We are a family of three living on an old family farm. Trying our hand at farming on our own and have started with chickens. We have experience with sheep and Jon works on a dairy and beef farm. Jon is building their coop from scratch. They are living in a piggy deck unti they get too big and have to be moved. The piggy deck is made for orphaned piglets but works very well for the chicks. We have 38 chicks, started with 40. We have 4 different breeds, 10 of each.
So far we have been enjoying watching them play and perch. I'm looking forward to giving them table scraps as I am sure that will be delightful to watch. Looking forward to trying different foods and finding out what their preferences are. Planted extra corn this year, hope they like corn. ;) Our gurad dog, Georgia, is certainly looking forward to meeting the chicks. Our hope is that she takes well to them and guards them also. Last year we had coyote pups in our back yard so a guardian isn't a bad idea. Our two yar old son loves touching and watching the chicks. He is learning how to be kind to animals and it has been a great experience for him so far.
Our hope is to have 20 chickens stay with us during the winter and eat the rest. We hope that they will brood in the spring and we will have more chicks! It's been a great experience so far and I can't wait to see them full grown.
Laura