Eggscaping
Enjoying Life!
Hi! I'm Laura and I live in Jonestown, TX; just outside of Austin, down the road from Lake Travis. We have about an acre, 1/3ish of which is fenced, and recently got 6 pullets (hopefully) from a very neat lady who sends eggs to local elementary schools every spring so they can incubate, hatch, and care for chicks... then she gets them all back and needs to clear them out.
I am housing them in a modified pigeon loft we had custom-built for those birds, then realized that there was a vulnerability when a predator got in. So I reinforced the trap windows to allow for a breeze but no entrance, added a couple of ramps, and we decided to try chickens.
It's been fun watching them adapt to such a vertical structure! After a few weeks, they were sleeping on the flight deck (which is enclosed, outside, and off the ground about 4 feet, and has to be cooler than inside the enclosed loft). Then last night, two of them slept in the nesting boxes for the first time (which will be so much warmer this winter than just piling on the floor).
We (my husband, 17-year-old, and 4-year-old, plus extended family) had a great time figuring out what treats they like - most fruits, avocado, frozen peas, NOT bell peppers - and watching them explore and react to everything. There's poop all over my covered porch in the back yard, but that's a small price to pay for these delightful friends. It'll be cool when they start laying eggs, but even if they never did, they're just great to have around.
Our chickens are probably around 15 weeks. We got them at the beginning of June. Looking forward to learning from everyone!
Laura
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(Notice my cat in the picture of the black chicken.
Welcome to BackYardChickens! So glad to have you here in our wonderful community of friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people!
