The Moore House Chickens
Today we’re introducing you to some of our…feathered team members that you might not know yet–our chickens! We like to call them chooks actually, and they’re treasured members of the Moore House family. One of the things that make our cottage stays feel so special is we love to leave guests a little something when they check-in—and fresh eggs in the fridge are a favorite touch. So, if you receive beautiful, farm fresh eggs from us, you’ll know they come straight from our coop. Here’s a little bit more about how we raise them, the different species we have, and even their own fabulous (did you expect anything less?) living accommodations.
At our farm house, we have roughly twenty-five female chickens. Originally, we started off with around forty, but because of the abundance of red-tailed hawks in the area, that number has unfortunately dwindled. Our dog, Boomer, was supposed to be our chook protector (we think he might be part Pyrenees) but we’ve come to terms with the fact that he’s just way too laid back for that big boy responsibility.
Of our current twenty-five, we’ve got a mix of Rhode Island Reds, Speckled Wyandotte, Black Australorps, and Plymouth Rock chickens. Changing it up with these different breeds provides us with a variety of large to medium light brown eggs; every once in a while, we’ll be graced with some lighter cream and tan colored ones as well. We gather them every morning and night, they provide us with around two dozen eggs daily (half in the morning, half in the evening). If you know us, you know we love a good neutral color palette, and they look especially lovely placed in a carton all together.
The egg inside can also vary in quality of nutrients, which is why we stress the importance of feeding them a healthy diet. We like to let them forage for greens in our pasture (while we watch, since Boomer is no help with our hawk problem), since getting leafy greens is important for them gaining vital nutrients that affect the intensity of the yolk. Yep, you heard that right: compare one of our fresh egg yolks with a commercial/store bought egg, and you’ll be in awe of the differences. Once you see and taste them, it will be hard to stray from farm-bought ever again! But besides greens, we also feed them a mix of compost items from our guest stays cabins, as well as crackled corn and crackled pellets, and fresh hay every two weeks or so as needed.
Lastly, because as you know, here at Moore House we love a good sophisticated design in the most unexpected of places, is our completely customized and super cool chicken coop. Their little nesting area is constructed of a small A-frame shingled house about three feet or so off of the ground so that they feel safe. This then goes down to another nesting area that's on the ground level, that has a wire covered run to an open area, with branches perched on the top for a natural feel as well as added protection. Not something you see every day, but definitely very interesting and fun to look at.
We hope you enjoyed learning more about our little family, and perhaps we inspired you to build your own coop in your backyard. To sum up our experience, all we can say is if you nurture them, they nurture you right back, and it’s a wonderful and beautiful process to observe. If that all seems like too much, you can also just stay and fully relax in one of our beautiful guest cabins, and we can provide you with the best views, the best service, AND the best eggs.
Images: Erin McGinn
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