Front Porch Ponderings

We eat a lot of eggs (family of 5) and thought we might try raising some chickens. We live on about a half acre of land (has a big backyard). We love the organic/free range eggs from the store but due to the way our backyard is laid out and some of the plans we are making for our backyard we are interested in knowing about chicken coops and the pros/cons of them vs. having the kind where your chickens "travel" in a cage on to separate spots in the yard (not sure what this is called). We are planning on fencing in our backyard this spring and this will kinda limit the space of the chickens roaming (our garden will be outside of the fencing) so wondered if a chicken coop might be the better option. Nothing is written in stone yet as we are planning right now and that is where I need your help. We also want to know anything we can about raising chickens. Like what chickens are the best to have (we really like brown and green eggs). Where do we get them, when to we get them, how ...

Visit Ribbon Rock Star to celebrate 1000 posts and the chance to win this Kitchenaid 7 qt slow cooker! Entry requires you post a slow cooker recipe in a post comment. Have fun and let me know if you win! Of course I'm hoping I win, but I could learn to be happy for someone else! lol Here is the recipe(s) that I posted: Day 1 Recipe (this is good for Saturday night dinner): "FAUXTISSERIE CHICKEN" -One Whole Chicken-Dried onion (or onion powder) -Fresh Garlic (or garlic powder) -Sea Salt or Season Salt (or table salt) -Paprika if you have it (this gives it that "roasted" color) -Rosemary or Thyme sprinkled on it if you want it to be "fancy" Place chicken in crockpot. Sprinkle all the above on top and around sides. Place lid on and turn to HIGH and cook for 8 hours for SUPER tender chicken! Serve with your choice of side items. Waste Not, Want Not: Save any leftover chicken and refrigerate. Take leftover broth and chicken carcass and keep in crock pot an...