Our first chickens.

We want to raise our own food, and after a lot of reading, chickens sounded like the easiest animal to start with. We ordered the peeps from our local feed and farm store and a day before they arrived we attended a 'Raising Chickens' seminar.  We were pretty excited and since it was a very small crowd, got all of our questions answered and were coached on what additional supplies we'd need (heat lamp, bedding, feeder, water container, etc.)  The following morning before picking up our first batch of chicks, we readied our brooder box (a large Tupperware storage container).

Our new additions to the "farm": 7 chicks consisting of 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Ameraucana, and one Light Brahma. We quickly discovered that chicks grow fast!  After a week, I needed to come up with something bigger for the girls. So I dug around my wood pile and found some nice pine and made a bigger brooder box. They loved to be able to run and stretch their wings and legs!

Having no experience at all with chickens and brooder boxes, I never thought of how tall to make the box. My chicken wire was three feet wide so I decided that would be the height of the box. It wasn't until we moved the young ones in that I noticed our arms don't reach inside to the floor of the box!! Getting the food tray in and out to clean was hard which required me to cut a flap in the wire near the bottom. I used wire to make twist ties to secure the flap so problem solved.  Here is a picture looking thru the flap:

We never would have thought that chickens were smart but we were quite happy to see that they learn things very quickly. Well, most of the time! They learned that this was the place that treats (green grapes, mealworms, greens, and seeds) would come from and that freedom was a hop away!  In the picture you see the Brinsea EcoGlow Brooder in the back left corner. If you are going to raise chickens and start them in your house, I highly recommend this product as heat lamps are a major cause of fires. (A house fire in a nearby town was due to a heat lamp for chickens in the fellas basement). 

We added a perch for the girls. It was a tomato stake and worked very well.

They grow so fast!  To keep them happy and entertained, we added a stump for them to play on and hung a mirror for gazing. (Yes, chickens do love to gaze at their own reflection!)  The girls were feathering out and we wanted to take them outside so bad but our winter was long and so cold. Eventually when it did warm up, we lined our dog crate with chicken wire and layered in some straw. We loaded them up and headed outside for their first glimpse of sunshine and blue skies. 

Diane had so much fun with them outside! I went and dug up a chunk of grass and added it to their outdoor 'pen' and the girls loved it! They scratched and picked at that clump of dirt and grass until it was gone. It was a little cramped in there but they didn't mind at all with so many new things to see and hear.

The next post will be the new coop the "Chicken Condo"!