wildmtnhoney
In the Brooder
Hey y'all!
I'm Cara, 25, originally from Wyoming, but all my family is from the Missouri Ozarks. I am a writing instructor who loves to crochet, grow flowers, read, and go mushroom hunting and foraging. My ultimate dream (aside from successfully raising chickens) is to have a cut flower CSA! My husboo is an Environmental Scientist, jokester, and is rather obsessed with outer space. Like I said in the title, we are extremely new at this backyard chicken gig, but it's very exciting and we're learning more every day thanks to all of you helpful, knowledgeable folks!
My husband and I decided to get into backyard chickens because we are absolute animal lovers, savor country living, aim to be more self-sufficient, and both come from families with largely agricultural backgrounds. We want to make sure people in our generation perpetuate the good self-sufficiency practices that our grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. lived by. Both sets of his grandparents raised chickens and other livestock, my mother grew up on a farm, my father on an orchard. His parents and my parents, after marrying and leaving home, never kept animals (outside of cats and dogs) so the backyard chicken raising thing skipped a generation.
I got my first 4 chickens from my sister-in-law about 24 hours ago now. She thought she was giving us 1 rooster and 3 hens, but we ended up with just the opposite. You can read my goofy/naive first forum post and get the whole story. Please laugh with me, not at me. We'll get it all straightened out soon enough. The good news is, all 4 seem to be happy and healthy.
Below is a picture of the old metal shed on our property that my husband and I turned into our chicken coop; we just finished it and are pretty proud considering neither of us have any woodworking or building experience. It was super rusty, so I sprayed it with outdoor Valspar in my favorite color. The door into the run looks crooked, but it isn't! Husband tried to place the post heights at intervals so that we could eventually add a pitched roof over the top, rather than keeping the bird netting we are temporarily using.
And here's the ladder-style roost that I made out of privet branches. It's getting the job done for now.
In addition to our four chickens, we also have a black lop-eared rabbit named Luna, and 3 cats: Lucy, Doobie, and Wednesday. No human kiddos yet, but definitely someday.
Thanks for all of your help so far, and for the warm welcome. I can't wait to continue learning and becoming the best chicken mama I can be. I'm open to any advice and suggestions! Much love.
I'm Cara, 25, originally from Wyoming, but all my family is from the Missouri Ozarks. I am a writing instructor who loves to crochet, grow flowers, read, and go mushroom hunting and foraging. My ultimate dream (aside from successfully raising chickens) is to have a cut flower CSA! My husboo is an Environmental Scientist, jokester, and is rather obsessed with outer space. Like I said in the title, we are extremely new at this backyard chicken gig, but it's very exciting and we're learning more every day thanks to all of you helpful, knowledgeable folks!
My husband and I decided to get into backyard chickens because we are absolute animal lovers, savor country living, aim to be more self-sufficient, and both come from families with largely agricultural backgrounds. We want to make sure people in our generation perpetuate the good self-sufficiency practices that our grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. lived by. Both sets of his grandparents raised chickens and other livestock, my mother grew up on a farm, my father on an orchard. His parents and my parents, after marrying and leaving home, never kept animals (outside of cats and dogs) so the backyard chicken raising thing skipped a generation.
I got my first 4 chickens from my sister-in-law about 24 hours ago now. She thought she was giving us 1 rooster and 3 hens, but we ended up with just the opposite. You can read my goofy/naive first forum post and get the whole story. Please laugh with me, not at me. We'll get it all straightened out soon enough. The good news is, all 4 seem to be happy and healthy.
Below is a picture of the old metal shed on our property that my husband and I turned into our chicken coop; we just finished it and are pretty proud considering neither of us have any woodworking or building experience. It was super rusty, so I sprayed it with outdoor Valspar in my favorite color. The door into the run looks crooked, but it isn't! Husband tried to place the post heights at intervals so that we could eventually add a pitched roof over the top, rather than keeping the bird netting we are temporarily using.
And here's the ladder-style roost that I made out of privet branches. It's getting the job done for now.
In addition to our four chickens, we also have a black lop-eared rabbit named Luna, and 3 cats: Lucy, Doobie, and Wednesday. No human kiddos yet, but definitely someday.
Thanks for all of your help so far, and for the warm welcome. I can't wait to continue learning and becoming the best chicken mama I can be. I'm open to any advice and suggestions! Much love.
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and Welcome To BYC!
