- Mar 1, 2009
- 153
- 4
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I started with the idea that I could have just a few chickens and suddenly I have 11 full grown hens? how did this happen?
seriously I have to stop! but they are so wonderful and actually easy to care for ..
in the morning I go down to the coop open the door and let them go into their pen to eat scratch peck ..until my husband goes into the shop then since his shop has a door that goes into the chicken yard (a huge yard surrounded by trees and a seven foot fence) he lets them out to wander
they all march out and find places to dust bath peck and scratch and give him reason to stop work and just stare at them!
about 3-4 pm on their own they line up and march right back into thier pen then when the sun goes down they march into the coop and find thier spots on the perches (except the Duchess of Orpington who resides in a nest box at night)
the only "work" we do is put fresh feed out..toss scratch or kitchen left overs out during the day and cover the food and close the door to the coop it at night ..then flip the litter around in the coop every other day (I am trying the deep liter method)
they just seem so content in their surroundings and give us so much peace
we have had a horrific year I can not even tell you how bad things have been because it is too horrible to form words..but things are improving and we are seeing more and more joy in every moment now
chickens do bring you joy, and fertilizer and very yummy eggs!
but 11 chickens? is this too much for a semi urban back yard I wonder? the coop is fairly small but they seem to each have found a space and only are in it to sleep ..we only had two nest boxes built and put in ..because we never intended to have this many in our flock! We are adding more nest boxes on Thursday ..right now just a few weeks into this I feel like things are ok they seem very happy!
I have several breeds and have humanized them all
could this be a problem? I am chicken addicted? is there a 12 step program for this?
or am I ok? am I "managing" ok this seems so easy I feel like maybe I am missing something!
seriously I have to stop! but they are so wonderful and actually easy to care for ..
in the morning I go down to the coop open the door and let them go into their pen to eat scratch peck ..until my husband goes into the shop then since his shop has a door that goes into the chicken yard (a huge yard surrounded by trees and a seven foot fence) he lets them out to wander
they all march out and find places to dust bath peck and scratch and give him reason to stop work and just stare at them!
about 3-4 pm on their own they line up and march right back into thier pen then when the sun goes down they march into the coop and find thier spots on the perches (except the Duchess of Orpington who resides in a nest box at night)
the only "work" we do is put fresh feed out..toss scratch or kitchen left overs out during the day and cover the food and close the door to the coop it at night ..then flip the litter around in the coop every other day (I am trying the deep liter method)
they just seem so content in their surroundings and give us so much peace
we have had a horrific year I can not even tell you how bad things have been because it is too horrible to form words..but things are improving and we are seeing more and more joy in every moment now
chickens do bring you joy, and fertilizer and very yummy eggs!
but 11 chickens? is this too much for a semi urban back yard I wonder? the coop is fairly small but they seem to each have found a space and only are in it to sleep ..we only had two nest boxes built and put in ..because we never intended to have this many in our flock! We are adding more nest boxes on Thursday ..right now just a few weeks into this I feel like things are ok they seem very happy!
I have several breeds and have humanized them all
could this be a problem? I am chicken addicted? is there a 12 step program for this?
or am I ok? am I "managing" ok this seems so easy I feel like maybe I am missing something!
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