg production data and analyzing the downward and upward trends. A volunteer group of parents and kids are doing an independent research project on food safety as it relates to egg operations, and contrasting the Learning Farm model with large commercial operations that have been reported about in the media. Younger kids love to pet the chickens whether they’re laying eggs or not.
The current plan is for the Learning Farm to maintain this flock until fall of 2012 – about one more year. I hope this information helps you to understand, to be patient, and to anticipate and enjoy fresh organic eggs that much more when production rises again. Thank you!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Chicken Time-Share
As the weather starts to get colder, it's time for us to prepare the chickens' winter home for their return!
The Learning Farm chickens spend the summer roaming the farm in their Egg Mobile, a brightly colored pioneer-style covered wagon. It's lovely to "camp out" during warm weather, but the chickens need more protection from the frigid Chicago winter. Brrrrr!
Luckily the chickens also have a cozy winter home in the Learning Farm Hen House, a permanent structure that is attached to our Egg Wash Station. Our current flock of chickens spent their early days inside this warm structure as they matured from day-old chicks last November to full-grown chickens.
And now it's almost time to move back "home." Except . . . there are other chickens in their house! While the Learning Farm chickens traipsed around in the Egg Mobile, another Prairie Crossing farm business' chickens settled into the Hen House. A chicken time-share, if you will.
As with all moves, there is a lot of cleaning that needs to be done beforehand. With chickens, there is a LOT of cleaning! And then, even more cleaning, sanitizing, and airing out of the Hen House. All this cleaning is important for general safety reasons and for the continued health of the flock.
Healthy chickens = healthy eggs = healthy people!
The Learning Farm chickens spend the summer roaming the farm in their Egg Mobile, a brightly colored pioneer-style covered wagon. It's lovely to "camp out" during warm weather, but the chickens need more protection from the frigid Chicago winter. Brrrrr!
Luckily the chickens also have a cozy winter home in the Learning Farm Hen House, a permanent structure that is attached to our Egg Wash Station. Our current flock of chickens spent their early days inside this warm structure as they matured from day-old chicks last November to full-grown chickens.
And now it's almost time to move back "home." Except . . . there are other chickens in their house! While the Learning Farm chickens traipsed around in the Egg Mobile, another Prairie Crossing farm business' chickens settled into the Hen House. A chicken time-share, if you will.
As with all moves, there is a lot of cleaning that needs to be done beforehand. With chickens, there is a LOT of cleaning! And then, even more cleaning, sanitizing, and airing out of the Hen House. All this cleaning is important for general safety reasons and for the continued health of the flock.
Healthy chickens = healthy eggs = healthy people!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Media (and candy) hungry hens
I got a call a few weeks ago from a local reporter, Sheryl DeVore from the Grayslake Trib Local, doing a story on backyard chickens -- she wondered if our hens might be available for a photo session. Of course! Our hens LOVE media attention so we set a date for Sheryl to visit. I arranged for our regular Friday morning Hen House Helpers to come a little later than usual so they could be part of the story too.
It was a beautiful day on the farm, and the hens were very enthusiastic subjects! The Hen House Helpers demonstrated how they gathered eggs -- some of the younger (and shorter) children in the family carefully reached above their heads to gather eggs in the upper nest boxes. All the nest boxes -- high and low -- were diligently checked and emptied by the children. Nestled carefully in the egg baskets, the morning's eggs were collected and ready to be washed.
Before we headed to the Egg Wash Station, Sheryl wanted more shots of the chickens in their outdoor chicken yard. The EggMobile is constructed so that volunteers can collect eggs without entering the chicken yard, but she wanted to walk around inside with the hens and get the full chicken experience. We turned off the electric fence, opened the gate, and she slipped inside.
The chickens were very excited to see their visitor! They hustled over and crowded around her feet -- anxious to get in the newspaper I'm sure. As you can imagine, it's difficult to take pictures with over 150 enthusiastic chickens clamoring at your feet. The kids and I tossed in some "chicken candy" to distract the hens and give her some breathing space to take photographs. What is "chicken candy"? It is a mix of grains with some bits of corn. The corn is not particularly good for laying hens, but they LOVE to eat it -- hence the infrequent "candy" treat.
