We bought six little baby chicks yesterday! Supposedly they are all female (not sure how they tell and not sure I want to know... seems I remember a Dirty Jobs episode about that) and the kids are just going nuts over them.
AWW! I had chickens once. I was at the hardware store for something and they were there and I couldn't help myself. We didn't have anywhere to put them so we kept them in a birdcage until my Daddy built them a coop. They were pretty ... umm ... dirty after they went outside, BUT SO CUTE as chicks. We also had a couple of ducks but we gave those to a lady with a pond.
One of the the things Brian was worried about was what to do with the old hens once they stop laying. He didn't want to have to butcher them and was concerned about finding someone that would do that for us. But from what I've heard the hens tend to die shortly after they stop laying anyway. Besides I don't think I'd have the heart to make them into chicken pot pie after I'd raised them their whole lives. :(
Oh, man, I'm under so much pressure here to get chickens. I'm not fully convinced the kidlets will really truly do all the poop cleaning like they promise they will. Also, we're in an urban setting, with a small little square of a backyard. And a psycho dog next door. He bit my daughter, who knows what he'd do if he got anywhere near the chickens. But we had fresh eggs at their aunt's house, and WOW, yummy!
Off to google coop instructions. Cause we'd need really good protection for those babies.
Yes I'm not 100% convinced my kids will do their share of coop cleaning either. :\ I'm also not sure what will happen with our dog. Lady is a good dog but she does LOVE to chase crows and pigeons. Because of that I don't think I'll be able to have these chickens be free-range like I'd like. We did find several plans for an A-frame coop that can be moved from place to place so they'll get fresh grass when they need it. An example is here: http://www.buildchickencoops.com/henhotel.htm
I've heard the fresh eggs taste a lot better than store bought!
so freaking cute and fluffy! you're lucky you have the land to have all kinds of animals. and i saw that episode. you have to flip them over, squeeze them and dodge the poop that flies out.
LOL I also think I'm lucky to have a husband who is willing to do most of the work... even if he does complain about it a little. :D He does all the hard stuff and leaves the fun stuff for me!
Yes I saw parts of that episode too! D: It was NASTY. Ew. I suppose it's something you get used to if you do it for a living but still... ugh.
They're so cute! My grandmother (in the Azores) used to have chickens. I have very fond memories of visiting when I was younger and watching over the young chickens we'd claimed as "ours". :)
Yes we want to keep them and have them start laying eggs for us. I think it'll be fun and give the kids something to do too. :D
Supposedly they have been sexed and are all female, but I know better than to count on that, lol! I'm not sure what we'll do if we get one... but I think we'll see if we can give it to these people down the road that raise chickens for meat.
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They laid eggs for a while and then died.
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One of the the things Brian was worried about was what to do with the old hens once they stop laying. He didn't want to have to butcher them and was concerned about finding someone that would do that for us. But from what I've heard the hens tend to die shortly after they stop laying anyway. Besides I don't think I'd have the heart to make them into chicken pot pie after I'd raised them their whole lives. :(
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They would probably taste yucky if you ate the really old ones. ;_;
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Off to google coop instructions. Cause we'd need really good protection for those babies.
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I've heard the fresh eggs taste a lot better than store bought!
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Yes I saw parts of that episode too! D: It was NASTY. Ew. I suppose it's something you get used to if you do it for a living but still... ugh.
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Supposedly they have been sexed and are all female, but I know better than to count on that, lol! I'm not sure what we'll do if we get one... but I think we'll see if we can give it to these people down the road that raise chickens for meat.
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