We have a mixed flock of heritage breed chickens, whose job
it is to eat bugs and fertilize our soil.
We originally decided to add chickens to our farm in order to reduce—or
eliminate—our need to buy and ship organic fertilizer, hoping that we could go
fertilizer-free in 2014. At first, we weren't sure how to integrate chickens most effectively into our vegetable
production system, but after a little trial and error, we think we have a
symbiosis that really works. By
free-ranging our cover-cropped fields, the chickens get to live up to their
potential (being chickens!!), while also enriching the farm soil and helping
control bug populations.
How
it Works
The chickens are kept in solar-powered electric fencing on
fields that were previously cover-cropped (usually this is a mix of clover and
a grass, or of cruciferous crops, legumes, grasses, and herbs). They have two mobile coops where they lay
eggs, roost for the night, and can find shade and protection from hawks and
falcons. Our method for fertilizing our
cropland isn’t complex: we just move the chicken enclosure to a new spot every
15 days, staying at least six months ahead of our vegetable rotation, which
means we can get 1 acre de-bugged and manured every few months. Hens and roosters alike spend most of the day
scratching and digging, eating bugs, vegetation, some supplemental organic feed
and feed crops (dent corn, sorghum, amaranth, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds),
and their free-ranging habits mean they spread their manure very evenly.
We can’t really imagine the farm without chickens anymore,
and wonder what we were so afraid of before. The chickens make our job easier,
not harder, and in addition provide us and some of our CSA members with
eggs. They can even reproduce on their
own—something I've never seen a fertilizer bag do!
The
Breeds
Our chickens are heritage breeds, which means that they were
recognized by the American Poultry Association prior to the mid-20th
century, are able to live long, productive lives (5-7 years) outdoors, will
grow slowly (no less than 16 weeks to marketable size), and can reproduce on
their own. All the breeds we have
now—Dominique, Faverolles, Delaware, Ancona, and Brown Leghorn—are
considered by the ALBC (American Livestock Breeds Conservancy) to be in need of
preservation, and this is important to us.
We plan to breed our stock toward APA standards for each
breed, doing our bit to protect those in “recovering” status (Brown Leghorn),
those on the “watch” list (Ancona and Dominique), and our “threatened” breeds
(Delaware and Faverolles). Specifically,
we want to breed Dominique and Ancona as laying hens, and Delaware hens for
laying, meat, and species maintenance.
If you can contribute to any of our breeding efforts, please let us
know! Keep reading to learn a little
more about each of our breeds.
Faverolles
This is the first breed that came to the farm, since we'd heard
that they were threatened, but also that they were friendly, good winter
layers, and good for meat. They were bred
in France in the mid-nineteenth century, near the north-central village of
Faverolles, to be “dual purpose”—both dependable layers and meaty, good-tasting
birds—but as intensive farming has grown, chicken breeds are now bred toward
EITHER massive laying capability OR massive meat production, not both. (This is
why heritage breeds—mostly those “dual purpose” birds—are declining or
endangered.) Faverolles have five toes,
instead of the usual four, and feathery legs and feet. It’s said that the
breeders in ancient Rome prized five-toed chickens, and that our modern-day
Faverolles are descendants of these Roman birds.
We have found them to be friendly—the most friendly of all
our chickens—but not very good layers, and prone to “brood.” A “broody” hen is one who hoards eggs and
wants to hatch them, and can be aggressively protective of her nest. A few of our broody Faverolles hens have even tried
to steal other hens’ eggs.
Our Faverolles don’t weather heat very well, but do better
than the other chickens in the cold. As
free-range chickens go, they tend to be on the lazy side, though: they don’t
work very hard to find bugs, and seem to prefer to wait for us to feed
them. They do develop large, meaty
chests, though—so they may turn out to be good meat chickens. We also hear that they lay eggs in the winter
(not a trait of normal free-range chickens).
This will be our chickens’ first winter, so we’ll update the blog with
our findings in the spring!
Dominique
Dominiques, another dual-purpose chicken, are considered the
oldest American chicken breed, originating here during the colonial period.
