The Adventure really begin in March of 12 when the DH agreed to the idea of getting chickens....
This is my family. DH Larry, 8 yr old son Jason, 5 yr old daughter Aiyana, and myself.
We also share the property with my parents and sister. and our closest neighbors are 2 cousins and my Aunt and Uncle. (My Grandparents divided up the property among several children)
Now that i had a willing DH, i went to town! I started by finding the Tractor Supply website, and looking at breeds. I also found coop plans there for free, and chose a design i though i could build.
I went to TS, but the pullets are in one bin, not marked by breed, and the only breed marked was straight run! Since i wanted to just get a laying flock, any Roos were not going to be part of the plan. Although i fell in love with a couple i met there, i resisted the urge to bring them home. Not having the coop finished helped me stay strong!
I then found a neighbor who raises and sells chickens and Dwarf goats. (I kind of wanted a Dwarf goat too...) They only had one of the breeds i was interested in, and wanted several dollars more then i would have paid for the chicks at TS. What they did though was turn me on to Ideal Poultry. They had ordered from them and been pleased. Also found out that my local TS gets their poultry orders from Ideal anyway.
Now the plan was to go straight to Ideal. I could order however many i wanted, and they would ship straight to me. I would also be able to order just pullets of the breeds i wanted. Now that it was for real, my sister wanted to through in an order of Mallard ducks with my chicken order. When all was said and done we ended up ordering 10 Mallard ducks, 10 Buff Leghorns, and 10 California Whites in April, and they arrived May 4th.
With the chicks and ducks ordered, we now had a month to get the coop and fence done. I am Proud to say that my sister and i built this coop on our own!
This pic is of our new chicks first few min in their new coop. I had bought Cedar shaving for the coop, and read on the Ideal site that same morning that Cedar shavings were not healthy for chickens. So, i go clean out the coop, and dump all the shavings.
As you can see we only have 9 baby ducks in this picture. One was smothered by the others during shipping. Ideal was prompt in refunding the cost.
I'll post more soon, with more of our babies!
This is my family. DH Larry, 8 yr old son Jason, 5 yr old daughter Aiyana, and myself.
We also share the property with my parents and sister. and our closest neighbors are 2 cousins and my Aunt and Uncle. (My Grandparents divided up the property among several children)
Now that i had a willing DH, i went to town! I started by finding the Tractor Supply website, and looking at breeds. I also found coop plans there for free, and chose a design i though i could build.
I went to TS, but the pullets are in one bin, not marked by breed, and the only breed marked was straight run! Since i wanted to just get a laying flock, any Roos were not going to be part of the plan. Although i fell in love with a couple i met there, i resisted the urge to bring them home. Not having the coop finished helped me stay strong!
I then found a neighbor who raises and sells chickens and Dwarf goats. (I kind of wanted a Dwarf goat too...) They only had one of the breeds i was interested in, and wanted several dollars more then i would have paid for the chicks at TS. What they did though was turn me on to Ideal Poultry. They had ordered from them and been pleased. Also found out that my local TS gets their poultry orders from Ideal anyway.
Now the plan was to go straight to Ideal. I could order however many i wanted, and they would ship straight to me. I would also be able to order just pullets of the breeds i wanted. Now that it was for real, my sister wanted to through in an order of Mallard ducks with my chicken order. When all was said and done we ended up ordering 10 Mallard ducks, 10 Buff Leghorns, and 10 California Whites in April, and they arrived May 4th.
With the chicks and ducks ordered, we now had a month to get the coop and fence done. I am Proud to say that my sister and i built this coop on our own!
This pic is of our new chicks first few min in their new coop. I had bought Cedar shaving for the coop, and read on the Ideal site that same morning that Cedar shavings were not healthy for chickens. So, i go clean out the coop, and dump all the shavings.
As you can see we only have 9 baby ducks in this picture. One was smothered by the others during shipping. Ideal was prompt in refunding the cost.
I'll post more soon, with more of our babies!
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