Today I made a journey to Gravel Run Farms near Saegertown, Pennsylvania. I have been purchasing eggs from them for a few months now. I love fresh eggs.  The yolks are bright yellow, and the shells a variety of tan, white, and pale green.   The farm is owned and operated by Jasen and Kelly Diley.  They graciously allowed me a visit to meet the “girls”.

The farm is third-generation owned, on a beautiful piece of property.  It has a huge white farmhouse, outbuildings, a pond, and the chickens.  It was a great experience to actually get to see how the chickens are kept, fed, and how they spend their time.  They are fed non-GMO food, are out to forage during the day, and tucked in to the coop at night for safety. 

This is a nice place to be a chicken!

The chicken coop is situated in a barn that is an original structure for the farm.  The Diley’s have the barn inspected from time to time to assure it is structurally sound, and make repairs as necessary.  There is a huge nesting box, which was being utilized by some of the harder working “girls” and they clucked in displeasure at the interruption to their routine.

Each morning, the door is opened and the chickens are free to roam around and do their own foraging while eggs are collected.  This morning the chickens were wandering down along the edges of the pond to scratch through the decomposing leaves, as it was alive with tasty insects.   The Diley’s and their two children gather the eggs two to three times per day.  They are always on the look out for eggs deposited outside the coop, noting where they see a chicken spending just a bit too much time “resting” in a patch of grass or a well-scratched hole in the dirt.

There are a variety of different chicken breeds, all good egg layers.  I learned that when they become mature enough to produce eggs, that most of them produce an egg a day.  As they age to two years, the production drops off to about five eggs per week.  And after four years, production is about three per week.  There are a couple of roosters in the flock who were glad to show let me know they are in charge and that they are quite proud of their harem!

As the tour went on, Kelly explained that there are chicken references in life, and she has learned that they are a reality among the flock.  “Pecking order” is well established.  Younger birds must be introduced into the flock slowly to prevent fights and injury to the younger birds. “Early bird gets the worm” is proven when the flock emerges in the morning from their safe haven and scatters to the best foraging areas.  All of the chickens want the “top roost” at night.

I am grateful for farmers like those at Gravel Run Farms who take time to lovingly nurture their birds, and provide wholesome food to the community.  It was interesting to see how chicken behavior is not so far from our own when it comes to pecking order and desire to be positioned on the top roost.   Both farming, and competition in life, take hard work and dedication.

I love animals.  Although I think it would be fun to raise chickens, I realized today that to do it right takes time and hard work.  I think I will just continue to support my friends at Gravel Run Farms, and as Kelly said, I can be a “chicken-Aunt” and just visit any time I would like!