March 25, 2015

And Chickens too!!

So besides the recent whim to get honey bees I also decided to enter the chicken industry. Specifically the egg business.

When I was reading about bees I kept hearing “Bees are easier to keep than chickens” and that got me thinking; well that’s great, I’ll get bees because they’re easy… but I’ve already been helping my neighbor look after his chickens so why don’t I try some of those too?

Although I started this a couple weeks ago, I was worried. Usually you talk to the hatcheries at the beginning of the year to talk about getting birds (I want some pullets ready to lay), but when I contacted the nearest feed store that sells not only day olds but also older birds and different breeds (heck they even get geese and ducks!) they said it wouldn’t be a problem. So I put my name in for six Isa Browns! Then came the fun part…

I’m still on my parent’s property so I now need to find a way to keep these little cluckers safe from predators and transport trucks (since we’re on the corner of those two highways).

I googled the heck out of “Chicken Coop Designs” and came up with my own rough idea for a design then went to visit Claude for some much needed insight. He offered a couple experience based suggestions and helped me dig some treated lumber out of his snow covered yard.

To date I have a floor and one framed wall completed. I was supposed to take a couple of old windows (from a previous home renovation) to the farm to plan out a couple more walls but (as you’ll read) I decided to ride my horse over instead. No room for windows on that ride!

Like a complete dolt, I forgot to pack my phone when I was at the farm making the coop, so I’ll have to take some photos before I do any work next time so I can share the progression. I don’t know about you, but the construction of pretty much anything at the farm interests me more than it probably should.

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