Chicken Information...Sometimes it does not match up to my reality!

I just got a new book...I shall leave it unnamed for the time being, till I evaluate it more. It had some information that I feel was not good for the city chicken keeper (the book is geared to the homesteader in non traditional environments). It stated that a person can let the chicken forrage off the land during gardening season for its food. I agree they can forrage, but I firmly belive they also need supplmental food from the human that is keeping them. Most yards are not big enough to offer adaquate nutrition for chickens, nor are most diverse enough to supply the chickens with a diet they need to produce eggs and grow correctly. Our girls have a large city yard. They have had access to it (not by our choice many times!) They have a large fenced pen and a nice coop. Lots of area to find bugs, seeds, and so forth. But we have fed them well consistantly, and have reaped the very good side to that...lots of eggs and healthy chickens! So just be careful as to what you read (or as to what advice you follow is a better way to put it)...many folks might write books, but they might not really know how to do what it is they are writing about!

I would love to reccomend Becky's Homestead. She has a blog, and I have purchased her DVD to have to watch (the videos are on the i tunes for free...that is how we came across her)  It is a lot of very good information for homesteading, and covers many areas, to include chickens. I watched and gleaned a lot from her long information before we ever got chickens. She knows what she is talking about because she has DONE it! Plus she is positive and fun to watch!

We have a healthy flock whom are laying about an egg a day per chicken even though it is daylight savings time...which can cause for lower egg production. I think if I had followed the forrage advice during our growing season , our chickens would be unhealthy and not producing yet. If you have lots of land, that is a whole different story, but for those of us in the city, feed your chickens!