The Chickens Are Now On The Farm!

Here are the girls at 12 weeks old.  They love to explore the garden and find all the bugs and worms.  What wonderful little helpers they are!!

This is Henny

So, I've done it.  I've finally taken the plunge and am going to raise chickens.  I know, your probably thinking to yourself, "what in the world", but I just can't help it (grin) I've gotten the fever, and now the girls (6 pullets) are just adorable and comical to watch.  I've been doing my research though, and am trying to take advantage of everyones mistakes by reading blogs, and forums on websites like backyard chickens.com.  So far it's been going well.  I'm going to keep a diary of sorts as to how this journey evolves.  Hope you enjoy the show lol.


These are my girls.  I bought them on March 28, 2013 and when I brought them home, I purchased a blue round bin from Wal-Mart for about $5.  The girls were bought at the Tractor Supply store.  I only wanted 4 hens, but they will only sell 6 at a time.  Anyway, they are just adorable.

Well it's now June 14th, and the girls are about 12 weeks old.  My have they gotten big! Since that time, we've tried several chicken coops that I purchased either from tractor supply or off of the internet, and all were a total disaster (pictures below).  When considering purchasing a coop, you really need to measure and take into consideration the size.  All of which I thought I did, however never having chickens before, I thought that I was ok.  In addition, the sales pitches advertised that these coops would hold approximately 10 hens (Yea right!).  So as a result of the dissapointing purchases, and not wanting to get ripped off again, we decided, well ok I decided, that we were going to build our own coop.  Now this time, I really took my time researching many, many, many websites until my head hurt gathering pictures, ideas, and suggestions.  What I came up with was a combination of several ideas but primarily stuck to the plans of the Red Roost Inn from +BackYardChickens .  http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-red-roost-inn-chicken-coop.

I've also taken ideas of the roosting box from the clean coops on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4NDOiaHBrs&list=FLRXCuc1FPwNf25QHDbstxcg&index=5 ).  

Here is a list of the other websites that I've visited, and taken some of their wonderful ideas from.   certainly want to give credit where credit is due, and these people have just done a superb job on their coops.  

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/boisemarkers-chicken-coop

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/wichita-cabin-coop

http://gracieschickens.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-new-girls.html

This is the second coop we bought, the first was even smaller than this one if you can imagine.  The seller stated that you could fit 10 full size hens in this coop.

The Red Roost Inn from the book BackYard Chickens

Beginning our own coop

The girls are getting anxious for their new home

Can you see the size difference? LOL

Beginning the run

Added security for the girls

Folding roosting bar.

This roosting tray makes cleaning a breeze!!

We added the roosting bars, and tray to make cleaning easier when the bars are folded up.

In the fall, when you have to add light to the coop, this will really show up!

Temporary run door.

Added ventilation for those hot Florida summers.

little touches makes it a nice home for the girls

Yippee we finally have eggs!!

I actually had two in one day, but have now only been averaging one a day.  Hmm will have to keep an eye on that, but this is the first week