One of the details we didn’t really think through when we first got our laying hens a few years ago was what they would eat, how much it would really cost and whether or not we would always have the option of organic chicken feed for the Ladies. Luckily, our local Feed Bin carries Ranch Way products and luckily, Ranch Way offers a variety of organic chicken feed options. Santa Fe has always been pretty crunchy and this is just one more benefit of the crunchiness.
So, what do we feed the Ladies? Easy Feed Organic Layer 20% and Easy Feed Organic Hen Scratch. With 14 hens and 5 pullets, we currently go through ~2-3 40# bags of feed every two to three weeks and ~1 bag of Scratch every three to four weeks. We supplement their diet with weeds, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, crushed egg shells and as many bugs as we can find for them when they’re not free-ranging (we let them out in the front and back yards throughout the year with the exception of prime growing time).
While the organic chicken feed and scratch is definitely more expensive than regular feed, we have found it to be more than worth the price difference. The Ladies love it and the eggs are simply amazing. Really, really, delicious, in fact.
Now, with so many laying hens, can we eat all of the eggs the Ladies lay? No way! So, a few months ago, we started selling a few dozen eggs each week to friends, family and co-workers with sales recently expanding to a couple of acquaintances (word of mouth is an amazing thing). While we don’t charge as much as some of the vendors at our local Farmer’s Market, the income we have been gaining from our sales definitely helps us offset the costs of organic (and non GMO) feed and all of our customers seem to be very happy with the eggs they get.
The plan is to keep our flock at a manageable size, continue to eat as many eggs as possible and provide a few extras to people in our community who are passionate about fresh, organic eggs from happy, healthy chickens. And really, I couldn’t be happier with the whole experience.
xoxo,
M
I wonder, Melissa, whether your Santa Fe garden and the ‘high desert’ property I recently am closing on has similar growing struggles/approaches. 🙂
Ooohhh…I wonder! I love the high desert, but it is not without it’s challenges!
that is so awesome, at the moment with our 3 hens we keep ourselves and Al’s mum, dad, sister and brother in law in eggs and thats it but i cant wait to have a big flock and sell to locals 🙂
ps i voted for you on that mommyblog page but i had to search for you, maybe you could use the link to the ‘eco-friendly’ blogs page, so you are there with one click? thats how i found you 🙂 x
Hi Astra! Thank you for voting! It’s really just as simple as clicking my “clicking here” link at the bottom of the post or my “vote for me” sunflower button in my sidebar. It tracks the vote through the single click 🙂 I wish I could think of a clever way to explain that in a shorter statement…