In the 1950s, housewives hung their laundry on clotheslines and kids played with hula hoops ñ activities that have since gone extinct. But one family activity that disappeared is making a comeback: raising backyard chickens.The Macias family in Black Forest is doing just that ñ and eating healthier, too.In May, Lena Macias opened her coop on her farm, The Rustic Sunflower, to the public as part of the Pikes Peak Urban Gardens ìTake a Peakî tour.In November, Macias had no chickens and no chicken-raising experience, and now she has a barn full of chickens ñ 200 at the latest count. They roost in her barn at night, scratch for bugs in their quarter-acre pen by day and sometimes catch a snooze in the trees, Macias said.To keep costs down, she made nest boxes out of 5-gallon plastic buckets that she laid on their sides. The buckets were stacked in pyramid formation, supported by wooden rails and attached to the barn wall.In the winter, the chickens need extra heat to stay warm, and heat lamps are the common solution. However, Macias said she prefers old fashioned Christmas tree lights ñ big bulbs that get very warm ñ hooked up to a hot water heater temperature control from Home Depot.The Internet has been a valuable resource for learning how to raise chickens, Macias said. But she also received plenty of advice from her grandfather, who once had 1,000 layers in Nebraska. ìHe taught me as much as he could, but he was really old school,î she said.Anyone raising chickens, even if it’s only for their eggs, could face the problem of killing a chicken, unless the chicken has a lifelong home.Maciasí grandfather chopped the head off, but that stops the chicken’s heart instantly, leaving the cavity full of blood, she said. Macias prefers to cut the jugular vein and turn the bird upside down to let the blood drain. Using her method, the chickens donít struggle, she said.The chickens then go into the plucker. When they come out, Macias said they look just like chickens in the store.Macias is raising her chickens for their eggs. Every pullet (female chicken) is born with all the eggs it will ever lay, she said. Although no rooster is needed for a pullet to lay eggs, it’s easy to acquire them because it is difficult to determine a chick’s sex. Even the experts don’t get it right 10 percent of the time, Macias said.Although Rhode Island Reds and Leghorns might be the most productive breeds, they tend to be flighty and not friendly, she said. Their big combs are not ideal for Colorado winters, and they freeze off.Macias prefers Barred Rocks, a black and white breed. They are curious and friendly and make a great pet but aren’t savvy about predators. Her heritage Rhode Island Red rooster flies into a tree whenever he senses danger, but the Barred Rock hens don’t have a clue, she said.White chickens make an easy target for hawks, which can spot them from aloft and snatch them in an instant. Macias doesn’t have many white chickens for that reason.She’s raising her chickens on organic feed she gets from a Black Forest supplier at $20 for a 50-pound bag ñ enough to feed four chickens for two to three months, depending on their access to other food sources, like bugs and table scraps.Currently, Macias said her flock of 200 is producing about three dozen eggs a day ñ enough to sell at farmers markets this summer ñ and each pullet should eventually produce an egg a day.Pullets generally produce well for at least three years and can live to be 10 years old.The good thing about older birds is that they produce bigger eggs than younger birds, she said.When an egg is laid, its outer shell is coated with a substance called ìbloomî that seals the shell, protecting the egg from moisture loss and bacteria. An egg that still has its bloom can be stored at room temperature for up to three months, Macias said. In Europe, eggs are sitting out because they don’t wash off the bloom.In the United States, eggs produced in confinement operations are so filthy with feces, they have to be washed and bleached, Macias said. Even mass-produced ìorganicî eggs are washed and then coated with Teflon, she said.Macias is expanding her operation to include pigs. She recently went to New Mexico to purchase Maggie, a heritage breed known as ìlarge blackî that’s on the endangered livestock list.Despite the name, Maggie will only grow to about 600 pounds; whereas, conventional sows grow to 1,000 pounds, she said.Maggie is a happy pig who comes when called, rolls over for belly rubs and loves to root around in the pine needles of The Rustic Sunflower Farm, Macias said.She said she plans to get a large black boar from Pennsylvania and raise piglets, half for meat and half for breeding, which will make her the only breeder of large black pigs in Colorado.Pigs spend a lot of time rooting around in the soil looking for things to eat; that activity aerates the soil. When Maggie and her soon-to-be offspring have done their work, Macias plans to install hoop houses and start a vegetable garden.Kellie and Craig McHugh live just down the road from Macias’s farm and were also on the ìTake a Peakî tour.The McHughs are raising chickens, pigs, goats and cows on their 10-acre parcel. Craig McHugh is a believer in the value of chickens for preparing the soil for grazing. He’s built a chicken coop on wheels that he moves from pasture to pasture, following the cows.ìWhen a cow patty just lays there, it kills the grass under it,î McHugh said. ìA chicken scratches the patty apart, looking for insects like fly larvae. The scratching is good for the soil and the chicken does its own fertilizing, too.îChicken wire, however, is not a good thing for chicken pens if there are raccoons, Kellie McHugh said.While one raccoon runs around a pen to get the chickens running, another raccoon will stick its hand through the wire, grab a chicken’s head, pull it through and eat it.A finer mesh is a much better choice for chicken pens.Latigo Trails resident JoAnn McNabb was all set to start building her pen to begin raising chickens when she ran afoul of her covenants: They don’t allow any fowl.ìHow ridiculous is that? In Colorado Springs, people can have 10 chickens, but where I live with 2.5 acres, you can’t have chickens. That’s crazy,î McNabb said.Macias agreed.Colorado Springs allows 10 fowl of any kind, including ducks, geese and turkeys, but no roosters, she said. ìThree or four chickens are a lot quieter than a dog, and they’re far more beneficial in terms of the things they can do,î Craig McHugh said.McHugh and Macias both suggested that prospective chicken raisers restricted by their covenants check with their neighbors to see if they would be willing to allow a few pullets.Eggs are gaining popularity again. In the past, eggs yolks came under fire for their high levels of cholesterol. It was thought that people who eat a lot of foods high in cholesterol would automatically have high cholesterol.Macias said today more is known about eggs. She also is majoring in nutrition at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. She said egg yolks are the richest source of lutein and zeaxanthin, which scientists think combat macular degeneration and cataracts and reduce the risk of colon and breast cancer.A whole, fresh egg has all eight essential protein-building amino acids, providing six to seven grams of protein. Its five grams of fat help the body absorb the yolk’s vitamins ñ A, K, E, D and B complex, Macias said. Eggs also contain iron, phosphorous, potassium and calcium, and they are high in choline, a substance that helps break up cholesterol deposits and prevents cholesterol from sticking to the arteries.A recent government study found that eggs have 14 percent less cholesterol and 64 percent more vitamin D than previously thought, according to http://cbsnews.com.Fresh eggs from chickens allowed to roam freely are superior in taste and nutrition to supermarket eggs, Macias said.She said she credits her 100-pound weight loss to eliminating processed food from her diet 10 years ago. ìI just eat the real thing. I know the farmers, I know where my food comes from,î Macias said. ìI try to eat local, I try to eat seasonal. So that just evolved into raising chickens.î
