Back To Basics: Backyard Farming

A few things have happened since I last posted about my chickens. 

1. We finished the coop (Ft. Cooper) and the fence. Though I would like to fence it with the picket fencing we built for the rest of the yard, at some point. There is a long roost inside, as well as two nest boxes that can be accessed through the hinged roof on the side of the coop.

The view of my Ft. Cooper from my back deck.

2. My chicks grew into chickens.

We ended up keeping eight out of ten (we gave two away), but I would like to go down to six at some point. All of them are hens, despite our worries at the size of their combs (the red mohawk kinda thing on top of their heads).

 3. We got our first egg!

Actually, we got a lot of eggs. They average about six a day.

 

Our first egg!



 The eggs are big brown and beautiful.

Bunny loves to carry them around for a bit telling everyone, "Egg!" , before we bring them inside.

 We feed and water our chickens twice a day. In addition to laying mash and kitchen scraps, we also let our chickens free range in the back yard for most of the day. We rake out the coop and fence about once a week, and clip their wings about once every two or three months (this is painless to the chicken and much easier that catching them every time they fly out of the fence). We also keep away predators (like raccoons and foxes). Other that that, they pretty much take care of themselves.
  

Feeding the chickens and yelling, "Bock bocks!"

It has been a lot of fun having chickens again.