Well friends… this is the year! We have toyed with the idea of getting chickens for a while now- but I wasn’t quite ready to take on the commitment. Amidst having little ones and a lot on my plate, it was too much. But now that the kids are a bit older, we have decided we are ready for chickens!
I had thought about getting teen chickens that would be closer to laying right away, but my kids really want babies. So- babies it is! It’s kind of one of those once in a lifetime things- having little baby chicks- so we are going to get the little wee ones. When I told the kids I was going to get supplies the light on their faces was so beautiful. It’s the little joys in life that make it worth living.
We’ve got a list in with the hatchery- so we will see if we are able to get the breeds we’ve requested. Did you know that tracking down baby chicks is a bit of a task? We found quite a few options for older chicks. We’ve been researching different breeds- looking at how many eggs they might lay, and how family friendly they are. We actually had quite the giggle filled time looking up the list of available breeds on the internet. Oh my goodness! There are some cooky characters out there!
The first step for us is preparing for the babies. After talking to some friends who have raised chickens- these are the supplies we’ve gathered up!
- Large Tote for the Brooder Box
- Hardware Cloth (to allow protection from the cat, and airflow on top)
- Straw Bedding
- Waterer
- Feeder
- Feed
- Heat Lamp & Bulb
We are all excited- and I am probably the only one that is a little bit nervous. I’ve become less of an animal person as I’ve gotten older- but thankfully none of my kids have an issue with rounding up and carrying chickens. Finley is a self proclaimed “chicken expert” haha. She always loves to get in with our friends chickens, whether there are a handful or several hundred!
I’ll be sharing more details as we put together the box, the coop, and of course sharing lots of photos of our baby chickens and the breeds we chose and why!
Hope you all are keeping well. I am really loving busying myself with this chicken adventure. It feels really good to be excited about something amidst all the crazy of our country being on a bit of a lock down… reminding myself that life will feel normal once again.
-Miss Ash