They are probably descendants of chickens brought to New England from southern
England, but no one knows for sure. They became widely popular by the 19th
century, and even their feathers were used to stuff pillows and mattresses.
Dominiques are traditionally good layers and setters (sitting on eggs), and are
also believed to be “good mothers,” which means that they’re attentive to and
protective of the chicks they hatch. Dominiques are famously good foragers—a
great quality for small farms and homesteaders.
As we’ve gotten to know our Dominiques, we've found that
they are by far our hardiest birds. They love to free-range, and are always hunting and pecking. This may
make them a little more vulnerable to hawks, but we’re already sold on them:
they’re the best bug-eaters in the flock, are pretty friendly, and are some of
our best layers. They lay consistently both on a weekly basis and over a
season, averaging four to five brown eggs a week from March to early
November.
Delaware
Delaware chickens were first bred in 1940 in Delaware,
though Delaware-like chickens were around since the early 20th
century as a result of Barred Plymouth Rock and New Hampshire crosses. Delewares
were bred to be broiler chickens, though they were good layers as well, and
quickly became the primary broiler chicken used across the Eastern seaboard.
When the heavy, fast-growing Cornish-Rock cross that would later dominate the
chicken meat industry appeared in the 1950’s, the Delaware began to decline,
and has declined rapidly ever since.
We bought our dual-purpose Delawares primarily to help
preserve the breed, but have been pleasantly surprised by them. They free-range
actively (though they tend to be loners), grow fairly quickly without getting
too large, and are good layers, producing 4 pinkish-brown eggs a week. Lalo
thinks their slightly hooked, yellow beaks and fierce eyes make them look like
eagles—another reason to be fond of this breed.
We hear that they are rated very well for taste, and will
likely try them for meat next year.
Ancona
Anconas originated in the Marche region of Italy, and take
their name from that region’s capital: Ancona. After they were imported into
English in the early 1850’s, they were selectively bred for their lovely
black-and-white mottled markings, though they were good layers and very hardy.
They were imported into American in 1888, and their large white eggs soon
became popular.
Because of their many similarities to Leghorn chickens (our
Brown Leghorns included), they have sometimes been called “Mottled Leghorns”:
the breeds are similar in size and shape, lay large white eggs, neither are
good setters, and both tend to be people-shy (which is why this Ancona hen is
running away in the photo!). Anconas
traditionally stand cold weather well, and can be good winter layers.
We’re not sure that our
Anconas can be representative of the breed, since half of the chicks we
bought had pink legs rather than yellow (the normal color), and all but one of
those pink-legged chicks died. The
remaining yellow-legged Anconas do have characteristics in common, however:
they aren’t as friendly as Faverolles or Dominiques—they tend to be loners—but
they free-range well, do well in the flock, and lay huge white eggs. We cannot tell their eggs apart from those of
our Brown Leghorns, so we aren't exactly sure how well they lay.
Brown
Leghorn
Leghorn chickens were first imported to American from
Northern Italy (near the port of Leghorn) in the 1850’s. These chickens were
prolific layers, despite being fairly small in size and “small eaters” (having
small appetites). In the 1870’s, White and Brown Leghorns were imported to
England, where they were crossed with a heavier breed to increase their size,
and these larger, more dual-purpose chickens were the ancestors of the current
“industrial Leghorn” type that lays most of America’s white eggs. Brown Leghorns, like ours, are genetically
closer to those early Italian birds, and have retained their hardiness, small
size, vigorous foraging habits, and dazzling plumage.
Like our Anconas, our Brown Leghorns keep to themselves, and
don’t really interact with people.
Faverolles will come up to you and walk on your feet, but it’s hard to even
get a photo of a Brown Leghorn (took me ten minutes to get a close enough photo
of this hen).
They are even a little clannish and territorial within the
flock. Our Brown Leghorn rooster is
small, but feisty and protective, and his hens share these traits: we only have
eight Brown Leghorns, but they have claimed one of the two coops as their own,
leaving the rest of the flock (about forty in number) to squeeze into the
other! Next season, with the Anconas and
Brown Leghorns separate, we hope to be able to tell how well each breed lays.
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