The Coop Has Arrived

One big step closer to raising chickens has occurred! The coop "raising" has taken place, thanks to a helpful brother in law and two neighbors. We are so glad we didn't try to create this structure from scratch - it would have taken us all year to get it done. Thanks to www.ezcleancoops.com this project took a day and a half to finish! My son already got himself locked inside accidentally, so we installed a release lever to prevent future children (or adult) trappings. Now we can start the countdown - the chicks will arrive the week following Easter! Praying they all will survive the trip, so we don't have to run out for replacements.... Have a great day!

The construction of the coop begins

Let the fun begin! The coop arrived yesterday afternoon and is currently in parts in the garage. I had one of the boys helping me start to level a space in the back yard to get things going.

Here are the nesting boxes and associated other pieces of the chicken house.

And now my dear husband begins the foundation work! Since our yard is completely on a hill, there is much leveling to be done before the puzzle pieces in the garage can really begin to be assembled!

For now, my task is making cookies for all the hard work being done today. We'll need some helpers to get the rest of the coop raising done...

Outing for supplies

On this beautiful sunny and warm day I made my way to the local feed store to stock up for when the chicks arrive. The place was packed with people, but the salespeople were extremely helpful. I managed to come away from the store with feeders, waterers, starter chick feed and grit, a bale of straw, and pine shavings for bedding. The lady at the front was kind enough to share a few recommendations for places nearby that process chickens, in case we get a random rooster by accident in our mix... Its good to be prepared!

I also contacted the post office just to double check the procedure for when the chickies arrive. I'm expecting an early morning call letting me know they are here for pick up - then I'll try to drop everything and go get 'em right away!

The coop should arrive after next week sometime - everything seems to be coming together for now.

Chicken Planning

I've been studying up on the fine art of chickens for about a year now.  My neighbor used to have chickens, but let them free range, which didn't work out too well for the chickens, either the mink or the coyotes got them.  I've been looking at a variety of backyard chicken types of websites and currently I'm reading thru Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens - this book is a must have if you are serious about raising chickens for any purpose.  It covers the minute details of every fathomable thing related to chickens in the world, or so it seems.

I ordered a ready made chicken coop from ezcoops.com, which is actually a local company that also sells gazebos.  I like that they already thought of how to make it easy to clean, easy to get to the eggs, and more predator proof than a lot of cheaper coops I've seen advertized.  Plus I can order it in colors to match my house, so its pretty nice to look at too.  Its supposed to arrive in a few weeks, so we'll see what it looks like in reality.

Buff Orpington

Easter Egger

Cuckoo Maran

Silver Laced Wyandotte

The chicks are on order as well.  I ordered 2 Buff Orpingtons (brown eggs), 2 Easter Eggers (Pastel color eggs), 2 Silver laced Wyandottes (brown eggs), and 1 Cuckoo Maran (extra dark brown eggs).  They will arrive as 1 day old chicks that we have to pick up at the post office as soon as we get the call.  Apparently the post office has been delivering chicks for 100 years or so.  Not sure if my post office has been doing this for that long, but anyways...  Then we have to get them water and food asap, since the travels can be tough on them.

I'm expecting to learn much through the experience of raising chickens.  The kids are eager to help and play with them.  I have fond memories of visiting my great aunt in MO and playing with the fluffy brown chicken in her lean-to coop.  Seems easy enough, from a child's perspective, hopefully real life will be enjoyable and possibly nostalgic too.  I haven't come across any books or articles about disappointed chicken owners, so I have to think its going to be OK at the very least.