newlyaddicted2chickens
In the Brooder
Hey all!
I'm completely new to chicken-keeping but it is something I have always wanted to do. After we bought our first house last summer I set upon my mission. I built and designed their coop and run myself and am quite proud of it! I worked tirelessly to make sure that it is as predator-proof as possible. I am also constantly trying to soak up as much information as possible, which is how I found this backyard chickens website. We are trying to do everything as naturally and organically as we can, using ACV for parasite prevention, garlic for mite prevention, and many different herbs for overall coop-critter prevention. All of these things I found on forums here
We live in Maine, so we needed winter-hardy birds. But we also wanted excellent egg layers (no meat birds here!) and chickens that would be reasonably friendly. So we have 4 Black Australorps and 5 RIRs. Supposedly they are all pullets, but there is one Australorp we have our doubts about. They are all named after First Ladies and we call their coop the First Hens Club. If we do end up having a rooster he will naturally be re-named Franklin D. Roostervelt ;-p
Our hens love to free-range (and get grumpy-sassy when they can't) but have a run that they have access to during daylight hours. They only free-range when we are here for direct supervision as we live in the country with plenty of raccoons, coyotes, skunks, bobcats, eagles/hawks, weasels and fishers, etc! Not to mention domestic dogs. We have 3 rescue dogs also (and some rescue cats and a turtle!), our 6 year old German Shepherd has taken on the mission of protecting "his chickens." German shepherds do well when they have a job so this is a win-win! He has already protected them once by scaring away a loose dog that must have caught a whiff of them and ventured to the edge of our property. Good boy!
Our hens are about 4 months old (born mid-February this year) so not laying yet. They have always been handled and most are quite friendly. One even likes to cuddle and will do a strange growling type noise until we pick her up. We found some treats that they are so crazy about we refer to it as "chicken crack."
Anyway, that's me and my brood in a nutshell. Can't wait to start chatting with all of you and learning even more.
I'm completely new to chicken-keeping but it is something I have always wanted to do. After we bought our first house last summer I set upon my mission. I built and designed their coop and run myself and am quite proud of it! I worked tirelessly to make sure that it is as predator-proof as possible. I am also constantly trying to soak up as much information as possible, which is how I found this backyard chickens website. We are trying to do everything as naturally and organically as we can, using ACV for parasite prevention, garlic for mite prevention, and many different herbs for overall coop-critter prevention. All of these things I found on forums here
We live in Maine, so we needed winter-hardy birds. But we also wanted excellent egg layers (no meat birds here!) and chickens that would be reasonably friendly. So we have 4 Black Australorps and 5 RIRs. Supposedly they are all pullets, but there is one Australorp we have our doubts about. They are all named after First Ladies and we call their coop the First Hens Club. If we do end up having a rooster he will naturally be re-named Franklin D. Roostervelt ;-p
Our hens love to free-range (and get grumpy-sassy when they can't) but have a run that they have access to during daylight hours. They only free-range when we are here for direct supervision as we live in the country with plenty of raccoons, coyotes, skunks, bobcats, eagles/hawks, weasels and fishers, etc! Not to mention domestic dogs. We have 3 rescue dogs also (and some rescue cats and a turtle!), our 6 year old German Shepherd has taken on the mission of protecting "his chickens." German shepherds do well when they have a job so this is a win-win! He has already protected them once by scaring away a loose dog that must have caught a whiff of them and ventured to the edge of our property. Good boy!
Our hens are about 4 months old (born mid-February this year) so not laying yet. They have always been handled and most are quite friendly. One even likes to cuddle and will do a strange growling type noise until we pick her up. We found some treats that they are so crazy about we refer to it as "chicken crack."
Anyway, that's me and my brood in a nutshell. Can't wait to start chatting with all of you and learning even more.
