Paul has been researching chickens ever since we thought we might be leaving the army. He was able to find everything we needed to get started online. Although he was able to find several different coop and run designs, he couldn't find exactly what he wanted; so he designed one himself. We all helped to build it and it was finished in about a week.
The best part of the design is the outside access to the nest boxes. The kids can gather the eggs by lifting the lid and reaching into the nests instead of fighting protective roosters or upset hens. (His experiences with the afore mentioned rooster, I am guessing, was more traumatic than he and Rob let on.)
The chickens arrived about 6 weeks ago; did you know they are delivered through the US Post Office? All 27 of them fit into a little tiny package, about the size of a shoe box. They grow really fast this is what they look like now. 
The chickens we have are Rhode Island Reds. They are the reddish brown chickens that come to mind when I think of barnyard chickens and they lay brown eggs. We will slaughter all but one rooster in a couple of weeks. The hens and the pardoned rooster will stay with us for about 2 years then we start all over again with new chicks. I can’t wait to see how this all works once they start laying, which will be around Thanksgiving.
7 comments:
haha holy crap i love this post.
whose going to chop off the heads? sad! maybe they'll escape like 'chicken run'
What happens to the little black and white misfit?
We helped pluck chickens for one of our VT ladies because she broke her leg. There's some trick she did when cleaning the innards that keeps the process from stinking too bad.
What fun, I've never had chickens. What a great looking chicken coup. You guys did a great job. I am so excited that you have a blog now!
liz- I only know it won't be me.
mom- The black and white one is a rooster so his days are numbered.
Wow! I don't think I would ever be able to slaughter a chicken...just the word makes me cringe. I am sure your boys will have fun with the slaughter and plucking process. And I am sure you will make the chickens taste delicious. Do brown eggs taste the same as white eggs? : )
Shannon, you must not rememeber that we only had brwon eggs in Germany. They do taste the same, however, I am told that home grown eggs (white or not) are richer and taste better. We will see.
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