The Urban Flock

10/18/2023

Rhys(ie) is the kid who doesn't panic, has a plan, and keeps a watchful eye. If you don't know this sibling then you are most likely like Liam and I. We charge hell with water pistols, we cry when we are happy and sad, and the scariest that we can be is when we are blindly angry. Rhys will politely caution you oh your walk should he see a branch or obstacle on the projected path, I don't always even see the branch while tumbling with it on my way over the edge of an emotional cliff. Now we can fly in the midst of chaos and we will even drive blinded by fog - but, seeing it before it has happened is just NOT our way. It isn't a commitment to a defect it is just the difference in our ways. When Rhys was in Kindergarten (some grace is requested as yall know how I can be) he forgot his lunch - it was the first week, Liam was in my sister care and I was headed back to work at theAMP and realized he had forgot his lunch... immediately I began to tumble... in my mind there was this baby who didn't have a plan, didn't have his family, didn't have his food... I was melting fast - there were meetings I had to attend so I was left watching the clock and fantasizing about how he was probably going to be a mess. (Now, step out of the kitchen with me for a moment: it isn't lost on me that this isn't about a little boy and his lunch, I know it is me, I am the issue - it kind of has become the constant in these kinds of situations)... rushing through the "whatever's, sure's, ok, on it's, you bet's, nope's I got nothing to add's" I rushed off to Elm Tree only to wall in to him having a lunch try sitting with his new friends enjoying his day. I also, once forgot him at school - yep just forgot to go get him - and he was in the office were he had asked for a "drink and maybe a snack"... the point is either way... - over planned, over felt, overly explained, or under informed... that boy has always been 1/2 a step a head of where I think he is. Now, at 13 the pick up plan we had agreed on went absolutely NOTHING like planned and yet Rhys pivoted, re aligned and took care of his business. I stressed because of all the "Unsolved Mysteries" I watched and he got home because of all the mistakes I keep making - 🙃 ❤️😂 -clvR Acres

03/14/2015

Chicken grit: a necessary supplement for your chicks as well as your mature chickens.

The need for grit varies depending on your chicken’s diet. To understand when it is necessary, we must first understand the way a chicken digests its food; Chickens do not have teeth and therefore do not chew their food.

Chickens swallow their food whole. The food moves into the crop, a sort of doggy bag for holding. The crop allows birds to consume large amounts of food quickly so as to not be vulnerable to predators.

Upon leaving the crop, the food travels into a glandular stomach where it comes in contact with digestive enzymes. This glandular stomach is the first of the two part stomach possessed by many birds.

The food then travels into an organ called the gizzard. The gizzard is the second stomach.

If you’ve ever eaten chicken gizzards, you know that they are very tough. They have to be tough because the purpose of the gizzard is to grind the food. Within the gizzard, food is broken down, in effect accomplishing what we do when we chew our food. The gizzard is a very muscular structure but muscles alone are not enough to grind many hard seeds and whole grains consumed by birds.

Chickens will instinctively pick up pebbles and small rocks as they scratch at the ground. They know that the addition of these insoluble elements is needed for the strong gizzard to successfully grind hard foods against, to break it up for absorption and digestion.

This is the point where chicken grit comes into play.

Chicken grit is simply small rocks to be used as a supplement to your flock’s diet. These rocks are rough in texture which is much more effective in grinding food than smooth stones would be.

So when do your chickens need a grit supplement?

If your chickens are eating anything other than a commercial feed, supplement with grit, this includes any amount of foraging.

If your chickens are confined to cages and have no ability to eat anything other than the commercial feed you provide, grit is not necessary. Commercial feed is formulated to easily digest. Just my two cents here but I hope none of our readers are raising chickens in a battery house setting.
Sprinkle some grit on top of their feed each day, similar to the way you would salt the food you eat.

Do not give too much because some breeds are more susceptible to impaction. Most chickens love grit and will eat as much as you offer.

Remember that in most cases, your flock is getting gravel and such on their own as they scratch at the ground.

Chicken grit is available for purchase at feed stores. The type of rock will vary depending on where you live in the world. If possible, get granite because it is long lasting. Other types of rock are softer and will break down more quickly.

An alternative, if you’re so inclined would be to collect small, rough, little rocks yourself. May I suggest visiting the feed store to see the size of the grit available for purchase to give you an idea of the size you should be collecting.

Speaking of size, grit typically comes in 2 sizes; small for younger birds and regular for mature birds.

For your chicks, sprinkle a bit of sand on top of their food once they are old enough to start scratching. Transition to small grit as they get a little older and finally to regular when they reach full size.

Chicken grit should not be confused with a calcium supplement like oyster shell. Grit is for the purpose of aiding in digestion. Oyster shell is for the purpose of adding calcium to your laying flock’s diet.

Calcium is the main component in egg shells and is an important element to supplement into your hen’s diet. Calcium is also necessary for the production and regeneration of feathers. Oyster shell is the most common calcium supplement but others are available.

A calcium supplement should always be available to your flock.

Provide a free choice dish of the supplement in the same area as their feeders. They will eat from it as necessary.

Some people like to wash, dry and crumble eggs shells to use as the calcium supplement. That’s an option also as long as the shells are thoroughly cleaned and completely dry. Something

03/13/2015

Make a nest box with buckets from your local deli... We like the square ones - they smell like buttercream :)

01/10/2015

I came across this really nice breakdown of the various parts of a chicken egg over at edinformatics.com and have duplicated the information below.

01/10/2015

A “naked egg” is an egg that has no shell. Let me say that again, an egg with no shell. This is not something you normally run across and even when I show a naked egg to someone they often just don’t get the idea that the shell is gone – yet the egg stays intact. You might want to check out the anat…

12/24/2014

Beards are beautiful...

12/24/2014

Does this hair make my beak look big?

12/22/2014

Across oceans, across time, across empires and across your local neighborhood!!

To the ancients, the chicken was a kind of two-legged pharmacy.

12/22/2014

Rather than pay the difference you could just host your own!!!

Breakfast lovers, be warned.

12/20/2014

No food has had more ups and downs over the last century or so than the common egg. Following a long period in which eggs were ubiquitous and highly regarded, eggs fell from favor with the rise of concerns over cholesterol. Currently the American Heart Association recommends that people restrict dietary cholesterol to 300 mg per day, which effectively limits people to 1 egg per day at most. However, the relationship of dietary cholesterol and serum cholesterol is, at best, tenuous, and a significant number of experts now believe that egg consumption poses no risk to cardiovascular health.

In a new paper published in BMJ, a group of researchers from China and Boston performed a meta-analysis of 8 studies that included 263 938 participants for coronary heart disease (CHD) and 210 404 participants for stroke and followed them for 8 to 22 years. The authors found no evidence for an association between egg consumption and either coronary heart disease or stroke. Forbes Magazine, 2013.

12/20/2014

Not your average chicken....

12/20/2014

How does it work? We schedule a date to bring to your home a portable coop, three+1 chickens that are already laying eggs, and the supplies needed for your rental period. Chickens produce the most eggs from May until November. Towards the end of the rental period we will schedule a date in October/November to stop by and pick up the rented chickens, coop and supplies. Starting in October we shelter them and protect them from inclement weather - do their annual medical evaluations/deworming & testing. As soon as Spring/Summer comes back around, we schedule a time to bring your chickens back to you and provide you with another season of exception flavor & fun.