Economically it is a net loss, but they please us endlessly with their sweet trills, fights with little sparrows, sprints across the lawn, and dust baths. We can watch them for hours.
{Eggs from left to right: Light brown are from the Australorps (Amelia and Tulip); Dark brown with speckles are from the Wellsummer (Heidi); Blue are from the Ameracauna (Paloma); and Australorps again}We have been free-ranging them for approximately 5 months now and have noticed a marked difference in the egg taste and color as their diet has become more diverse. They come out each morning before work and each afternoon after work and the majority of the weekend as long as we are home or in the neighborhood.
{Heidi and Amelia}They love dandelions, slugs, worms, grass, swamp daisy and many other things. They will still come running for fresh grain, which we make available to them every day. They seem very happy; and I say that because they let us know whenever they are not. Whether it is a sunny day, the water or feed is low, the rain has caused a puddle in their coop, or they just feel like it they squawk and squawk until the problem is solved. Freeing them to the yard generally solves the problem.
{From front to back: Amelia, Paloma, Heidi, and Tulip}Now we just need some good egg recipes to catch up on our stash.
