Riverdog Farm Coop Scoop

Spring Pasture

2010-03-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

The alfalfa ready, we moved the mobile coops on to the pasture and let out the layers. It's always fun to see them explore the ground, swimming in a sea of green.

Coming Out of the Lull

2010-02-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

Our egg numbers are up by some dozens, most likely due to the warm and sunny springlike days we enjoyed the past week. As our layers creep out from their winter hiatus, the longer days and fairer weather in spring will increase egg production. The photos below are chickens in a field of flowering cabbage plants. Our layers are a picky bunch, however, concentrating more on winter weeds than on the cabbage plants. Still, it's a great help to us. The green hills and pinkish white almond blossoms (as well as the aforementioned flowering brassicas) signal the approaching spring.

Hen's Winter Tendencies

2010-02-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

Our laying hens take a break in winter. Their egg production slows down due to cold temperatures and shorter day length. To the folks who enjoy purchasing eggs at the Berkeley Farmers' Markets, thank you for your patience while they take a break. Some poultry farms opt to install lights in the coops to extend the hen's perceived light hours and trigger steadier laying patterns. Since our mobile coops are located in remote fields away from power sources, we have not set up a lighting system to influence their egg productivity. After Winter Solstice, the day light hours gradually increase and the egg availability follows this change. Just this week our egg collection numbers went up. Rest assured, there will be enough eggs to satisfy the demand by early April. Our September arrivals of chicks are now mature enough to lay their first eggs. Laying hens typically start to lay eggs around six months. Their first eggs start out small and increase to full size about their eighth or ninth month. Happy egg eating!

Autumn Pasture

2009-10-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

Photos of Day Old Chicks (See video below)

2009-10-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

2009-09-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Chickens in Apricot Orchard

2009-08-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

Layers are sensitive to extremely hot weather, and the stress from the heat causes them to lay fewer eggs. We manage by providing our flock with cooler ground with ample shade. Once our apricot harvest is finished, normally by mid-July, our chickens are moved into the orchard.

During the summer, our chickens get to eat tomato, pepper, and melon culls.

Chickens in Alfalfa

2009-06-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

Six Acres of Alfalfa

2009-06-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Seeded in fall and established over six months on rainwater, our alfalfa pasture welcomed our layers late May. It's a six-acre pasture, primarily seeded with alfalfa, and divided into three two-acre blocks for rotation. The chickens have been busy pecking at the vegetation near their mobile coops, but there's plenty more in waiting!

The pasture is intended to stand year-round, so we'll minimally irrigate during summer and fall. Also, there is a mixture of drought-resistant grasses seeded in the ground to take place of the alfalfa when it goes dormant in winter. The mix includes orchard and rye grass for fall and vetch for winter.

A farmer's observations: The gift of good land in spring - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

2009-05-19T10:15:00.001-07:00

A farmer's observations: The gift of good land in spring - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

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Chickens in Oat Grass

2009-04-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Super Coop

2009-03-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

Those adorable chicks (see photos below) are now young chickens. To accommodate housing for more than 300 growing chickens, we began construction of a new coop earlier this month.

Our biggest mobile coop yet, the interior of the "Super Coop" measures 29' long, 7.5' wide, and 7.5' tall on one side and 6.5' tall on the other.

We're very happy with the new coop, and more importantly, so are the tenants.

Yellow Puff Balls

2009-02-18T14:42:00.000-08:00

So cute and precious!

Our chicks arrive a day old from Murray McMurray Hatchery or Vega Farms. The chicks are extremely vulnerable, so we house them in the nursery coop for a two-week period. The nursery coop is set up with heat lamps to provide needed warmth.

After two weeks, they have the fortitude to venture out of the nursery coop and into an alfalfa pasture designated specially for the young ones.

It takes six months for the chicks to begin laying their eggs. When young hens first begin to lay, the eggs are smaller in size and are called pullet eggs. As they mature, the eggs are larger.

More Photos of Pastured Layers

2009-02-18T11:29:00.001-08:00

Photos of Pastured Layers

2009-02-18T11:14:00.000-08:00

We raise several types of layers: Buff Orpingtons, Bard Rocks, Black Stars, Red Stars, and Araucanas.

About Our Eggs

2009-02-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

Riverdog Farm eggs are from pastured layers. The chickens eat what's available in pasture as well as organic grain. Once a pasture has been picked-over, the chickens are loaded onto mobile coops and moved to a different ground, where lush vegetation await their arrival. Our delicious eggs, with its signature rich, creamy yolk, are available at the Berkeley Farmers Markets.