The hens were happy, the reporter relieved, the children entertained -- AND Sheryl had taken some wonderful shots of the beautiful Prairie Crossing Learning Farm hens. The end result was the following two TribLocal articles (plus some extra video/photo footage embedded in the first article):
http://triblocal.com/grayslake/2011/09/05/learning-farm-raises-chickens-for-eggs-education/
http://triblocal.com/round-lake/2011/09/05/residents-want-backyard-chickens-legal-in-county/
Enjoy! If you have a chicken story you'd like to share on the blog, please let me know.
Erin Cummisford
It was a beautiful day on the farm, and the hens were very enthusiastic subjects! The Hen House Helpers demonstrated how they gathered eggs -- some of the younger (and shorter) children in the family carefully reached above their heads to gather eggs in the upper nest boxes. All the nest boxes -- high and low -- were diligently checked and emptied by the children. Nestled carefully in the egg baskets, the morning's eggs were collected and ready to be washed.
Before we headed to the Egg Wash Station, Sheryl wanted more shots of the chickens in their outdoor chicken yard. The EggMobile is constructed so that volunteers can collect eggs without entering the chicken yard, but she wanted to walk around inside with the hens and get the full chicken experience. We turned off the electric fence, opened the gate, and she slipped inside.
The chickens were very excited to see their visitor! They hustled over and crowded around her feet -- anxious to get in the newspaper I'm sure. As you can imagine, it's difficult to take pictures with over 150 enthusiastic chickens clamoring at your feet. The kids and I tossed in some "chicken candy" to distract the hens and give her some breathing space to take photographs. What is "chicken candy"? It is a mix of grains with some bits of corn. The corn is not particularly good for laying hens, but they LOVE to eat it -- hence the infrequent "candy" treat.
The hens were happy, the reporter relieved, the children entertained -- AND Sheryl had taken some wonderful shots of the beautiful Prairie Crossing Learning Farm hens. The end result was the following two TribLocal articles (plus some extra video/photo footage embedded in the first article):
http://triblocal.com/grayslake/2011/09/05/learning-farm-raises-chickens-for-eggs-education/
http://triblocal.com/round-lake/2011/09/05/residents-want-backyard-chickens-legal-in-county/
Enjoy! If you have a chicken story you'd like to share on the blog, please let me know.
Erin Cummisford
Friday, September 16, 2011
Heroic Hawk Helpers
While I'm on the topic of hawks, I also had an opportunity to be a "Heroic Hawk Helper" last Friday. I realize this is a chicken blog, but ....
The Learning Farm hens are out in the pasture with their mobile hen house -- the EggMobile -- for the summer. While they're in their "summer home" one of the farmers participating in the Prairie Crossing Farm Business Development Program, Nick from Midnight Sun Organics /http://midnightsunorganics.com/, is using the Learning Farm's indoor Hen House for his layer and meat chickens.
I hurried past the Hen House last Friday afternoon -- quickly finishing up my tasks before I headed out of town for a weekend with some high school friends. To be honest, I was probably already thinking about our plans to participate in the Susan Komen walk together, and working through the logistics in my head.
I glanced in the Hen House and spotted Nick completed surrounded by chickens. I've heard that Nick's turkeys (who make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner by the way) follow him around like he's the Pied Piper, so my curiosity was piqued.
I poked my head in to see what was happening, and he quietly gestured for me to come inside -- a small hawk had apparently decided to join the flock! The hawk was not big enough to be a threat to the chickens and he didn't even seem to notice them, unlike his big "cousins" from my last post. I'm taking some poetic license here in assuming the hawk was a "he" -- he sought out a huge group of female birds AND was lost but showed no signs of asking for directions. But I digress . . . .
Nick and I started plotting about how to convince him to leave. I held the door open while Nick tried to shoo him out, but although the hawk flew right towards the door he kept landing on top of it. Nick was wearing goggles to protect his eyes and I was covering my head and closing my eyes. It was not a perfect plan. We propped the door open with a board so we could both try to corral him out. I decided to live dangerously, and opened my eyes. Thankfully it worked, and he was off!
