Coop Project: Maken the Plunge & Getting Chickens

[jtbrown]

I love your coop, congrats, the hard work is so worth it!

 

[destinidawn]

Very nice job. I think our total chicken investment for the coop and chickens and supplies has been about 1100 bucks, Its a beautiful coop. But I totally agree people now dont understand where their food comes from. My chickens are almost 16 weeks old.. I bought my last two packages of eggs today when I was grocery shopping. I will not buy eggs from the store any longer.. I was looking up the "egg song" on you tube and came across a video about commercial egg production. I dont know that I can even eat the eggs in my fridge. I know my chickens are happy and healthy. And it makes me feel great to watch my children learn about the process of life and what goes on with their food. Thank you for sharing your journey. I loved every minute of it.

 

[aoxa]

Do you plan on still allowing some free range time?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I’m weak…I have no backbone. Behind this rough rugged exterior there is a Marshmallow.

I kept them in the coop until about….10:30 am or so, then I let them out into the run. So much for making them spend the day in their coop and learning that it is home and that the coop has all that they need. By 11:21 they were out of the run and foraging in the yard like usual.

I’m weak…I have no backbone. Behind this rough rugged exterior there is a Marshmallow.

I might as well resign myself to the fact that I will be chasing chickens and ducks each and everynight to put them in their coop.

DANG!

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Do you plan on still allowing some free range time?

No not while they were being trained that their coop is where they need to be...they would be given green food stuffs and table scraps, but for a few days of confinement there would have been no foraging.

But alas...I am weak and have no backbone...

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Very nice job. I think our total chicken investment for the coop and chickens and supplies has been about 1100 bucks, Its a beautiful coop. But I totally agree people now dont understand where their food comes from. My chickens are almost 16 weeks old.. I bought my last two packages of eggs today when I was grocery shopping. I will not buy eggs from the store any longer.. I was looking up the "egg song" on you tube and came across a video about commercial egg production. I dont know that I can even eat the eggs in my fridge. I know my chickens are happy and healthy. And it makes me feel great to watch my children learn about the process of life and what goes on with their food. Thank you for sharing your journey. I loved every minute of it.

My grandparents had a farm outside of Bilings Montana...I learned at an early age about life on a farm and what happens to livestock.

My wife is a Farmer's Daughter and is the product of 4-H..again she understands better than I about the food cycle and life on a farm. When we were first dating she would tell about her favorite lamb ole G46 or her mean nasty steer that evil G20...I always wondered at the weird names that she had for her pet livestock, then it finally dawned on me that those were ear tag numbers. You don't name livestock...there is an eventual end for these animals. Enjoy them and take care of them...but they are livestock and they do serve a purpose.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Had a bit of a scare this morning...one of neighbors fired up a chainsaw to do a little spring trimming...In my mind I heard one of my ducks screaming for dear life.

Those darned ole chainsaws.

 

[GeneralJinjur]

Thank you for sharing your process with us! I am still in the learning stage and it was really neat to watch your chicks mature and see the design of your coop.

Denise

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Hey Denise,

Great to hear from you....thank you for posting. I hope that you are finding some nuggets of useful information...or at least you are finding it entertaining.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Last night I guided the ducks into the run and then put them into the coop. I left the coop open, but they had a food hopper and a waterer in there with them...they never came back out and spent the rest of the night in the coop.

About 45 minutes after I put the ducks in the coop, I guided the pullets into the run and I shut them in for the night. I went back out at dark and all but 2 of the pullets had gone into the coop on their own. I caught the last two pullets and put them in for the night and shut up the coop.

I don't care what you call it...to me that's progress.