- Sep 8, 2016
- 6
- 6
- 69
I've lurked here for a few months and appreciate all the information and camaraderie. My daughter wanted chickens, but do to my profession in the U.S. Navy for 32 years and constantly moving it could just never happen. We finally bought the perfect house on a golf course where we'll put down our 'forever' roots and one day she saw a chicken in our yard. We weren't aware at the time that a neighbor had chickens. Having seen this chicken peaked my daughter's interest, she asked again.
Mom didn't like birds and was a big city girl and I never had chickens either but my wife and daughter studied breeds and I was the dutiful dad who stayed out of the way and paid the bill. They bought a dozen day olds and we raised them inside our house in a guest room and learned to tolerate the smell and dust. The babies were cute and grew quickly. I started to realize that they would quickly need a proper coop and run so I got to work. I decided to start with an 8' x 10' storage shed and built a run around it (about 15' x 30'). We have hawks, owls and eagles here so I covered it and also covered a big portion of the run to provide additional shade. So far, so good. OBTW, I learned a lot on this forum about how to build roosts, nesting boxes, and how to keep the run and coop safe from predators. We also have coyotes, foxes and other biters in the area so the advice for protection was well appreciated.
We lost one chick the first or second week, and 3 were roosters that we really didn't feel we could keep on the golf course. That left us with 8 beautiful girls who have amazed us with their social activities and the way they cared for one little crippled girl we have. We found out about the marvels of Poly-Vi-Sol on this forum and at the five month mark started medicating her. I just posted a BIG THANKS for the information on my first post. She's fully well, can walk, roost, lay eggs, preen herself and otherwise just be one of the girls!
This week one of our girls got very broody and was causing some excitement in the coop so my daughter wanted to get some fertilized eggs so she could be a mom... So, here we are. Eight beautiful girls and eight eggs two weeks or so from hopefully hatching. So far our broody chick is a dutiful parent and only occasionally vacates the nesting box to eat, drink, dust bathe and cool down, then right back to the eggs. Unfortunately she is nesting in the favorite box and the others want to crowd in with her to lay. It is pretty funny to watch. Somebody laid an egg right in front of the box... or did the new mom push one out? Wasn't one of the new eggs since they are much bigger and different than our girls' eggs.
Great to be here and sorry for the long-winded story!
Mom didn't like birds and was a big city girl and I never had chickens either but my wife and daughter studied breeds and I was the dutiful dad who stayed out of the way and paid the bill. They bought a dozen day olds and we raised them inside our house in a guest room and learned to tolerate the smell and dust. The babies were cute and grew quickly. I started to realize that they would quickly need a proper coop and run so I got to work. I decided to start with an 8' x 10' storage shed and built a run around it (about 15' x 30'). We have hawks, owls and eagles here so I covered it and also covered a big portion of the run to provide additional shade. So far, so good. OBTW, I learned a lot on this forum about how to build roosts, nesting boxes, and how to keep the run and coop safe from predators. We also have coyotes, foxes and other biters in the area so the advice for protection was well appreciated.
We lost one chick the first or second week, and 3 were roosters that we really didn't feel we could keep on the golf course. That left us with 8 beautiful girls who have amazed us with their social activities and the way they cared for one little crippled girl we have. We found out about the marvels of Poly-Vi-Sol on this forum and at the five month mark started medicating her. I just posted a BIG THANKS for the information on my first post. She's fully well, can walk, roost, lay eggs, preen herself and otherwise just be one of the girls!
This week one of our girls got very broody and was causing some excitement in the coop so my daughter wanted to get some fertilized eggs so she could be a mom... So, here we are. Eight beautiful girls and eight eggs two weeks or so from hopefully hatching. So far our broody chick is a dutiful parent and only occasionally vacates the nesting box to eat, drink, dust bathe and cool down, then right back to the eggs. Unfortunately she is nesting in the favorite box and the others want to crowd in with her to lay. It is pretty funny to watch. Somebody laid an egg right in front of the box... or did the new mom push one out? Wasn't one of the new eggs since they are much bigger and different than our girls' eggs.
Great to be here and sorry for the long-winded story!
. Happy you joined our community. First of all, thank for your military service. You are appreciated! Best wishes with your flock!
