We got our first chickens in 2007 when our daughter was two. I honestly don’t remember how it came to be, but they have been a blast!
My husband checked with the county to make sure we could have them, and there were no restrictions in our neighborhood since we didn’t have an HOA. We kept them inside as chicks, then they went outside in a coop my husband built. The coop was an A-frame style with a roost above and wheels on one side. As they pecked/dug up the grass, we moved the coop to a new spot in our 1/2 acre lot (3/4 or more of our land was in the backyard).
Eventually, they began laying eggs. A few times, they managed to escape from the coop, and we had to chase them. At one point, my hubby and I clonked heads 3 stooges style while chasing chickens, but it was worth it for those unbelievable eggs!
In 2008, we sold our house, bought a lot, and got ready to build a new house. We had to rent in the meantime, and couldn’t take the chickens with us. We gave the chickens & coop to a family with two little boys, and I’ll never forget how excited they were to pick them up!
My husband’s grandfather is an incredibly talented woodworker, and built a lovely new coop for us, complete with leftover shingles!
The coop has a door for us to close, and a ramp for the chickens to access the roost. The roost has an area that we can lift a roof and look for eggs.
My daughter has had a blast this summer looking for eggs and helping give the chickens food & water. We have 1 acre (about 2/3 is in the front) and we are way out in the country, backing to a 225 acre farm. We have had a few chickens lost to foxes, and It’s strange how attached we’ve become to them. Each chicken has her own personality, and losing one is so sad!!
Our next project was a pasture fence with chicken wire, so they could free range and be safer from all the wild animals out here. My husband is the “farmer” (LOL) of the family, so he had researched the best breeds, and bought them from a local source that knew for sure they weren’t giving us roosters!!
We close the coop at night, open it in the morning, check for eggs & give them fresh food & water. Thank goodness for Google; we’ve been able to make changes to their diet to keep them healthy, and I have Googled chicken poop almost as much as I’ve Googled baby poop, hee-hee.
The chickens beg like dogs, I swear! When we are on the deck, they are waiting for us to drop food. They are smart and hang out near the 8 month old, ha.
Backyard chickens have become so popular, that there is a chicken “retirement home!” Apparently there are cities/neighborhoods that limit the number you can have, so when a chicken stops laying, the owner doesn’t know what to do with it. Fortunately, we have enough space that we will just let our chickens “retire” here! I’d make a terrible farmer, eh? I could never eat one of our friends…err…chickens!
Do you have backyard chickens?
