reflecting on my first year of chickens...

[lynnemabry]

Last spring I got 6 hatchery white leghorns and they were so much funny I got 6 more, a mix of breeds. The wait for the first eggs took forever, but what a happy day that was. My DH built me an open air coop and then nesting boxes and was always on hand to tweak the plan for what we needed. It is not pretty or fancy but the birds are safe and happy. Caring for the flock has not been too hard. I used deep litter with straw all winter. In 9 months I went through 4 bales of straw. All that is composting nicely. I am trying the same with pine shaving right now. They seem to go a lot faster. I probably go through a bag month in feed, I use layer and scratch plus what ever kitchen stuff has their name on it.

In the last year I have lost 5 birds. 2 to a bobcat, 2 to a dog?? and 1 roo to freezer camp. I have learned that you can't let them free-range all the time, too great a risk and that when they are out to make sure that the dogs are out too to act as an early warning system.

At about 6 months I started getting eggs. Soon all of the girls were laying and I was getting between 6-7 eggs a day. I love getting all the different colors of eggs. In fact that was one of my reasons for what kind of new chicks I got.

That leads me to the present. My DH built me a bator and I have a dozen eggs in it. I also have 6 babies next to the bator peeping away.

I can buy "cheap" eggs at a better price and "the free range farmers market eggs" for more more than it is costing to have my flock. I get the entertainment of watching them roam around. They eat the leave off the poison oak around my house too. I also have the knowledge that my flock has a decent quality of life and that I am living a little closer to the land. I also get to give away eggs to friends and family, maybe I could sell them but if I can I would rather just share.

Yes, I love having a backyard flock, I would recommend it if you have the time and the space.

 

[2DogsFarm]

Nicely written!

I am in Year Two and enjoying it more than I imagined.
I started with five 9wk old pullets nearly 2 years ago, then added 2 day-old chicks last Summer.
One of those babies is a rooster now, but so far he's minded his manners.

Like you I love my "homemade" eggs - storebought will never taste the same!
And cooking/baking with them is a whole new experience too.
I share my surplus with friends, as there are too few to sell & I think I enjoy the sharing more anyhow.
Right now I have 3doz waiting for the guy who repaired my computer.

What I never thought of in my original planning is the fun they provide.
Who knew chickens had that much personality?
Self-esteem is not a problem, these girls seem to think they own ME, not the other way 'round

And I have a city-dwelling friend who now wants some hens of her own.
Come over to the Dark Side, I tell her, We have eggs!

 

[black australorp prince]

im ending my first year to.i started off with two bantams one cock and one hen.now i have 15 hens nd 3 cocks.only lost 1 bird in 11 months my bantam roo.now i have breeding pairs of silkies balck australorps and buff orpingtons. i moved on from novice chicken farmer very fast. some great experiences with the chickens. sadly this evening my balck rock hen went missing hope to god she turns up 2moro morning ok!!!!!!!

 

[clayb226]

I am just beginning my first year, and am already hooked. I have 10 hens, and 1 rooster and I like to let them out to roam of the evening. They are a great way to wind down the day, just letting them out to watch them roam for a minute. I have even decide to start hatching my first batch of eggs, on day 7 now. Then, before my first hatch was even close to being done, I decided to go with some BLRW eggs to try to start a certain breed. I got my first chicken about 4-5 weeks ago, you know how it goes.

 

[Netherworldtaken]

Our chicks just turned a year as well. Personality is not the word for our three girls. They are spoiled and know it. Each one brings something different to the flock.

 

[augustwest]

My first year has not been pretty. As of Friday, we've lost 10 of our 11 original flock! Over a period of one year, we've lost 3 to a hawk, 2 "disappeared" (coyote?), 1 poisoned and PTS by the vet as we were worried about mareks, 1 egg bound and we culled, 1 chick was killed by our cat (my fault) and 2 with mysterious GI isses that I just couldn't fix- 6 months apart. We have a nice small, clean coop in our fenced backyard- nice enough for 8 hens. We didn't get one lousy egg all winter. It was the worst winter here in a long time- cold and at one point we have 5 feet of snow around the coop! I stressed about our 3 hens being cold and hauling water. It was not my favorite experience.

However, we aren't giving up. We got 2 pullets and a cockerel in January- they are now intergrated with our one remaining hen. We are back to getting one green egg 6/7 days. We've got 6 4-weekers in the garage- all are doing well. We're bulking up and preparing for losses since we basically free range. One of our new pullets is getting all red in the comb- we're hoping for an egg from her anyday. She's a wellsummer- it would be nice to have green eggs and spotted eggs. We added a roo to help protect the girls. He's a teenage FOOL right now, but he's got potential and he's funny to have around.

We've learned a lot about our food source. The kids have learned a lot about death and loss- but it wasn't terrible for them. I've LOVED the decrease in the population of ticks, slugs and grubs. Aside from the chicken crap all around our house, we really like our little flock.

Our dog almost died of rocky mountain spotted tick fever last week.... both my husband and I said "we need more chickens!". We're hooked. What can I say?

 

[Mom2sixpeeps]

Love these stories!