Most producers who raise free-range or pastured hens do feed them some grain. Feeding corn, soy, wheat, or commercial chicken feed along with all the bugs, worms, and grass and weed leaves and seeds is what will produce the most nutritious eggs. The key is to use a production system that allows the birds a diverse diet, so that they can choose the mix of foods that they need. Even the technique described below, where the penned birds are fed grass clippings to supplement their grain, will improve the quality of the eggs. For local suppliers who raise free-range, pastured or grassfed eggs and other products, check out www.eatwild.com.

Hi,

I am in the Austin TX area and I have had a lot of difficulty locating chickens and eggs that are fully range free and fed only bugs. The ranchers I have found supplement the feed with corn and soy and one farmer said it is because they need protein (bugs are protein, yes?) and until they can find a substitute for the soy they will use it. Are you aware of any farmers in my area who don't feed their chickens soy?

Thanks, Carol

I raise chickens here in northern WI our chicken house is set up to over winter our fully feathered out friends quite nicely (we live in Zone 3 it gets very cold here)

Our chicken house in insulated I cover the inside window with some painters plastic to let the light in but still keep them covered over thier door I stack bales of straw to keep any drafts out I have vents toward the ceiling of thier house and I cover the floor of the coop with a deep layer of straw this allows the waste to fall through (in summer we use woodsavings) and is easier to clean up after them and lasts longer between cleanings

we also put a light bulb on a timer so they get plenty of light and still lay eggs we also use a heater for thier waterer (it just raises the temp to just above freezing) so thier water wont freeze

Birds can survive fine and stay warm so long as they are in a place that is draft free and dry

http://goinggreenish.blogspot.com/

We became interested in keeping hens in March of this year, and have three very happy, healthy young hens now. My husband constructed a very nice 8'x4' run to go with their coop, which is a re-purposed rabbit coop. The first eggs should be laid around the beginning of September, and we can't wait!

Our area gets somewhat wintry, so we're also a little concerned about how they'll fare. We did make sure to buy our chicks locally, so that we know the breeds are right for our climate. There are several farm supply stores to choose from within 10 miles from home, so we should have no problem finding good feed for them for the winter. We've heard that pellets are the way to go after the birds start laying.

hello i'm 16 and do alot of weight training i love eggs and know
they are a good sorce of protien. However my mother tells me not to
eat them as often and to put long time periods before i eat eggs
again because she is afraid of the cholesterol. I respect her
concern and this is why i wanted to know how much is to much when
it comes to eating eggs? could i atleast have one per
day?

Okay, I know it's great to let animals free range but what about
in the winter, especially up north here? What supplemental feed do
you recommend? Commercial or mixed. thanks M

Most of the first half of my life my family raised chickens for
eggs. We generally had two dozen. We had a good sized chicken house
connected to a rather large outside chicken-pen. beyond the
standard chicken feed my dad bought, and the clam shell, whenever
we mowed our lawn my dad dumped the mower's basket of cur grass
into the chicken pen. The chickens seems to love it and I soon
realized our eggs tasted much better then anyone else's I knew. the
yolks were such a beautiful deep yellow that it made our home baked
white and wheat bread look like banana-bread in color.