How to Make Herbes de Provence at Home (Recipe)

Hi Katie

Thank you for this insightful post. Is there an alternative for the “savory” perhaps? I cannot find it in my country.

Wow, so much to say! We used to raise chickens (and ducks, guinea fowl, and quail) when we lived in Oregon, and they can be a great source of food if you can handle the predator problem. Make the coop houdini-grade. You are not only fighting coyotes but also small animals like raccoons and weasels, not to mention domesticated dogs and cats.

We raised several different varieties, including Buff Orpington, Barred Rock, Plymouth Rock, and Leghorn. Look up online for a quick analysis of the benefits of different breeds. You might want to trade laying ability for hardiness, or something. Bantam hens lay smaller eggs, but they are smaller, and take up less space and food.

Consider buying a few Cornish Cross chicks while you are at it. These are famous for putting on meat quickly (I think 8-12 weeks until slaughter-ready).

You should buy a cheap timer and set up a light bulb to stimulate the birds’ pituitary glands. Otherwise they won’t lay for much of the year. By tricking them with extended light, you can control how often they molt. It’s not abusive – as long as they’re getting plenty of good food and room to roam, they’ll be healthy and as happy as dumb animals can be. =)

You can buy a lot of equipment at feed supply stores, but if you want to start small, you can just improvise. The water is the hardest part since birds are really dumb and will keep kicking over containers. Just save all your kitchen scraps (but NOT eggshells!) and toss it out to them every day. You will probably have to supplement with boughten feed too. If chickens start to eat their own eggs, they are not getting enough of something (I forget what – maybe calcium). One time we had to buy some oyster shell powder to add to the feed. Once a chicken starts eating eggs, though, it tends to create a bad habit and you may just have to slaughter those hens and start over.

What we found worked the best was to build smallish, light-weight, portable cages, and then move them around every few days. If you are building a permanent fixed shelter and pen, then it’s going to get scratched up quickly, so you’ll need to fence in a good area, and that makes it harder to secure. It has to be sealed off at all points, which is difficult in a free range pen. If you do keep them shut up, you can let them roam the pen during the day, but you should clip their wings (one side only) to keep them from flying away and have someone watch them while out to protect them from predators. Very tedious.

What fun for you and your family! I wish our HOA allowed chickens.