Perhaps we should coin a new expression about the "hawk in the henhouse" whenever we feel stuck and are not sure how to handle a situation -- we all need someone to point us in the right direction, and provide a little comic relief along the way. A rooster in a hen house knows what to do, but a hawk? Not so much!
Erin Cummisford
The Learning Farm hens are out in the pasture with their mobile hen house -- the EggMobile -- for the summer. While they're in their "summer home" one of the farmers participating in the Prairie Crossing Farm Business Development Program, Nick from Midnight Sun Organics /http://midnightsunorganics.com/, is using the Learning Farm's indoor Hen House for his layer and meat chickens.
I hurried past the Hen House last Friday afternoon -- quickly finishing up my tasks before I headed out of town for a weekend with some high school friends. To be honest, I was probably already thinking about our plans to participate in the Susan Komen walk together, and working through the logistics in my head.
I glanced in the Hen House and spotted Nick completed surrounded by chickens. I've heard that Nick's turkeys (who make a delicious Thanksgiving dinner by the way) follow him around like he's the Pied Piper, so my curiosity was piqued.
I poked my head in to see what was happening, and he quietly gestured for me to come inside -- a small hawk had apparently decided to join the flock! The hawk was not big enough to be a threat to the chickens and he didn't even seem to notice them, unlike his big "cousins" from my last post. I'm taking some poetic license here in assuming the hawk was a "he" -- he sought out a huge group of female birds AND was lost but showed no signs of asking for directions. But I digress . . . .
Nick and I started plotting about how to convince him to leave. I held the door open while Nick tried to shoo him out, but although the hawk flew right towards the door he kept landing on top of it. Nick was wearing goggles to protect his eyes and I was covering my head and closing my eyes. It was not a perfect plan. We propped the door open with a board so we could both try to corral him out. I decided to live dangerously, and opened my eyes. Thankfully it worked, and he was off!
Perhaps we should coin a new expression about the "hawk in the henhouse" whenever we feel stuck and are not sure how to handle a situation -- we all need someone to point us in the right direction, and provide a little comic relief along the way. A rooster in a hen house knows what to do, but a hawk? Not so much!
Erin Cummisford
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Of Hawks and Hens
I came to the farm one evening a few weeks ago for a Hen House Helper training session, and found 3 large hawks dive-bombing the chickens outside the Egg Mobile in the chicken yard. The roosters were raising the alarm LOUDLY and the hens were making TONS of noise. It was not a peaceful night at the farm to say the least.
We tried to scare the hawks away, but were not very successful. I called my husband and kids to the farm -- I know they can make lots of noise and create distractions -- and sent them into the chicken yard to hoot and holler. The hawks were not scared of my family, the family I was supposed to be training, or the other people who heard the panicked calls of the chickens and came to the farm to investigate. They peered down on us from their perches in the trees, determined we were neither predator nor prey, and blithely ignored us while they went about their work.
Although the chickens were too large to be carried away by one of these birds, it was a scary experience and a startling reminder of the web of life. The majestic hawks we loved to spot hunting along the side the road were now hunting our beloved chickens! The kids were particularly concerned about the chickens and wanted to camp out at the farm to keep an all-night vigil. Homework, bedtime, a good night's sleep and the morning school bus made that an impractical (and temporary) solution.
At the end of the day though, despite the many layers of protection for our chickens -- the electric perimeter fence, the secure Egg Mobile that is closed each night, the Nite Guard Solar (registered trademark) predator deterent http://www.niteguard.com/, the roosters who alert and corral hens to take shelter, the covered areas under the Egg Mobile door and feed area, the trees they are often pastured under to compromise Red-Tail hawks' preferred hunting methods, the chickens' proximity to people, etc. -- we can't completely protect them from harm.
As many farmers say, the only way to completely eliminate predation is not to pasture chickens. We keep our chickens off pasture until they are fully grown -- Red-Tail and Coopers hawks have low rates of success with fully grown hens. We do our best, then hope for the rest -- and that's life on the farm.
