Slowly, we are cutting down some shade trees in hopes to have enough sunlight for gardens. So far, we have a 100 square foot patch of garden dug, and plans for several hanging buckets for upside down tomato, pepper, and eggplant plants. I have several garden seeds indoors, growing quickly under my areogarden.
Also, we are looking into a pump for an old natural spring well we discovered in our patch of woods. It surely runs well, in fact, it floods the street behind our home. Small steps...
One of the bigger steps we recently took is starting a small flock of chickens! :) For now, we only want the hens for pets and for their eggs.
I've been doing "backyard chicken" research for about a year, but finally decided to take the plunge now that chicks are more readily available, and I feel more confident after reading up on the breeds, temperaments, needs, costs involved and laying abilities.
After months of surfing Craigslist for coops or sheds to convert, I found a great little small home made coop for a steal. It was built by a small town Mayor who hoped to hatch eggs for his son's, but was unsuccessful. With the help of friends who loaned us a truck (many thanks, Christy and Matt!), and friends who loaned us a dolly (thanks, Krista and Chas!), we were able to get it home and into place (not pictured in it's place)
There is a locking upper and lower level. This will need modified.
It is even shingled! We will need to better insulate and cover it.
Much of the chicken wire will be covered by "shutters" and the wire will also need reinforced with welded wire to keep the raccoons out.We also will need to build nesting boxes.
I am counting on Bryan's skills to make something like this:
I would like to be able to access the eggs from outside of the coop.After some construction and paint, it will soon be ready for these cuties:
Pictured LEFT is "Peanut" she is a Golden Comet. Pictured RIGHT is "Goldie" who is an Amber Link...not much info on her breed.... but owners say they are docile, friendly layers. So far she's at the top of the pecking order. She's very bossy.
We took a long, country drive today (thanks Becky for accompanying and navigating!) to complete our small flock. The all black chick on the bottom right is a Black Sex Link. Rylan named her "Lincoln" because he kept mistakenly referring to her as a "Sex Lincoln" ha ha.. Next to her, the dark brown chick to the left is an Araucana. Also known as Americana, or an Easter Egger. She was sold to me as an Araucana, but with my limited chicken experience, I think she's an Easter Egger. The chick behind her, with the light and dark brown is also the same breed. They will lay blue, green and pinkish eggs. The yolk is a very deep orange. Finally, the chick closest to the water, black with some cream color, is an Australorp.
I am happy with my selections so far, although as I pulled away with the last 4 chicks today, I did second guess myself and wished I would have bought two Black Sex Links. If I can find a Barred Rock, I might get one. :)
Bryan is in the process of building a 10 X 10 dog run around the coop. We will need to line the chain link with better wire to keep it predator proof. Pictures of it soon.
My short term goal is to have enough eggs to feed our family, the neighbors for putting up with them :)
EDIT: For some reason, my hyperlink color will not change. If you move your cursor over the chicken breed names, I linked info about them.
Happy Easter everyone!
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