the urban chicken
In the Brooder
- Jun 13, 2019
- 6
- 15
- 44
Hi all,
I've been gleaning info from this site via facebook almost since we started our first flock 5 years ago. Now that I'm trying to integrate new hens into my established flock, I have questions that books and websites aren't answering. So I had to become official and create an account.
We started our first flock 5 years ago here in Seattle after considering it for several years. The fresh eggs sounded good to me and the new pets sounded fun to the kids. As much as I didn't want them to become pets, they did. I didn't know how much personality a chicken could have! I'm gonna be very sad when our 5 year old ameracauna passes on; she's everyone's favorite.
The family kinda surprised me when they brought the first birds home. They had said they were going out "to look at some chicks". A few hours later, they came back with 7 chicks and $200 of equipment (heat lamp, food, grit, the works)! The chicks stayed in a rubber maid bin in the dining room (yes, the dining room. My excuse is that it was our first flock!) for several weeks while I scrambled to build a coop from scratch.
We got a book, found a plan we liked, then increased the dimensions to accommodate our girls. I'm a pretty handy guy and with the family's help, we built a 6x12 coop over the course of about 2 weeks (photo attached).
Of our original 7 (golden sex link, 2 silkies, welsummer, ameracauna, 2 australorps), the ameracauna and a silkie remain. Our new flock is 7 weeks old. After much research, we got a sex link, 2 ameracaunas, a feather laced Wyandotte, a barred Plymouth roc, and an australorp.
I'm now trying to integrate the new with the old and it doesn't seem to be going well. I intend to post that in another thread and will link it here.
I look forward to sharing stories and info with the other chicken enthusiasts here!
the urban chicken (TUC)
I've been gleaning info from this site via facebook almost since we started our first flock 5 years ago. Now that I'm trying to integrate new hens into my established flock, I have questions that books and websites aren't answering. So I had to become official and create an account.
We started our first flock 5 years ago here in Seattle after considering it for several years. The fresh eggs sounded good to me and the new pets sounded fun to the kids. As much as I didn't want them to become pets, they did. I didn't know how much personality a chicken could have! I'm gonna be very sad when our 5 year old ameracauna passes on; she's everyone's favorite.
The family kinda surprised me when they brought the first birds home. They had said they were going out "to look at some chicks". A few hours later, they came back with 7 chicks and $200 of equipment (heat lamp, food, grit, the works)! The chicks stayed in a rubber maid bin in the dining room (yes, the dining room. My excuse is that it was our first flock!) for several weeks while I scrambled to build a coop from scratch.
We got a book, found a plan we liked, then increased the dimensions to accommodate our girls. I'm a pretty handy guy and with the family's help, we built a 6x12 coop over the course of about 2 weeks (photo attached).
Of our original 7 (golden sex link, 2 silkies, welsummer, ameracauna, 2 australorps), the ameracauna and a silkie remain. Our new flock is 7 weeks old. After much research, we got a sex link, 2 ameracaunas, a feather laced Wyandotte, a barred Plymouth roc, and an australorp.
I'm now trying to integrate the new with the old and it doesn't seem to be going well. I intend to post that in another thread and will link it here.
I look forward to sharing stories and info with the other chicken enthusiasts here!
the urban chicken (TUC)
Glad you joined.
Best wishes and have Lots of FUN! 
We are glad you joined this flock!
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
