Twenty birds - do we call that a flock?
I've been dreaming of having our own chickens for quite a while, scouring the web for information on the many different breeds, on raising chickens, free-ranging options, the basics of designing and building a special coop, and making a list of the chickens I thought would be a fun fit for our needs.
And then came tractor supply and my husband and daughters visit there during their "chicken days event" and next thing I knew we had 6 little chicks in a little cardboard box. The dream was no longer a dream. But wait...what? We hadn't even figured out exactly where we wanted to build a coop let alone started to build one! Maybe that's why life is often referred to as an adventure. I know ours sure has been!
And... that's how it started, our little flock of twenty! The first 6, were Barred Rock (which were on my wishlist) and Rhode Island Whites (which weren't on the list). A few days later we ended up with 5 Pearl Gray Guineas, a Welsummer and a Black Sex Link. And then... 2 months later we added 3 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Easter Eggers and 2 Polish - a silver laced and gold crested. Okay, maybe the last 2 were added just for a little fun!
One Easter Egger was grabbed by our Jack Russell and being only a day old the poor little chick didn't survive his encounter with our Jack. No, it wasn't eaten...just handled a little too roughly. It did, however, give us a taste of what may come of our idea of free-ranging our flock. We may need to fence in the Orchard sooner than later to keep the Jack Russel dogs out and the chickens and Guineas in, so they can roam free of dog predators (in the Orchard space at least)!
The new chicks are only a week old and they came from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon MO. They are still so fuzzy and as cute as can be.
Just had to share their cute little fuzziness!
And then came tractor supply and my husband and daughters visit there during their "chicken days event" and next thing I knew we had 6 little chicks in a little cardboard box. The dream was no longer a dream. But wait...what? We hadn't even figured out exactly where we wanted to build a coop let alone started to build one! Maybe that's why life is often referred to as an adventure. I know ours sure has been!
And... that's how it started, our little flock of twenty! The first 6, were Barred Rock (which were on my wishlist) and Rhode Island Whites (which weren't on the list). A few days later we ended up with 5 Pearl Gray Guineas, a Welsummer and a Black Sex Link. And then... 2 months later we added 3 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Easter Eggers and 2 Polish - a silver laced and gold crested. Okay, maybe the last 2 were added just for a little fun!
One Easter Egger was grabbed by our Jack Russell and being only a day old the poor little chick didn't survive his encounter with our Jack. No, it wasn't eaten...just handled a little too roughly. It did, however, give us a taste of what may come of our idea of free-ranging our flock. We may need to fence in the Orchard sooner than later to keep the Jack Russel dogs out and the chickens and Guineas in, so they can roam free of dog predators (in the Orchard space at least)!
The new chicks are only a week old and they came from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon MO. They are still so fuzzy and as cute as can be.
Just had to share their cute little fuzziness!
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