Chickens

I am so excited (perhaps a little too excited), we are getting chickens!  I have been hemming and hawing on this subject for some time now.  But I finally decided they are worth the extra work and poopy smell :)  For those who haven't spent much time with chickens the notion of being excited about them may be completely foreign.  However, my childhood memories are filled with chickens.  My aunt had a farm and I spent as much time as possible there riding horses, taking care of the cows and having fun with the chickens.  They would follow us around, try to eat our scabs, all sorts of fun stuff.  During the cold winter months both the chickens and the cats would ride on the warm backs of the cows as they foraged in the fields.  They knew from trial and error which cows were more willing and docile.  I witnessed a cat try to climb upon one of the horses only to experience a strong rejection.  The horses were far less tolerant of the seemingly symbiotic relationship.

Just being around free range chickens helps you to understand their whimsical nature and strong personalities. If you still doubt me check out this great documentary The Natural History of the Chicken.  (If you have netflix you can stream it)

We are getting 4 pullets (laying hens about 5 months old, just beginning to lay eggs) from Split Rail Farms in Penngrove, one Buff Orphington, one Austrolorp, one Americauna and one Sussex.  I pick them up the first week in February - a birthday present for Imogen.

Gage and I have been building our chicken coop.  I found a great coop plan at www.mypetchicken.com using pallet wood.  The plan cost $15 and was definitely worth it.  For those novice builders it is a great reference, although I altered the plans slightly.

We started with the base:

'

And built this into the main structure:

Added the roofing material

Almost done!  The nesting box has been built - I will add that on when the main structure is done.  Last we will paint it, purple is the planned color.  I will add a picture of the finished product when it is done, along with pictures of the girls!  :)  So excited.

Last here is our run for the girls, where they will spend their days when we don't have them out in the yard with us.  Lots of slugs, snails and other insects have made this space their home until now!  The chickens will eat them up.   I will update you on the chickens and their names when we get them.  Again, I am so excited.