Yes, our chicken coop is big enough to hold about fifty chickens, but right now it's got a total of thirteen. However, we've got some new additions that will soon be joining them. My wife picked up nine laying hens from a commercial poultry plant this week. They're renting the chicken tractor as their home for the next month, then they'll be introduced to the rest of the chickens.
The problem with getting commercial hens is that they've been medicated and eaten nothing but processed crap their whole lives. Sure, it makes for a tasty egg and meat, but let's be honest: The chickens that come from these places aren't the healthiest birds around, are they? And these plants aren't exactly known for their sanitary practices when it comes to the chickens' living quarters. So, we're isolating them for a month to make sure they don't have any diseases or anything.
These birds are called Highland breed, which I don't have a lot of information on them. We found out after we bought them that they can be aggressive toward other chickens, so their beaks are usually clipped. We'll see how they get along in the new coop. They're supposed to be great layers, which means we'll get lots of eggs. One a day per bird, so we've been told. I'll believe that when I see it.
Not much else to say right now; the birds are getting used to their new home, so we'll see how they adapt. In the meantime, though, at least they aren't in a processing plant. That's got to be an improvement.
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