Hello my name is Shirley and I am from Maryland. Many years ago as a small girl I remember my uncle having chickens running around in the yard. He lived on a large farm in Pa. My uncle and aunt raised animals to eat come fall when we would take a weekend and go up as a family and my dad would help him do the butchering. I remember going to the hen house and gathering fresh eggs for breakfast with my aunt. I think I was about 3 or 4 then, she would hold my hand and we would walk down to where the hen house was on the farm. She would then hand me a beat up basket to hold and we would as she said "find all the eggs." They were in the nesting boxes but I didn't know. She made it a fun game for me. I was a city girl and loved going to the farm. To this day I still love to go to the country.
Well last year my son got a idea he was going to get a few chickens. But first he had to build a place for them to stay. He started by collecting pallets in order to keep cost down and build his coop. My late husband had some 2x4's and other usable materials laying around so my son looks through this stuff and pulled out some more materials he could use. He searched the internet on his computer and came up with a coop he liked. My son is nothing like my late husband how loved working with wood. But he learned how to use a saw and some other items that were in the shed he needed to build the coop. Weeks went by as he was only working on the coop after work. Once the coop was finished he told his friend that had 4 hens for us. They arranged a time in the evening to transfer them to the house here where they had a new home.
Our hens consist of a Buff Orpington and three other Orpington's I have been told. We get brown eggs that are good size eggs. Winter they decided to stop laying all together. I was back to buying eggs. In the beginning of March we started finding eggs again in their nesting boxes. We have 3 boxes for them to lay in but only 1 seems to be used. Well last week Blondy decided she wanted to become a broody hen. My son started moving her off the eggs everyone was laying. She didn't like it at all and turn around on him to fight back pecking at him and screaming. You would of thought someone or something was trying to kill her the way she was acting. So while she is telling him how she feels all I can do is watch and laugh so hard. She is our most gently hen we have. Or as I can say now she WAS. lol We cant have roosters here so her eggs will never hatch. So Joe just chases her off the nest lets her yell and go after him and gets the eggs for the day.
Next Idea he has. Mom want go for a ride. Sure I tell him where we going I asked. He gives me a smile and says are you ready. We end up at a feed store and he shows me the chicks they just got in. NO we didn't get any yet. He gets a few items and has to build a run for them first. I soon will be the proud owner of some baby chicks once the run is built.
He picked up paper from the counter that had all the breeds on it they will be getting in and what days they get them in on and told me to do some research. So here I am on the computer joining BYC. Gathering information on how to raise chicks and deciding on which chicks we may want.
To be continued once we bring home the new chicks.
Well last year my son got a idea he was going to get a few chickens. But first he had to build a place for them to stay. He started by collecting pallets in order to keep cost down and build his coop. My late husband had some 2x4's and other usable materials laying around so my son looks through this stuff and pulled out some more materials he could use. He searched the internet on his computer and came up with a coop he liked. My son is nothing like my late husband how loved working with wood. But he learned how to use a saw and some other items that were in the shed he needed to build the coop. Weeks went by as he was only working on the coop after work. Once the coop was finished he told his friend that had 4 hens for us. They arranged a time in the evening to transfer them to the house here where they had a new home.
Our hens consist of a Buff Orpington and three other Orpington's I have been told. We get brown eggs that are good size eggs. Winter they decided to stop laying all together. I was back to buying eggs. In the beginning of March we started finding eggs again in their nesting boxes. We have 3 boxes for them to lay in but only 1 seems to be used. Well last week Blondy decided she wanted to become a broody hen. My son started moving her off the eggs everyone was laying. She didn't like it at all and turn around on him to fight back pecking at him and screaming. You would of thought someone or something was trying to kill her the way she was acting. So while she is telling him how she feels all I can do is watch and laugh so hard. She is our most gently hen we have. Or as I can say now she WAS. lol We cant have roosters here so her eggs will never hatch. So Joe just chases her off the nest lets her yell and go after him and gets the eggs for the day.
Next Idea he has. Mom want go for a ride. Sure I tell him where we going I asked. He gives me a smile and says are you ready. We end up at a feed store and he shows me the chicks they just got in. NO we didn't get any yet. He gets a few items and has to build a run for them first. I soon will be the proud owner of some baby chicks once the run is built.
He picked up paper from the counter that had all the breeds on it they will be getting in and what days they get them in on and told me to do some research. So here I am on the computer joining BYC. Gathering information on how to raise chicks and deciding on which chicks we may want.
To be continued once we bring home the new chicks.
