If you’ve ever sampled a dozen fresh, pasture-raised Blackwood eggs, you’ll have tasted the difference. This is because our happy hens spend their days free-ranging our property, taking dust baths, and pecking the earth to their heart’s content.

We have different hen breeds at Blackwood, such as Barred Rocks and Dominiques, which are black with white spots. How to spot the difference? Their combs! Barred Rocks have a single comb, and Dominiques have a rose comb, which is solid, broad, and nearly flat. We also have Ameraucanas (vary from white to wheaten) and Rhode Island Reds (you guessed it – dark reddish!). This variety means that our eggs can come in a spectrum of colors too!

• We currently have 100 chickens who, by laying on average one egg every other day, provide us with over four dozen eggs daily. When they are done foraging for grubs for the day, they settle in to roost and lay eggs in one of our three coops.

• The Kentucky Coop, constructed in 1998, is located on the southeast side of the property. This raised coop is sometimes used to give young chicks a safe place to grow and stay warm.

• Located on the south end of Blackwood, you’ll find the Chicken Palace. Donated in 2014, this coop provides a safe haven for our gals to lay eggs. The larger coop gives our hens plenty of space to rest their feathers.

Finally, our mobile chicken coop is on the Northwest corner of the land (currently near the bee hives). This home on wheels allows us to frequently rotate the roaming area of our chickens, which provides them a variety of food sources and gives the land a chance to rest and restore after all that pecking!

Fun facts:

• It takes just 21 days from laying to hatching for a baby chicken to be born.

• Chickens serve many purposes — insulation, alarm clock, eggs, natural fertilizer, soil aeration, food, and more!

• None of our chickens are ever treated with antibiotics – so you can rest assured you are receiving the freshest, best eggs every time.