Thursday June 20 2013
SO much has happened since my last entry. We lost our original 6 chickens to a raccoon attack. We then secured our coop, bought 12 more, but lost 10 more to a local fox. Last year we bought a new group of 8. Unfortunately we have lost three due to "Natural causes". One died after being left out by the group, and not allowed to feed. I noticed it too late. Took her in, tried to nurse her back to health but a week later she died. The other two have recently died to what I now suspect to be a problem with Roundworm. So our flock has dwindled. I am hoping we will not lose anymore due to this most recent problem with worms. This has been a harder journey than anticipated for sure, but still well worth it!
Tuesday May 10, 2011
So, we certainly didn't get around to buying our chickens last fall! Our coop was more work than expected, and the snow came to quickly. The supplies laid there all solomn in our basement all winter long! THANKFULLY... spring has arrived! A couple months ago, we purchased 6 chicks from a local breeder. We bought 3 ISA Browns, and 3 Barred rocks. The coop we planned we figured would be a good size for 6. Well, my husband began assembling the coop earilier this month, while the chicks lived in our living room! Due to many rainy weekends, it has taken even LONGER than we expected. The chickens (Now about 12 weeks old) are living in the run.
Last night, somthing tried to dig it's way under the run! The roost isn't finished, and I am increasingly wary that we need to get it finished for the safety of the chickens. We have had a raccoon visit recently, and I'm concerned that it made it's appearence again last night. It didn't seem to try too hard. We figured it must have been startled!
When we first brough the chickens outside, they were LOVING IT! They now call to be let out in the morning when they see me They follow me and my daughter all over the place while we work outside! I'm loving everybit of this! I'm so happy we finally got around to starting this adventure!!!
Tuesday September 7, 2010
Work on the coop has resumed! Maybe there is hope to get some chickens this fall! There are many other jobs to do on our little homestead, including prepping gardens for next year, weed whacking, lawn mowing, painting. etc! Hopefully hoping it will be done in time!!!!!!!
Tuesday August 31, 2010
Today I am a little disappointed! It looks as though we may have to wait till spring to start our flock. Due to rain, and my husband getting sick (When he gets sick he gets SICK) we haven't been able to start our coop! We have all the materials sitting in the basement, and that makes it even harder! I was so looking forward to bringing home some girls from our local fair. Here's hoping we can get the coop up before the first of October!! Today, is just a day at home, and I'm planning on hooking up the cabby to my bike, strapping my babes in and going for a ride down to a pond that is just down the way. Should be nice! Today is going to be a scorcher!!
Tuesday August 24, 2010
Today I decided to start my own little "Miniblog" here on my BYC page, to keep my friends on here informed, if they choose to have any interest whatsoever!
Last month, my husband and I watched a the movie "Food INC." on Netflix instant view. It was at that time that he and I decided we wanted to become some-what self sufficient. We are probably never going to be entirely self sufficient, not needing electricity and what not, but we want to be some-what so in the food department. So, we decided to start with a large garden and chickens! As far as a cheap way to start (We don't have the means to start HUGE) we figured this would be best! So, we started planning.
At the beginning of August 2010, I started clearing an area in our yard to place the coop and run (With the help of my mom, sis and brothers, but I used the chainsaw myself.... Whoo hoo!), and my husband started drawing out plans on our laptop for a coop of his own design. We went shopping specifically for books on how to raise chickens, and have gone to several farmers markets just to glean information. Nothing has helped more than this site, BackYardChickens.com! When I found this site, all the bits of information came together, and I met plenty of experienced people with a long background of raising chickens.
So far, we have gathered all the lumber and hardware to build our coop. The yard still has a bit of work to be done, and I am still in the process of researching the types of chickens we want to start with. We want mainly laying hens, a couple roos, and we have no problem processing them. We would love fresh chicken meat! Fresh eggs in the morning will be the first priority though!
God has blessed us with so much, adn we look forward to how he is going to use this whole new adventure! Other plans include our garden: 4 raised beds 16' x 4', one entirely for corn, and others for all types of veggies to share with friends and families and possibly a few to sell. We also want to have pigs. I grew up on a farm with pigs, so I know the ropes! We might someday plan to build a barn in the back of our property, which is a 3 acre lot. That's my dream!
I stopped in at a local Chicken stock last Sunday, but it was rained out. I was very disappointed as there aren't many in my area! I am looking forward to our local fair (Deerfield NH... the best fair ever IMO!) I am hoping to find some pullets there for sale. If I cannot find any of the breeds we desire to own, I may have to wait till spring to order some chicks! (That would be fun anyways) That's our adventure so far!!! What super fun this is!
