We've talked about adding chickens to the Garden Spot ever since we knew we were moving to an acreage. My husband's grandmother kept hens and so did my dad, so now we are going to follow in the family tradition. When we moved from the old house, we moved our garden shed too. It measures 8x12. Hubby added a wall, giving the hens a third of the shed, about 4x8. The other two thirds will be the garden/potting/tool shed. He has electricity to the shed now so that baby chicks can go to the hen house as soon as we get them. He has already purchased the tub he will use as a brooder and his heat lamb, and other supplies. So soon we will be ready for the chicks.
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| The house faces the vegetable garden. The chicken pen is a chain link dog run with a cover that he bought on Craig's List. We have to secure it yet to keep predators from digging in. |
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| Today he installed the insulation. He has done a lot research; some insulate, so don't. He is an over achiever, so he is insulating. |
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| A Room With A View, too. Nesting boxes will go under the window. |
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| Exit here. |
It will, indeed, be interesting to have chickens. I have read many blogs of those who have chickens, and they thoroughly enjoy them and the fresh eggs, too. Especially the fresh eggs. Just tonight we were again discussing how many chicks to get. Eight seems to be a manageable number. The ranch store will have them in March.
Finally, we counted birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count. We had our usual numbers of avian visitors. We have discovered that we do have 2 male downy woodpeckers and 2 females. We counted a hundred red wing black birds that come to feed at the feeder of all ages from the mature males with the brilliant red and yellow bar on their wings, to young males still sporting their drab brown with a pale yellow bar on the wing, to the drab brown females. Our American gold finch population is growing. All summer I could hear them in the trees, but last winter they just didn't hit the thistle feeder. This count we were able to tally up 9, but I counted 11 last week-end. Well, it's been a busy week. No classes tomorrow, but I have grading. cheers. ann
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Ann,
ReplyDeleteYour going to enjoy those eggs! We had a chicken visit once and left an egg in the old shed for us. Our Jack Russel Terrier would not get along with chickens.
BTW our garden is maybe 25 foot long, not really that big. We planted peas on Jan 21 one year, they can handle freezes you know. Best crop we ever had of peas.
Have you got the chicken yet? I'm thinking of getting 2-4 hen someday.
ReplyDeleteYou already have a horse, now chicks, what next?
Terrific! Your hen house looks great.
ReplyDeleteI stumbled upon your blog, and clicked on it because of the name. I love gardening, and it just so happens that I moved from Colorado to England. I'm excited for you on your hen house - we'd love to have one ;)
ReplyDeleteHow exciting are your hen plans, looking forward to meeting the chicks. I have a wee desire to have chickens, but am hesitating a bit. Look forward to seeing how yours progress. Your bird watch went well. I have loads of black birds too. I like the smaller birds like gold finch much better. Keep up the good work.
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