Chickens

Greetings, so this article will be about my experience of getting chickens.  I got them with hopes of getting some eggs and using their droppings as fertilizer to help the garden.   I found an area in the backyard and moved some old wood and pipes.  Then I put up a fence with chicken wire at the bottom and converted half of a bike shed into a chicken coop.   I used an old rabbit cage to to make some nesting boxes, and lined them with grass clippings, hay and alfalfa.

After a few days of working on that, I got two Rhode Island Red chickens.  I found out this morning they can get over a 4 ft high fence, so I'm going to get some hardware cloth to put over the top.  I'm planning on getting a few more chickens of different breeds.  Aracanas lay blue or green eggs or maybe some that lay white eggs, like Leghorns.

I got pullets for multiple reasons.  Pullets are about three to four months old and haven't started laying eggs yet.  While they are a bit higher priced than baby chicks, they don't require special heating lamps and feed.  They also had laying hens from one and a half to two years old.  I decided against getting them because chickens usually live to ten years and their peak laying age is about three years.  I'd rather pullets.

It's been a fun experience, the chickens looks pretty awesome too.  I got a bag of 'Egg Maker' chicken feed,  they seem to like it and it appears to have a good amount of nutrition for the birds.  They also eat grass and bugs, which there is plenty of in the outside area.  Check your cities ordinances on chickens and if they are allowed I would encourage getting a few.  They don't need a whole lot of space and they are far more interesting than a cat.  Thanks for reading, enjoy yourself.