In the coop
We got our first ten chickens this past spring. Neither my partner nor I had ever raised chickens. đ We knew we wanted to have our own eggs and eventually process meat for our family. I read and watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how to raise them. A friend even sent me a book âFresh Eggs Dailyâ by Lisa Steele, it has been an amazing resource. Steele really gets into the nitty gritty of chicken care; how to give them full healthy lives. I highly recommend this book for any new or experienced hen lovers. On YouTube I searched so many things: whatâs a good diet, medical issues, winter habits, etc. I took notes and then cross examined the resources and went from there. I made sure to include my breed of chicken because they are not all the same and have different requirements for healthy lives.
After all of that I visited a local shop, Morgan composting, home of dairy doo! I purchased ten buff Orpington chicks. Madison and I put together a dog crate brooder by putting down some newspapers, water and food containers with the Brinsea heater plate.
We added some cardboard to the walls of the kennel, so they couldnât escape and wouldnât get chilled. Chicks are very susceptible to the elements. That first night we experienced our first loss. One of the chicks didnât make it. Weâre not entirely sure why. Several weeks later we lost another. By now Iâm second guessing myself with this endeavor but Iâm determined to give them the best life I can.
By this time my partner, Alex, had started building a chicken mansion. He did a fantastic job, love you. It took several weeks because we had to take a few intermissions, but it felt so good to get a project complete.
Before the chicken tractor was complete we experienced our first encounter with predators. My son went out to put them back in their little dog coop, which by the way is in my basement due to the convenience of it being a walkout space. Sadly found that one of the chickens had been slaughtered and another in the flower bed was almost completely eaten. We were completely at a loss, I just checked on them and it had been within 30 minutes.
Let me tell you, we really learned our lesson the hard way. Going forward we keep a very close eye on our girls. They stay in their movable run where they are safe. Weâre considering getting a rooster to help protect them too.
Beyond wanting to raise chickens to be able to help feed my family of six, I had the hope to also be able to sell any surplus eggs. Due to tough learning experiences, we were down to six from our original ten. Each chicken lays about an egg a day. That would mean roughly six eggs day, not necessarily feasible to sell eggs with only six chickens. haha So, at the end of June I got another 14 chicks. 𤣠This time Barred rocks. They are so cute and we have had zero loss thus far.
THENâŚ.I kid you not Madison uses her own money and buys four more!! Three lavender Orpingtons and one buff Orpington. We are now up to 24 chickens and soon we will have eggs coming out our ears. haha
Luckily these chickens are dual purpose, if we need, they can be butchered. Although these chickens, I specifically got for eggs. I plan on getting more chicken next spring for meat. I was able to take an awesome poultry course and am determined on putting those skills to use! More to come on that topic soon!
And just like that we have our first egg!
As I finish writing up this post the girls have been good to me. We now have 18 eggs sitting on our counter ready to be cooked.
I made our first egg into an over easy delicious morsel with a slice of homemade toast. The yoke was so rich and creamy. If you havenât had fresh eggs, I highly suggest you find someone local. Or get chickens! The flavor really cannot be beat.
Thatâs all I have for now, but Iâll be sure to keep you updated on our winter coop and chicken adventures!!
