So, about a year ago, I got a lot of requests to have chickens and raise them in our backyard. I was pretty sure I did NOT want these birds in our yard as I didn't want the added responsibility and nothing really appealed to me about having them. That was a year ago. SInce then the idea has come up several times and after talking to a friend of mine down the street who has 8 chickens and loves the fresh eggs, I decided to look into it. Thomas felt the same as I did a year ago and expressed that he didn't like the idea much either. After we discussed it over a period of a couple weeks and after a few trips to Theisens to marvel at the cuteness of all those chicks, I was sold on the idea and Thomas wasn't far behind. The practicality of it seemed a little daunting but we jumped right in and figured that the details would all work themselves out after we made the initial commitment. And they did!
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| Here we are at Theisen's picking up 6, day old baby chicks! Ethan was pretty excited to hold them. Simon was excited about eating popcorn! |
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| For the first couple weeks, we set them up in a bin in the garage. |
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| Our 6 baby chicks! |
The chickens lived in our garage for about 2 months. We periodically let them out in the yard when they were little so they could have some fresh air. THe boys loved corralling them and keeping them in our yard. They really do stay together and don't wander to far. They have grown really fast and now, they are about 4 months old and almost full grown. Grandpa Fawcett was kind enough to build us an amazing chicken coop out of some wood that he had. The coop is beautiful and more than we could imagined it would be. These chickens are very spoiled. THey have a ton of space to live in along with their own nesting boxes and roosting bars. They have a window that we can open and a door that let's us get in and out of the coop. There is also a door that raises and lowers so that during the day, they can get out into the caged in run and at night can be closed inside to keep them safe from critters. The other night, the top of their caged in run was caved in which was probably due to a raccoon trying to get them. Luckily we had locked them inside, which occasionally we forget to do. A good reminder that they need to be locked in every night!!! We have had one causality. The boys were playing with them inside the coop and one was trying to escape out of the chicken door. Simon let go of the rope and the chicken was partly outside and got stuck under it. Ethan tried to save it but unfortunately, it lost it's life. THe boys were both pretty upset but we took the opportunity to teach them a lesson about death and as we buried the chicken the boys felt better that she was out of pain.
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| Ethan helped set up the chicken coop |
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| Here is the chicken coop set up behind our house. We have since built an outdoor run. |
So we on on an adventure with our new "pets". Ethan now tells people that we have "5 new pets". We have not given them names as someday, they might be placed in front of us at our kitchen table. This is what Thomas tells me. I am not opposed to doing it however, I will NOT be eating chicken that night. The chickens are fun to have around and the boys are slowly taking on more and more responsibility with feeding them and changing their water. They should start laying eggs in about 1 month. THat's exciting!!!
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| This is random, but Thomas just got his new truck. We are very excited and it is beautiful! We have already had a ride in it! It's even a smoother ride than the toyota. |
