Doesn't the intro say it all? I got the confirmation today. I will be taking my lucky sister who introduced me to chickens in the first place. YIPPPPPEEEE!!
Here is what I wrote:
Raising chickens for me started in my sister's backyard. In the spring of 2008 my sister Denise calls me and says, "Sara, I bought some baby chicks and they are so cute." So we go to visit when they are in that loveable scruffy stage, still living in their brooder in my sister's basement. "Okay, they're cute," I thought. They'd be fun.
At our next visit some two months later, they are out in their coop and we are hand feeding them pigs ears and short blades of grass. They went crazy when my sister brought raisins out, their favorite treat. "You can bring one out if you want," my sister Denise says to me. Cool.
So I nab a little buff Orpington, Peekachu I think, and she sits on my lap. She's clucking softly to me, content to eat clover and pigs ears from my hand just like she was meant to do that, little Queen that she was. " I am so done for, I though. We will be getting chickens." Christmas of that year, Denise got me my brooder package, all the basic equipment to raise my first batch of chicks.
In January of 2009 I ordered my first dozen chicks, all pullets, with my sister (who ordered 4) and another lady, Ruth, from a neighboring town (she ordered the bulk of the order). Two each of Australorps, partridge Cochin, EEs, light Brahmas, golden penciled Hamburgs, and golden laced Wyandottes. All said and done, I ended up with 15 chicks, bonuses from Murry McMurray Hatchery. To my original order I added a spangle Hamburg roo, a dark Brahma roo, and 3rd GP Hamburg. One of my light Brahams turned out to be a roo, now the head honcho in my coop. With a little tough love, all is peaceful now.
Ive lost 2 along the way but I keep pushing forward. Its very rewarding to raise at least part of what you eat. Eggs from happy hens who get to scratch in the dirt and catch bugs, dust bath in the sun and eat from your hands have eggs that taste so much better. I havent bought store eggs since I decided to raise my own. They just dont taste the same.
Raising my own also allows my children to help out and see where eggs really come from. They love to hang out in the coop and hold the chickens. Well be getting some Nankins bantams, a rare breed on the critical list for the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Ive wanted them for a while and theyll be good for my seven year old son to start taking care of. Hes eager to have a flock of his own.
I recently ordered my second batch of chicks, a mixed bunch again, two each of buff Chanteclers, Jersey Giants, speckled Sussex, and salmon Faverolles. When both children are in school Id like to start a breeding project with the Nankins and raise birds for eating.
Here is what I wrote:
Raising chickens for me started in my sister's backyard. In the spring of 2008 my sister Denise calls me and says, "Sara, I bought some baby chicks and they are so cute." So we go to visit when they are in that loveable scruffy stage, still living in their brooder in my sister's basement. "Okay, they're cute," I thought. They'd be fun.
At our next visit some two months later, they are out in their coop and we are hand feeding them pigs ears and short blades of grass. They went crazy when my sister brought raisins out, their favorite treat. "You can bring one out if you want," my sister Denise says to me. Cool.
So I nab a little buff Orpington, Peekachu I think, and she sits on my lap. She's clucking softly to me, content to eat clover and pigs ears from my hand just like she was meant to do that, little Queen that she was. " I am so done for, I though. We will be getting chickens." Christmas of that year, Denise got me my brooder package, all the basic equipment to raise my first batch of chicks.
In January of 2009 I ordered my first dozen chicks, all pullets, with my sister (who ordered 4) and another lady, Ruth, from a neighboring town (she ordered the bulk of the order). Two each of Australorps, partridge Cochin, EEs, light Brahmas, golden penciled Hamburgs, and golden laced Wyandottes. All said and done, I ended up with 15 chicks, bonuses from Murry McMurray Hatchery. To my original order I added a spangle Hamburg roo, a dark Brahma roo, and 3rd GP Hamburg. One of my light Brahams turned out to be a roo, now the head honcho in my coop. With a little tough love, all is peaceful now.
Ive lost 2 along the way but I keep pushing forward. Its very rewarding to raise at least part of what you eat. Eggs from happy hens who get to scratch in the dirt and catch bugs, dust bath in the sun and eat from your hands have eggs that taste so much better. I havent bought store eggs since I decided to raise my own. They just dont taste the same.
Raising my own also allows my children to help out and see where eggs really come from. They love to hang out in the coop and hold the chickens. Well be getting some Nankins bantams, a rare breed on the critical list for the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. Ive wanted them for a while and theyll be good for my seven year old son to start taking care of. Hes eager to have a flock of his own.
I recently ordered my second batch of chicks, a mixed bunch again, two each of buff Chanteclers, Jersey Giants, speckled Sussex, and salmon Faverolles. When both children are in school Id like to start a breeding project with the Nankins and raise birds for eating.
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