My daughter wanted to try a new adventure and my local Co-Op was doing a 1st annual (which means I had a chance at not being the only "don't know what I am doing" person) jackpot broiler. In case you don't know this means a meat chick raise (in this case) 90 days to show date. All chicks had to be purchased from the Co-Op. The Co-Op provided them all at the ripe old age of 10 days old.
So we go to get these babies...
Unfortuneately for my poor baby chicks, I am not much of a builder and know nothing about what a chicken coop is supposed to look like. Fortuneately, the chicks didn't care what their home looked like, just that it was warm, they were fed and watered AND they had protection from the cats and dogs.
Feel free to laugh at my idea of a home for these babies...
Let me see if I can do justice to what I have done here...in the background is a dog "igloo". There is large tarp that covers a section of their "pasture and a sort of t-post holding the tarp up. Again, it is ok to laugh...I am laughing as I write this. The chicken wire that you see, well, it is in a sort of triangle shape. No kidding this is the CRAZIEST, UGLIEST thing I have ever seen used as housing for a chicken.
My daughter was very happy, she took 4th place in her age division (she would have done better if I had know that it is ok to get chickens wet and/or give them a bath).
This year, she decided that she would like laying chickens. We went out and bought a used coop. I am in the process of fixing it up and refuse to get any chicks until I am done. Our layers will be around a lot longer and will have a much nicer house.
In case you are interested, Murray McMurray Hatchery has been the best source of information for me. It has helped with bird selection, feed and shelter. I even ordered a book about chickens so I could learn how to keep them the healthiest and make certain they had enough in their diet so the egg laying would not deplete their systems.
Hope you enjoyed my ugly coop! Have a great day and God Bless.
3 comments:
Love the make it work attitude - and I'm sure the chicks really didn't care :) And I'll take ugly but effective over pretty but useless any day!
Of course, we're no strangers to home-grown solutions around here. I raised an orphaned/abandoned wild duckling last year, and she split her time between two x-large plastic bins. One outside with water and rocks for day time, and one with shavings inside for night so that cats wouldn't get her. Luckily we were able to find a farm with ducks that would take her before she outgrew her boxes.
Thanks for stopping by! I know they don't care, I am still appalled that neighbors might have driven by and seen my mess. LOL
Hey... the chickens seem to like it :-)
Have a nice day :-)
~Ron
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