SO much has happened since my last entry. We lost our original 6 chickens to a raccoon attack. We then secured our coop, bought 12 more, but lost 10 more to a local fox. Last year we bought a new group of 8. Unfortunately we have lost three due to "Natural causes". One died after being left out by the group, and not allowed to feed. I noticed it too late. Took her in, tried to nurse her back to health but a week later she died. The other two have recently died to what I now suspect to be a problem with Roundworm. So our flock has dwindled. I am hoping we will not lose anymore due to this most recent problem with worms. This has been a harder journey than anticipated for sure, but still well worth it!
Tuesday May 10, 2011
So, we certainly didn't get around to buying our chickens last fall! Our coop was more work than expected, and the snow came to quickly. The supplies laid there all solomn in our basement all winter long! THANKFULLY... spring has arrived! A couple months ago, we purchased 6 chicks from a local breeder. We bought 3 ISA Browns, and 3 Barred rocks. The coop we planned we figured would be a good size for 6. Well, my husband began assembling the coop earilier this month, while the chicks lived in our living room! Due to many rainy weekends, it has taken even LONGER than we expected. The chickens (Now about 12 weeks old) are living in the run.
Last night, somthing tried to dig it's way under the run! The roost isn't finished, and I am increasingly wary that we need to get it finished for the safety of the chickens. We have had a raccoon visit recently, and I'm concerned that it made it's appearence again last night. It didn't seem to try too hard. We figured it must have been startled!
When we first brough the chickens outside, they were LOVING IT! They now call to be let out in the morning when they see me
They follow me and my daughter all over the place while we work outside! I'm loving everybit of this! I'm so happy we finally got around to starting this adventure!!!Tuesday September 7, 2010
Work on the coop has resumed! Maybe there is hope to get some chickens this fall! There are many other jobs to do on our little homestead, including prepping gardens for next year, weed whacking, lawn mowing, painting. etc! Hopefully hoping it will be done in time!!!!!!!
Tuesday August 31, 2010
Today I am a little disappointed! It looks as though we may have to wait till spring to start our flock. Due to rain, and my husband getting sick (When he gets sick he gets SICK) we haven't been able to start our coop! We have all the materials sitting in the basement, and that makes it even harder! I was so looking forward to bringing home some girls from our local fair. Here's hoping we can get the coop up before the first of October!! Today, is just a day at home, and I'm planning on hooking up the cabby to my bike, strapping my babes in and going for a ride down to a pond that is just down the way. Should be nice! Today is going to be a scorcher!!
Tuesday August 24, 2010
Today I decided to start my own little "Miniblog" here on my BYC page, to keep my friends on here informed, if they choose to have any interest whatsoever!
Last month, my husband and I watched a the movie "Food INC." on Netflix instant view. It was at that time that he and I decided we wanted to become some-what self sufficient. We are probably never going to be entirely self sufficient, not needing electricity and what not, but we want to be some-what so in the food department. So, we decided to start with a large garden and chickens! As far as a cheap way to start (We don't have the means to start HUGE) we figured this would be best! So, we started planning.
At the beginning of August 2010, I started clearing an area in our yard to place the coop and run (With the help of my mom, sis and brothers, but I used the chainsaw myself.... Whoo hoo!), and my husband started drawing out plans on our laptop for a coop of his own design. We went shopping specifically for books on how to raise chickens, and have gone to several farmers markets just to glean information. Nothing has helped more than this site, BackYardChickens.com! When I found this site, all the bits of information came together, and I met plenty of experienced people with a long background of raising chickens.
So far, we have gathered all the lumber and hardware to build our coop. The yard still has a bit of work to be done, and I am still in the process of researching the types of chickens we want to start with. We want mainly laying hens, a couple roos, and we have no problem processing them. We would love fresh chicken meat! Fresh eggs in the morning will be the first priority though!
God has blessed us with so much, adn we look forward to how he is going to use this whole new adventure! Other plans include our garden: 4 raised beds 16' x 4', one entirely for corn, and others for all types of veggies to share with friends and families and possibly a few to sell. We also want to have pigs. I grew up on a farm with pigs, so I know the ropes! We might someday plan to build a barn in the back of our property, which is a 3 acre lot. That's my dream!
I stopped in at a local Chicken stock last Sunday, but it was rained out. I was very disappointed as there aren't many in my area! I am looking forward to our local fair (Deerfield NH... the best fair ever IMO!) I am hoping to find some pullets there for sale. If I cannot find any of the breeds we desire to own, I may have to wait till spring to order some chicks! (That would be fun anyways
) That's our adventure so far!!! What super fun this is!