Hi BYC community. I'm sure like many people I had been browsing BYC for a long time before joining. I finally had to join. 
I started this chicken habit last year when my neighbors had 2 extra Americauna hens which were offered to me. I accepted and whipped up a chicken tractor to put them in. Oh man I had fun, getting to know those hens and pulling them around the yard! When winter came along I realized I needed something more substantial for them... like a real coop. It sounds obvious now, but we had just purchased our first home and were getting settled in and figuring out the house and the property. Anyway, at the same time the neighbors lost 2 of their 3 hens to a hawk, so it seemed obvious to me that my hens should go back to them.
The Americauna ladies in my tractor.
Fast forward a couple of months and I see that the feed store has chicks, which I decide I must have. I picked up 4 barred rock chicks that were about 3 weeks old. Now I really have to start building my coop because that was 3 weeks ago. lol. Oh man they are fun to watch. And oh man are they getting big fast.
at 3 weeks
a couple weeks later
Also last weekend I was at the feed store to get more chick feed and I was gifted with an 18 pack of fertilized Jersey Giant eggs. After messing with making a homemade incubator, I caved and bought a real incubator. Also we have some of the eggs in the neighbors nest box to see if one of their hens will hatch some. I started incubating this past Saturday, the 9th. Busy busy! In addition to the chicks and the eggs I have 2 cats, 2 big dogs, a husband and his big saltwater aquarium.
Nice to meet you all.
Jenna
I started this chicken habit last year when my neighbors had 2 extra Americauna hens which were offered to me. I accepted and whipped up a chicken tractor to put them in. Oh man I had fun, getting to know those hens and pulling them around the yard! When winter came along I realized I needed something more substantial for them... like a real coop. It sounds obvious now, but we had just purchased our first home and were getting settled in and figuring out the house and the property. Anyway, at the same time the neighbors lost 2 of their 3 hens to a hawk, so it seemed obvious to me that my hens should go back to them.
Fast forward a couple of months and I see that the feed store has chicks, which I decide I must have. I picked up 4 barred rock chicks that were about 3 weeks old. Now I really have to start building my coop because that was 3 weeks ago. lol. Oh man they are fun to watch. And oh man are they getting big fast.
Also last weekend I was at the feed store to get more chick feed and I was gifted with an 18 pack of fertilized Jersey Giant eggs. After messing with making a homemade incubator, I caved and bought a real incubator. Also we have some of the eggs in the neighbors nest box to see if one of their hens will hatch some. I started incubating this past Saturday, the 9th. Busy busy! In addition to the chicks and the eggs I have 2 cats, 2 big dogs, a husband and his big saltwater aquarium.
Nice to meet you all.
Jenna
and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on your new chicks! Good incentive to get that coop built. Good luck with the hatch. Very nice looking GSDs you have.