Erin Cummisford
We tried to scare the hawks away, but were not very successful. I called my husband and kids to the farm -- I know they can make lots of noise and create distractions -- and sent them into the chicken yard to hoot and holler. The hawks were not scared of my family, the family I was supposed to be training, or the other people who heard the panicked calls of the chickens and came to the farm to investigate. They peered down on us from their perches in the trees, determined we were neither predator nor prey, and blithely ignored us while they went about their work.
Although the chickens were too large to be carried away by one of these birds, it was a scary experience and a startling reminder of the web of life. The majestic hawks we loved to spot hunting along the side the road were now hunting our beloved chickens! The kids were particularly concerned about the chickens and wanted to camp out at the farm to keep an all-night vigil. Homework, bedtime, a good night's sleep and the morning school bus made that an impractical (and temporary) solution.
At the end of the day though, despite the many layers of protection for our chickens -- the electric perimeter fence, the secure Egg Mobile that is closed each night, the Nite Guard Solar (registered trademark) predator deterent http://www.niteguard.com/, the roosters who alert and corral hens to take shelter, the covered areas under the Egg Mobile door and feed area, the trees they are often pastured under to compromise Red-Tail hawks' preferred hunting methods, the chickens' proximity to people, etc. -- we can't completely protect them from harm.
As many farmers say, the only way to completely eliminate predation is not to pasture chickens. We keep our chickens off pasture until they are fully grown -- Red-Tail and Coopers hawks have low rates of success with fully grown hens. We do our best, then hope for the rest -- and that's life on the farm.
Erin Cummisford
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Memories of Chicken Camp
Chicken Camp Memories -- by Emma Brown, Prairie Crossing Learning Farm Intern
What I loved most about being a part of Chicken Camp and leading some of the chicken activities was seeing how excited the campers were about the various activities related to our flock. Collecting the eggs was always an exciting experience, especially when there were hens in the nest boxes who didn't want to give up their eggs! It was great to hear the campers say "yeah, they might peck you but it doesn't hurt!" I was happy to see that the kids wanted to be a part of tending to the chickens and, even if they don't understand it yet, they are acting as a part of our community food system. That's something I think everyone should be aware of, and these campers started learning about it at Farm Camp!
One of the best memories I have of Chicken Camp is about a particular young camper. He loved the chickens, and the only thing he loved more than the chickens was feeding them mulberries from the tree near the chicken yard. Every time we went over to the chickens we picked mulberries from the tree and also the ones that fell on the ground. He would feed the chickens from his hand and by the end of the day his hands would be covered in sticky purple juice.
The day of our celebration, which is always the last day of each camp, the camper's mother shared with us that when he came home from Chicken Camp the previous day, he stated that it had been "the best day of his life!" We were so moved and so happy to hear that he had such a great time. I will never forget him and his love of the Learning Farm chickens and feeding them mulberries!
What I loved most about being a part of Chicken Camp and leading some of the chicken activities was seeing how excited the campers were about the various activities related to our flock. Collecting the eggs was always an exciting experience, especially when there were hens in the nest boxes who didn't want to give up their eggs! It was great to hear the campers say "yeah, they might peck you but it doesn't hurt!" I was happy to see that the kids wanted to be a part of tending to the chickens and, even if they don't understand it yet, they are acting as a part of our community food system. That's something I think everyone should be aware of, and these campers started learning about it at Farm Camp!
One of the best memories I have of Chicken Camp is about a particular young camper. He loved the chickens, and the only thing he loved more than the chickens was feeding them mulberries from the tree near the chicken yard. Every time we went over to the chickens we picked mulberries from the tree and also the ones that fell on the ground. He would feed the chickens from his hand and by the end of the day his hands would be covered in sticky purple juice.
The day of our celebration, which is always the last day of each camp, the camper's mother shared with us that when he came home from Chicken Camp the previous day, he stated that it had been "the best day of his life!" We were so moved and so happy to hear that he had such a great time. I will never forget him and his love of the Learning Farm chickens and feeding them mulberries!
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