speckled6
Chirping
I'm new here, just got our first chicks almost 3 weeks ago...Then chicken math set in and we now have at least 10 varieties of laying chicks totalling 30 chicks!
We have a ton of room out in the country and though we ordered 1 rooster, I think we have 5-6 in there since we got them from a few different sources.
I was thinking about the egg issue... That's a LOT of potential eggs! We have a family of 7 and use about 3 dozen eggs/week on average now. Our wonderful neighbors will definitely be getting as many eggs as they want. There are a few folks who've mentioned wanting to purchase eggs, but I'm not counting on it. Any leftover eggs that we can't consume ourselves or give/sell we will donate. We're going to see if the local food pantry will take them when we are closer to getting eggs, if not I know of a church that will take extras. DH also said that if the pantry won't take them, maybe we could give them cards/vouchers to come get them if they want them...he's such a giving soul.
Anyway, we were not so prepared as we had hoped for the chicks and thus haven't got our coop done yet. I find the more I read and the more I learn the more I'm rethinking my entire plan!
Has anyone else found this? Examples: I originally figured we'd make a large coop with a for Knox style huge run for the chickens and feed them the standard feed we can buy here at the farm store. Then I read about fermented feed, it's still what I bought at the farm store, but my chicks go crazy for it (so cute to see 20+ of their little butts around the plate!) Then had to redo the feeders I was using (the plate got too small, the big plate was too messy), rethinking the ENTIRE waterer idea, the henhouse will have to be bigger (I have an innate NEED to spoil them/make sure they are comfortable inside a lot b/c of the cold here in WI), the run...Well now I'm seriously considering free ranging using electric fence as a way to give them more space...And I have no idea where it will all stop.
We do need to decide on a desiand build that henhouse asap though. They have a huge brooder and plenty of room to grow, but even that I'd do different if I had to start again!
Is this the beginning of an obsession? Probably, but I think it's a good one!
Now I have to go back and finish reading the rest of the posts!
We have a ton of room out in the country and though we ordered 1 rooster, I think we have 5-6 in there since we got them from a few different sources.
I was thinking about the egg issue... That's a LOT of potential eggs! We have a family of 7 and use about 3 dozen eggs/week on average now. Our wonderful neighbors will definitely be getting as many eggs as they want. There are a few folks who've mentioned wanting to purchase eggs, but I'm not counting on it. Any leftover eggs that we can't consume ourselves or give/sell we will donate. We're going to see if the local food pantry will take them when we are closer to getting eggs, if not I know of a church that will take extras. DH also said that if the pantry won't take them, maybe we could give them cards/vouchers to come get them if they want them...he's such a giving soul.
Anyway, we were not so prepared as we had hoped for the chicks and thus haven't got our coop done yet. I find the more I read and the more I learn the more I'm rethinking my entire plan!
Has anyone else found this? Examples: I originally figured we'd make a large coop with a for Knox style huge run for the chickens and feed them the standard feed we can buy here at the farm store. Then I read about fermented feed, it's still what I bought at the farm store, but my chicks go crazy for it (so cute to see 20+ of their little butts around the plate!) Then had to redo the feeders I was using (the plate got too small, the big plate was too messy), rethinking the ENTIRE waterer idea, the henhouse will have to be bigger (I have an innate NEED to spoil them/make sure they are comfortable inside a lot b/c of the cold here in WI), the run...Well now I'm seriously considering free ranging using electric fence as a way to give them more space...And I have no idea where it will all stop.
We do need to decide on a desiand build that henhouse asap though. They have a huge brooder and plenty of room to grow, but even that I'd do different if I had to start again!
Is this the beginning of an obsession? Probably, but I think it's a good one!
Now I have to go back and finish reading the rest of the posts!
