Yay, yay, yay! Well, we got our chickens about six weeks ago or so, and, with a few exceptions, everything has floated along like a dream. They were kept in a huge cardboard box brooder for the first few weeks, and now for almost two weeks, they've been in the coop.
Counting my blessings:
1. Our old 8x10' shed was perfect for converting into a coop, which is 99% finished now. It's tight, safe, predator-proof (so far). (Pictures coming soon, when I can figger out how to do that.)
2. Nearly everything we used for the coop/pen was recycled, given to us, found around this old house, etc. Didn't cost a whole heck of a lot.
3. My neighbor had two great big ol' dog kennels that his dogs kept escaping, so he GAVE BOTH OF THEM TO US!!! What a blessing!!
4. The chicken wire we bought to wrap the kennel in is the exact perfect size to go around.
5. The chickens are healthy and happy. (We have lost a few: one to cannibalism, one to the dog, one to unknown causes, and one just went missing which may be another one the dog got.) We got every single chick at a discount after bartering and jewing em' down.
6. We've gotten countless lessons on how-to's and such here on BYC as well as miscellaneous magazines, etc.
7. A random stranger, named Mike, was driving by our house one day and stopped "admire the birds." When he saw they were chickens, he started telling us about his chickens, gave us TONS of advice in such a nice and friendly manner. He lives like 2 hours away from us, but has a camper at the camp ground down the road from us, so he comes around to go there. Just today, he brought us a 12- or 14-unit nesting box for nothing! I tried to give him some of our DE for his coop, but he wouldn't take it. He's coming back to bring us some catalogs in a couple of weeks when he comes back to his camper. He has given us a lot of reassurance about some things we were worrying about.
8. The Lord has given us this desire to raise chickens to help sustain ourselves, our family, friends, neighbors, etc. We have a very small operation so far, but time will tell where we go from here. Next step is to move to a place that has a few acres! Hubby is talking about getting goats and rabbits now. aahhh!!
Just wanted to share the excitement of this new avian adventure.
Counting my blessings:
1. Our old 8x10' shed was perfect for converting into a coop, which is 99% finished now. It's tight, safe, predator-proof (so far). (Pictures coming soon, when I can figger out how to do that.)
2. Nearly everything we used for the coop/pen was recycled, given to us, found around this old house, etc. Didn't cost a whole heck of a lot.
3. My neighbor had two great big ol' dog kennels that his dogs kept escaping, so he GAVE BOTH OF THEM TO US!!! What a blessing!!
4. The chicken wire we bought to wrap the kennel in is the exact perfect size to go around.
5. The chickens are healthy and happy. (We have lost a few: one to cannibalism, one to the dog, one to unknown causes, and one just went missing which may be another one the dog got.) We got every single chick at a discount after bartering and jewing em' down.
6. We've gotten countless lessons on how-to's and such here on BYC as well as miscellaneous magazines, etc.
7. A random stranger, named Mike, was driving by our house one day and stopped "admire the birds." When he saw they were chickens, he started telling us about his chickens, gave us TONS of advice in such a nice and friendly manner. He lives like 2 hours away from us, but has a camper at the camp ground down the road from us, so he comes around to go there. Just today, he brought us a 12- or 14-unit nesting box for nothing! I tried to give him some of our DE for his coop, but he wouldn't take it. He's coming back to bring us some catalogs in a couple of weeks when he comes back to his camper. He has given us a lot of reassurance about some things we were worrying about.
8. The Lord has given us this desire to raise chickens to help sustain ourselves, our family, friends, neighbors, etc. We have a very small operation so far, but time will tell where we go from here. Next step is to move to a place that has a few acres! Hubby is talking about getting goats and rabbits now. aahhh!!
Just wanted to share the excitement of this new avian adventure.
