We decided to raise our own flock a couple of years ago as a means of becoming more self reliant. We started with 13 chickens that were a day old from the local tractor supply store and found out that we love owning chicken and starting seeking out more to add to our flock. What we found is a bunch of families went and bought chicks when we did and just before they were old enough to start lying they decided they were too much work and placed ads on Craigslist to find new homes for them. Some we got were very well cared for and other was truly in need of our help. We ended up with 39 hens and one very handsome rooster in all.

All of our little ladies are free range in our yard and eat a very good diet of left over fruits and vegetables. They also really enjoy grass and grain. We turned 1/2 our garage into a large chicken coop and the other 1/2 into a self serve egg pick up station. It has been working out very well and the eggs are so much different from store bought. I will never eat store bought eggs again. We are getting on average 30 eggs daily, they range from white, light brown, to dark brown. The yolks are very bright yellow and the shells are rock hard. In fact, we got a dozen store bought cheap eggs the kind we used to buy and compared them. What we found was that the store bought eggs had fragile shells and the yolk was pale and sickly looking.

I highly recommend to everyone who reads this to consider getting a few hens if you can or finding a local chicken farmer near your home to get your eggs. The health benefits are very worth it.