A Little Bit About Chickens

                Holy Cow!  Did you know there are over 400 different kinds of chickens?  Me neither.  But there are, and what’s more, only a few are used to grow commercial chickens – the rest are kept alive by small chicken farmers and enthusiasts.  The commercial chickens are of course bred for their incredible breast size.  The only problem with that is that their breasts are so large it often causes them to have leg problems, and sometimes their hearts actually explode because they are growing too fast – definitely sounds a bit like overbreeding, to me. 

                 But more on that later - as you may have already guessed, I ‘m currently in the middle of step two of my chicken farm plan – which is to educate myself, because the truth is, I knew (and still know) next to nothing about chickens.  So I bought a couple of books and have been reading all sorts of things on the web, and I have to tell you, I am amazed at how much there is out there. 

                One of the books I have read is by a woman named Katie Thear.  In it, she chronicles the history of raising chickens, which is far more interesting than I ever thought it would be.  First of all, chickens come from tropical climates originally, probably in Asia.  They are thought to have first been domesticated around 8000 years ago, but not for eating, necessarily – for fighting!  (Which explains why roosters have such a bad reputation for being mean – it’s not their fault – they were bred that y!)  It’s thought that the Romans were the first to make it a practice of eating them.  Good idea, Caesar!

                Believe it or not, poultry farming was apparently not considered very glamorous in Europe  – considered to be mostly “women’s work,” whatever that means.  It was really the Americans who apparently stepped up to the plate, so to speak, and developed large scale poultry for commercial purposes.    Now it is, as we know, pretty big business, both for eggs and table chicken, with commercial farms producing billions of pounds of chicken per  year.   So we’re eatin’ a whole lotta chicken, apparently!

                I’ve also learned that chickens are actually quite beautiful animals – their feathering is colorful and lovely, and yes, they do come in all sorts of amazing shapes and sizes (as I said before – over 400 varieties).  And that people who raise chickens really get attached to them – putting pictures of them on the internet and sending them to friends and relatives the way we do with our children!  It’s pretty cute,  actually. 

                It turns out that chickens raised for meat grow relatively quickly, depending on their breed – a chicken is considered old and not fit for broiling after twelve or sixteen weeks!  And even free-range chickens don’t live on grass and bugs alone, it’s only a portion of their diet – they still need feed, and a lot of water.   They are pretty hearty, but they are also prey animals, so keeping them safe is going to be a serious priority – out here we have hawks, raccoons, coyotes – even skunks and snakes like chickens, too and I am determined not to let them get anywhere near my flock!  This is going to require more research, I think…

                Chickens are social animals who look out for each other – they do have a pecking with dominant birds who lead the flock and keep everyone in order -apparently some can even develop into bullies!   When they are ranging they even have sentries who keep an eye out for predators and warn everyone when there is danger – kind of cute.   I am learning about broodiness, scratching, pecking, perching, molting, dust baths, even clucking and crowing – turns out they are far more complicated than one might give them credit for, these birds of little brain!  

I realize that I've just scratched the surface of chicken knowledge, and learning will certainly come with doing, but now that I have a little background about chickens, I think I'm ready to go into the next phase of learning, which is about different breeds and which would be best for our endeavors.

But Miss Scarlett, I don't know nuthin' about birthin' no chicken farm!

My husband and I recently decided to become free-range chicken farmers.  Notwithstanding the fact that although I grew up on a ranch in Texas, I have never raised a chicken in my life, and my husband grew up in Berkeley, CA where his experiences with chickens were limited the rare occasions when he found one on his plate, we are both committed to, and excited by this what I'm going to call 'whimsical'  endeavor.
We actually have some sound reasoning for our seemingly nutty decision.  We (meaning I) have actually been thinking about it for many years - ever since we made the decision to move back to Texas about twelve years ago, when our son was a toddler.  We knew we were going to be living on the family ranch, and we knew that although my father is the absolute totalitarian ruler of the ranch, we would, eventually need to make some decisions about how to handle the land after he and my mother left it.  But that was (and thankfully, still is) in the future.  Right now my father is still going pretty strong for a beat up old hardworking rancher.of seventy-six, and he continues to run the ranch completely, summoning our help only on an "as needed" basis.  Which is absolutely fine with us. 
   Still, Paul (husband) and I feel we have a resource that we are not taking full advantage of, namely, the land that we currently reside upon.  We have a fantastic vegetable garden most years ( I say most because this year our garden was decimated by the starving deer of the worst drought I've ever experienced) but we still have ten acres that my father isn't using for ranching that we could do something with - at least, that's what we think.  We don't actually know much.  We are hoping we can start out with just that.  Foolish?  Perhaps, but hard work and a willingness to learn will go a long way, and that we definitely know we have.
Also, about fifteen years ago, I made the discovery of free-range chicken.  After several years of eating chicken raised in this way, I simply cannot and do not wish to go back to what I suppose is called "conventionally raised" chicken (hereafter referred to as "CR").  To me, the difference in taste is so strong that I would rather do without chicken altogether than eat that other stuff.
 I have done some research on organic, free-range, grass-fed (some might say)hippie-type agriculture, if only to discover for myself whether there is some truth or if it is, as it often is, just people believing what they want to believe because it sounds good or even more often, is politically correct (And by the way, after living in the California Bay Area for many years, I am profoundly sick of political correctness - just make decisions based on what is RIGHT for God's sake, it's not that hard to figure out much of the time.) and what I found out through reading extensively from books, magazines, scientific journals and anecdotal evidence as well as many websites (so you'll believe I did my homework) is that yes, organically grown, free-range, grass-fed food is scientifically proven to be better for people, the animals themselves, and the enviornment.  It's not a bunch of hooey.  So add that to my list of reasons.
Plus, the reality is that the market for the above is growing - fast.  And there simply aren't enough people at the moment filling the void, so it is far more expensive to buy than CR food.  I live in a small community, but there is a huge demand for it right here.  Some people I have spoken to guarantee that they can sell all the chickens and eggs I can raise.  And I don't think it's just talk, although I'll let you know, after I do some more research.  I actually believe we might be able to create some income from this.  I'm not looking to get rich, but I wouldn't turn a profit down, either! 
Plus, I admit I have found myself strangely drawn to my sister-in-law's small flock of chickens, (she lives on the ranch too) and darned if I don't love to watch her colorful, crazy chickens pecking around or running around like - well, you know.  They're actually kind of cute, and that's saying something coming from one who has often said "There's a reason for the term birdbrain - it's becaue birds are stupid!"  I find I kind of like the old gals.
Too, we (meaning I) have the time at the moment, having recently stopped teaching after twenty-odd years, and my son is now fourteen and is a super busy, involved kid who only needs me to ferry him around and cheer him on in his various endeavor anymore.  And when he is actually present, he can help around here with the chickens - it will be good for him to be part of something like this - character building or something like that, I'm sure.
So for all of the above reasons, we are going to jump in, feet first.  No matter that we don't know anything - Rome wasn't built instantly, and I don't expect this to happen in a day, or even a week.  We have a lot to learn, do and build...I'll keep you posted.