We thought it might be fun to have some chickens. And we like eggs. So we got some little chicks a month or two ago. They are called Buff Orpingtons. They are pretty cute. We bought some for us and some for Jenifer (Molly's sister) who was going out of town and couldn't keep them herself for a few weeks. So for a few weeks we had a dozen or so. But only four of them are ours. We kept them in the living room for a few weeks in a big plastic tote and the kids loved to sit and watch them and get them out and play with them. Especially Ethnie, who calls them the little babies. Here is a picture of her laying next to them and just watching them.
After a few weeks they started kinda stinking up the house, so we tried putting them in the laundry room for a while but that got pretty stinky too. So then they moved out to the garage and my car moved out to the driveway. A few times in the last month or two it has been warm enough to take them outside. The chicks seemed to enjoy that and so did the kids.
Well, they couldn't stay in a plastic box in the garage forever so I was slowly trying to build them a coop. Molly had been looking at different coops online for about a year and she decided the one she liked the best was this
one. So I bought the plans (which was hard for me to do, but I was so busy with school that I wasn't sure I would have time to make my own, so thought it would be best this time) and started working on it. There was one Saturday about a month ago that was not snowy or rainy so I got the legs and the floor put on it that day. Since then, I have just been going out for an hour or two anytime it is not raining or snowing and working on it a bit. But it has been raining or snowing almost every day all month, so not much got done. Then yesterday it was clear and I got a whole day to work on it. I almost finished it. Here it is so far.
We put the chickens in it last night because it is finished enough to live in. I still need to add the trim and paint and what-not but it is getting close. And I have to build the chicken run. The chicks are about 8 weeks old now I think and they will start laying eggs at about 20 weeks. We eat about 18 eggs a week, which is about what these four chicks will give us (18-20). So that will save us about $2.00 a week. The materials for the coop cost about $400 so, not including feed, it should take us about four years to save any money. So I guess this is not about saving money, it is mostly just for fun. So far it has been fun, but I will have to get back to you on that after the novelty has worn off.
2 comments:
Kim and Ben Bess have a chicken coop in their backyard. We've gone over a few times and let the kids play with the chickens. They let their chickens out of the run (free range?) and the kids chase them around and around and around. It is so fun! Keirra wants us to get chickens too. She was upset when her friend got chicks for Easter and begged me to get her some. She'll be so jealous to see that you have some too.
Your coop looks amazing. Can I send Kaden to you for a summer in a few years and you can teach him everything you know about building? You are so talented.
I'm a bit jealous Shane. I just sold my coop and chickens in March, and we have been missing them. I'll definetley be getting more in a year or two. I think I'm actually going to have to come out and see your coop. It looks really good.
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