Life on the Ranch

Here are a line-up of pictures from the other morning. This shows how many chickens and ducks we have and what happens when I open up the coop door in the morning! It's a race out the door and to . . .  me, because I usually have a bucket of grain!  CHICKEN CHAOS! I also make sure there is fresh water in the little duck pond:  HEY! Those certainly don't look like ducks in the clean water!!

See waaaayyy out there in the pasture? Those are the first few chicken tractors.        What is a chicken tractor some of you may be wondering? It is basically a portable house for chickens. The idea is that the tractor is somewhat lite weight so that it can be moved a short distance once or twice a day. The chickens are given water and fed a small amount of food. They also are expected to eat all the bugs (like TICKS!!) and poop as they do so. This is turn helps to fertilize the pasture. From what I have read, it is a great system. Oh, they also are expected to lay their eggs so we can collect them!

I think my kids are right . . . "Mom is weird" . . . yep, that's me. I tend to agree with them as I find myself digging into a pile of maggots and feeding them to the chickens. Are maggots really what these chickens of ours are getting excited about? You got it! Maggots (and other insects) are a great source of protein for chickens. Last year I tried hanging a maggot bucket in the chicken yard. It produced a few maggots that would fall through the holes in the bucket only to be devoured by the birds below.               But, this is even better, I had a small wagon full of some yucky meat that the chickens were munching on (along with the grasses and weeds we pick and throw in their pen). One day, I took a shovel and stirred up the meat and there were thousands upon thousands of maggots. What a discovery! The chickens went bonkers as I uncovered piles and piles of maggots!! So, now the morning poultry routine involves a few things: filling the wa...