I am sort of new to raising and having chickens. Why sort of new, the last time I had anything to do with chickens was when I was a youngster. We then raised something like 50 chicks at a time, some for eggs and some for the table. At this time we have no chickens as I am in the process of building our chicken coop. I have a friend that will help me getting Barred Plymouth Rocks chicks to raise for eggs and for the table along with a Silkie hen for a brooder. I learned about this site from articles on my MotherEarthNews CDs while researching information on chickens, chicken coops and chicken tractors. Here in Costa Rica there aren't many chicken breeds to choose from but I was lucky to find a person who is able to help me get good well bred Rocks. We live at 3,000 feet near the cloud forest so excessive heat won't be a problem. We do get a lot of rain so my coop is designed with that in mind. Not only are the chickens for food but also a hobby for me, I plan to keep track of my stock to improve my chickens for our micro area. The coop will have a dirt floor with deep litter for the chickens to scratch in on those rainy days when they remain inside. I am a retired mechanical engineer and neon glass blower/shop owner. My wife, Caroline is a retired Special Education school teacher. We had bought a small vacation home in Costa Rica then the housing prices fell in California. The vacation home turned into our retirement home. We live in a small village called "Los Angeles Sur" or "Los Angles South", I have fun with that when I tell people that we live in South LA, you go down town turn left for 3,000 miles and you're there. Anyway here we are. We both are crafts persons too, she does beading, sewing, silver jewelery while I do stained glass, enameling, wood crafts, raising chickens and both of us love gardening. We have 4 cats, a canary, 2 parakeets and a dog. We have 2 sons in California and a daughter in Florida with 2 grand daughters. I was born in Decatur Illinois, now 68, Caroline born in Delano California, now 60. We've been married 15 years.
