Chicken CountrysteemCreated with Sketch.

in #homesteading6 years ago (edited)

Since relocating to a more rural area,
Chickens have been in my life.
Maybe I've been a bit chicken about sharing it here on steemit.

What Ive been learning:

Chickens aren't just pets, although they can behave very much like one.

Chickens have a symbiotic value to man and nature alike.
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Chickens have been with man for thousands of years and can be quite friendly especially if they know you bring food.

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Chickens are omnivores. They handle old food scraps very well. Especially green vegetables, meat, bread.
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Chickens do work. They make compost and help to compost other materials like leaves, weeds, cardboard, and paper.
Which is great for gardening.
Over the fall I would put a pile of leaves inside the chicken paddock and within a short time the leaf pile would be shredded and spread out nice and evenly around the whole area.

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There is many different varieties of chickens! When I first looked into caring for chickens I was surprised to find there is hundreds of different breeds that have an assortment of different features.

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Genetic research connects chickens as the closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus-Rex.
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Which could mean chickens were once 30ft tall or...
The T-Rex was a big chicken.
Either way I find it fascinating man has been alongside these creatures for a long time now.

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The varieties in these photos are:
Barred Rock
Black Sex Link
Wyandotte
Speckled Sussex

My biggest challenge so far has been protecting them from predators and keeping thier water from freezing. Also, with winter here, The wildlife seems more daring than in the warmer months.

My experience with chickens has been humbling. I would not describe them as easy to care for but definitely as an asset to the land and a pleasure to have around the homestead.

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What I also like about chickens... it is possible to profit from these animals (eating their eggs) without killing them. I am vegetarian but lots of protein in my food comes from eggs (and milk from cows which unfortunatly is more harmful for cows as they have give birth to suns that usually are killed pretty soon)
Thanks for your upvote (zeppelin)

Yes and they provide eggs! Thanks for including that! These chickens are still young and have yet to produce an egg but they will when they are ready.

adoreable the look on the first picture of your chicken.

It was a favorite photo of mine! Glad to share and Thanks for stopping by.

@leesmoketree Omg they are ADORABLE!!! Great job raising them!

Looks like a nice place to be there out in the open. Animals around. Add Some blunts coffee music and no cell phone to it and bam That;s pretty much my dream/goal.

enjoy

You deserve it! That's a thought I had coming here :)

Bunch of cute chickens :)

Haha this reminded me of my childhood memory! My mom used to feed me raw eggs in the morning right when i wake up. We used to have chickens, ducks and pigs too. It was a good times. ^_^

That sounds like a great time. Did you grow up on a farm? I would like to have many animals here but is a lot to care for. Im learning that with just chickens. Im excited to try fresh chicken eggs myself :)

Yeah i grew up in farm :)
Yeah start with chickens first. Its nice to take care of them. Once you are used yo take care of chickens, you would want to take care of other animals aswell. best of luck to you :)
May God bless you ^^

I think that is a good idea. Thanks for sharing your experience with me. I would like to hear more of your farm stories and I appreciate the advice. Be well.

Yeah. I would love to tell you more of my experience. How i can communicate with you aside here?

Have you setup steemit.chat? my username is @leesmoketree

This post has received a 0.28 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @markush.

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