To come and get my chickens. They are now in their lovely chicken palace.
Yes I will get pics and have hubby post them tonight.
Yes I will get pics and have hubby post them tonight.
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Good luck with your chicks, Sue. I saw Anastasia's while visiting - they are fat and happy.
Yeah later this fall. Although the first 25 which are all roosters will be offed and in the freezer in 16-18 weeks.Fresh eggs every morning?
Mine will be. Thanks I am all excited. Glenn is even going to hook up a web cam for me.
You have pics of your setup? I've finally got the wife talked into getting some chickens and I'm looking for Ideas.
How cute... I didn't realize you could just mail chickens.
Mmmmmmm....... not yet processed mcnuggets...........
Yeah later this fall. Although the first 25 which are all roosters will be offed and in the freezer in 16-18 weeks.
FIRST 25? Wow, how many did you get!!
And any particular reason you didn't go with one of the meat breads that are ready for slaughter in 8-10 weeks?
Plenty of coop ideas here : http://www.backyardchickens.com/ . Our coop is on one of the "Coop Design" threads but it's a simple 10x10' one I just threw up. It does have low-E glass, 30 year shingles, and it's fully insulated. The outside pen was actually harder and more time consuming.You have pics of your setup? I've finally got the wife talked into getting some chickens and I'm looking for Ideas.
Never having chickens I didn't know when we insulated that you shouldn't insulate all the way to the floor. Don't want it getting wet when you hose out the coop a few times a year.We are insulating the coop also, it's on the list of things to do.
IMNSHO don't bother.You guys are making me feel like a bad chicken farmer since I haven't insulated my coop...
You guys are making me feel like a bad chicken farmer since I haven't insulated my coop...
Sounds like lotsa fun.
Our first 2 flocks came from Murray McMurray. Last year we switched to Mt. Healthy. Their prices and selection are quite good, and delivery schedule is more convenient for us (weekday v.s. weekend) and better for the chicks because we could pick them up immediately upon arrival rather than having them sit overnight at the post office. Also, the last flock of we got from McMurray had way too many roosters, the straight run batch was virtually all roosters and the "hen" batch had more than 10% roosters. They tasted good, but still. And, McMurray had illness issues the previous year and we didn't want to chance it. We were very pleased with Mt. Healthy. The order came as expected and we had a lower infant mortality rate than previous flocks.
I insulated our coop when I built it; pink foam sandwiched between the studs and the sheathing/siding and fiberglass batts between the rafters. I would not bother doing so again as it seemed to cause moisture/condensation issues even though the coop has a 4"x6' vent on one side, 2'x6' of windows on the opposite wall and soffit vents at both ends of the shed roof. We pulled the roof insulation out and it is far better now. The chickens seem to be able to keep themselves plenty warm during the winter and we just put heat mats under the waterers to keep them from freezing.
Good luck and good eating.
Very nice. Enjoy the chickies, look forward to the eggs.Speaking of chickens....
We just started raising chickens this year to be more self-sufficient - for eggs, not meat. We also told the kids they could sell eggs, too, if they wanted.
And also as family pets. We absolutely love our small flock of 8. We have had so much fun with them - they are like family. They follow us around and keep us endlessly amused.
Uh, they also have their own blog. We just started the blog late last week and are "back dating" the posts from the time we got them. It has pictures of them and their brooder set up and temporary coop.
Mr. Smith is designing and building the coop.
Here is the link in case anyone would like to see our set up. The girls just turned 3 months today.
http://8hipchicks.blogspot.com/