My main motivation was to be a bit more self-sufficient and to have eggs raised by hens the way I thought they should be raised. Eggs are such a perfect source of food that I thought we could add to our food security beyond the garden beds by having a backyard source, and so the adventure began in December 2011. First we ordered a really cute coop (don’t ever buy a coop because it’s “cute”*). Once it was delivered, we built a coop run around it so that the girls could scratch around during the day unmolested by the neighborhood hawks. Once everything was built, we brought home eight four-month old girls from a local feed store on New Year’s Eve of 2011. My husband had promised I’d have my girls by the end of the year and we just made it!
Thus began our chicken adventure. To date I’ve only been at this chicken thing for 7 ½ months, never had chickens before, and as you’ll see I’ve been through a lot with the girls. I will be sharing much about my chicken adventures in this blog as I’ve had such a hard time finding certain info that I wanted to share my experiences, successes and failures in order to hopefully help others. I’m trying to post my experiences in chronological order so you can really feel my pain—I mean, read what I’ve been through and how you can get through it, too, so I’m a bit out of order now. Mites came after we had to put one hen out of her misery. I really do love my girls, but I will admit they are much more work (and sometimes trouble!) than I thought they would be. So read on, fellow backyard farmers and homesteading enthusiasts!
*The cute coop conundrum: looking back now, I should have bought a large, tall coop, something I could stand in and walk into with a normal door. It would be so much easier to clean, and if you have a bad back (like me) the cute coop can be a real pain. Alas, it was a newbie mistake not to be repeated. Pics FINALLY posted below.
By the Bushel & By the Dozen 