Well we did it ... we are official chicken farmers, well chicken owners. Let's see how successful they and we are before we go the big distance and declare ourselves chicken 'farmers'.
Teri had wanted chickens for the last few years ... don't know why. And we went to our local Intermountain Farmers Association store for fertilizer the same weekend a HUGE amount of baby chicks (and ducks, and geese, and bunnies) came in. SOOO cute little balls of downy feathers.
Our original plan was -- 'let's try one', however as we discovered chickens are 'flock' animals and IFA frowned at selling us just one -- min was 3, preferable was 5 -- good racket! And it worked, we split the difference and picked up four. Two are called Buff Orpington's. i've included a link to a site to give you an idea of what they will look like fully grown. They are large, winter hardy, mild-mannered, kid-friendly (a pre-requisite), and prolific egg-layers (6-7 a week, per bird). Ours are a golden or buff colored, although the breed comes in a variety of colors. But they are great looking birds with big fluffy backends and so much fluff and feathers around their legs it looks like they are wearing petty coats (look it up -- you youngins') The other two are called Speckled Sussex (nice alliteration). Also large, winter hardy, cordial and curious, kid-friendly, and good layers (5-6 a week, per bird). Here's a link to how they'll eventually turn out.
Everything we've read, and we can't stop reading about them, says to hold them a lot so they are used to people and contact. It's no problem -- they are really great, curious, and generally good natured. The kids can't get enough of them -- holding them, petting them, squeezing them (gently).
Of course, we completely broke the cardinal rule of chicken keeping (as reminded by our friends -- build the coop first, THEN get the chickens. So our laundry room has become our temporary chicken nursery. We've set up a heat lamp to try and get them accustomed to the cooler temps (eventually) and they're eating and drinking everything in sight, which of course leads to having to clean out the plastic tote daily to reduce the smell. But the tote is clean and keeps the dust at a minimim. And provides hours of entertainment for the dogs (especially Ellie) who can't get enough of them.
Shawn and Uncle Brendan are working on the coop based on plans we've seen on assorted sites. I've copied in the link to one which is close to the one they're building -- its' called the Wichita (check it out at your own risk ... you may elect to jump in and get your own chickens). Some are quite amazing and clearly these people have more time than we do. But they are fascinating to look at. More pictures to come as the chickens and the coop gets a little bigger.
Stay tuned.
