The chickens always eat first

Over the years I have figured out the best order in which to feed the alpacas, chickens and the goats. If I stray from this order, the chickens win. The first thing you need to know is that our dozen hens are free range. This means that they can go wherever they want. They voluntarily go into a secured henhouse and are locked in every night. We have predators around the farm so this keeps them safe. Their door automatically opens every morning at 8 am and they are free to roam.

The first thing I do when I go into the barn every morning is a head count. Is everyone is there and ready for breakfast? Then every pen gets fresh hay and poop scooped. Since I am the Chief Poop Inspector I do actually inspect the manure everyday. Poop can tell a story, you just have to know how to read. Sometimes the changes on the poop pile is the only clue to someone’s illness. While I’m milling around the alpacas I am touching many of them and taking note of any subtle changes I may see in behavior or physically. Then the grain distribution begins. I’ve got to be quick with this part. The chickens get their grain first. They get fed inside the hen house and I make lots of noise when I feed them…it draws them in. Now, while they are momentarily distracted I feed the goats and then the alpacas. If I don’t distract the chickens with food, they will eat everyone else’s food. I know what you are thinking. The hens are small, what can they do? They can team up and be a large hoard of hungry critters with sharp beaks. They can swarm another animal’s food bowl and takeover. They are smart birds. Now normally they are very sweet and I can pick them up and cuddle them. But when breakfast is served, watch out! They eat their grain quickly and then go from pen to pen looking for grain that fell to the ground. This clean up crew makes sure that nothing is left for mice. They will then start rummaging through existing poop piles looking for bugs and larvae. This ensures that we don’t have a fly problem :). After I make sure that everyone got their grain I gather the eggs and go inside to have my breakfast. I’m always last to have breakfast and the chickens are always first. It works.