GREAT! ARTICLE! Hellow fellow PNWer and Chicken person! :) Sorry to hear of your rooster getting taken out by an owl. It sounds like you did all that you could. Sometimes they're much too dense to listen to us chicken ladies.

I am a new chicken owner this year of 22 chickens. Just added a bantam (I didn't know it was a bantam when I accepted the free rooster) Blue Langshan breeding stock rooster. In any case, my chickens free range. They seem to be rather smart! Hiding out under the coop when a plane flies over. I guess they're worried about aliens. ;) Just kidding.

I think free ranging is the way to go. I feed organic Scratch and Peck! I love the look of the food since it is whole seeds and grains! It makes me happy to see them loving it. It is rather expensive though. I need to get some buckets as I will start experimenting with fermenting. I also picked up some whole barley to start a fodder system. I hope it goes well. We're having a hard time keeping up with the expense, even though we do free range. We're in Central Oregon, maybe they're just not a fan of the grasses available. I'm unsure. But we're new (as of Dec 2016) property owners and things are still coming together.

I am glad to have found your blog and look forward to your posts coming up in my feed cause you've got a new follower! <3