I haven’t been doing a ton of sewing and blogging because we were sidetracked. Yes, by this cute little lady. It started off innocently enough. One of my twins had baby chicks in her classroom they hatched from eggs. We took them home for one weekend. That’s all it took. Now I’m the owner of seven chickens.
The original four came from the classroom. Some of these (half? ish?) will be roosters and they will be enchiladas. Yum!
Then we bough three more hens that are the same age. We figure that five total will be perfect and with the enchilada-eating, we hope to end up with five.
So because of the feathery friends, we had to build a coop. It’s 4’ x 4’ x 4’ and insulated for the Alaska winter. When it gets really cold, we’ll put a heat lamp in it to keep them cozy. The run is 4’ x 12’ but they have free rein of our fenced yard during the day.
So far the ladies and enchiladas gents love their little house.
And I think I may be in trouble at enchilada time. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. These girls are in love.
The inside has two cozy nest boxes and two nice roosting bars. They don’t roost yet, but I’m thinking they will soon. The chickens are about six weeks old. There’s a door at the back of the nesting boxes so I can gather eggs from the outside.
Are any of you ladies chicken farmers also? It’ll be interesting to see how this all works once they are laying eggs. I can’t wait!!!
10 comments:
One Upon A Time my father was a boy who was given some chicks for Easter. Eventually said chicks grew up and my grandparents didn't have space to keep chickens so dad had to get rid of them. That night my grandmother served chicken for dinner. My father was convinced she served *his* chickens, and he hasn't eaten chicken since. He's now 72.
Personally, I would split at least one bird open, cover it in a rub, and grill it. Any leftovers could easily be made into enchiladas (extra tasty with the right rub!).
Enjoy your new friends!
You never know how kids are going to react at butchering time. We had a lot of extra roosters, and my son stayed far away, while my daughter (who had previously been terrified of the slightest bit of blood) snuck inside the house to watch the gruesome part through the window. The kids are not thrilled about eating the chicken, because even after boiling it for a couple of hours, it's still super tough. But they do eat it.
How cute! Those eggs will be so tasty. I'm wondering how you built the coop? Did you have plans for it? we are looking to start our own flock but the building of the coop is stalling us
Before they start roosting you'll want to move the food/water well out from underAnd glass seemed like a good idea to me too until my silly birds tried to perch on top, it fel and broke. When you get your next sized up waterer/feeders ai for something not flat on top. We nd up going w hanging ones. Solved the prob!
(Stupid autocorrect/not-o-correct)
It's a good idea to get a wooden "egg" to put in a nest before they start laying. This gives them an idea of how it's supposed to be done (nobody ever accused hens of being super intelligent). Anyway, it worked well for us.
As long as you have boys and girls together you will need to candle the eggs.
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We've been raising chickens for about ten years. We recently got some goats too. The kids love it.
Hey Dawn, that is a big distraction. Look at that! Look at their beautiful new home, run, and your yard! They will live happy lives while they are here. That is the most important.
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