Hi,
I like this idea for a thread. I think I can accompish the task in under 2500 words, for the simple reason that I haven't got any chickens yet.
No, don't check the batteries in your hearing aid, you heard me right. I simply haven't got that far yet. But I thought a few of you might indulge me just the same.
I started out by seeing BYC. Well, I did grow up with chickens and my parents have chickens and have been tempting me by giving me free eggs from time to time. Then the neighbor got a milk cow and I got some "real" milk, made some butter. Made some buttermilk biscuits. Drank some milk.
Suddenly I'm seeing a whole new world. My wife says I've gone crazy. I read magazines, look at websites that sell solar panels and automatic chicken waterers.
Now I'm bringing home plywood and screws and unwanted pallets from work. I noticed a barn that has fallen down from lack of maintenance, near my house. It looks like more board feet of lumber than I could use in a hundred coops, and tin roofing panels.
I looked over all the wonderful coops in the coop section and decided on one for us and drew up the plans in intricate detail.
I think my wife has started to come around as she just gave me the gift of 3 great books she purchased at the feed store. One has plans and pics for 45 coops, another is all about poultry breeds, and the last is a chicken health guide. It's so thick I think I'll give the vet a run for his money by the time I get it all in my noggin'.
I'm up late this evening because I've been out in the garage trying to disassemble pallets into usable boards for the construction of my chicken palace.
I'm kind of excited about my project and the changes its completion will make to our lives. In light of the changes in our economy, it seems I may have come to my senses just in the nick of time. I realize that raising a few backyard chickens may not amount to much on my bottom line,if anything, while I am learning, but it's a step in the right direction.
Who knows maybe quail and turkeys would help. Perhaps a dairy goat. Of course I'll need a garden, and canning jars. . .
I think what I'm really going to need is a year off or a robot. Or maybe a year off and a robot!
So much for doing it in less than 2500 words huh!