Skip and I met back in the fall of 1994, and have been together, ever since! He introduced me to his love of Orchids and Aquariums over the years. This year, he was introduced to my love for chickens.
We'd had several pet birds, indoors, over the years. Our last was a gorgeous female Sun Conure who didn't like me at all and who Skip didn't have time for due to long, crazy hours at work. We found a wonderful home for her and our Chicken Journey began.
Last November, Skip found a kid's prefab playhouse that he thought would be ideal since we planned on ordering Bantams only. I had a flock of mixed Standards about 20 years ago and just wanted to do something different this time around.
I began my on-line research into raising day-old chicks (since it would be a first for me) back in November, as soon as Skip found the coop. Most of what I learned, over the many months of research, came from here at BYC and I have everyone to thank for my beautiful, healthy flock!
As soon as I ordered the chicks in February, I began turning the playhouse coop into an outdoor brooder.
1st & 2nd Outdoor Brooder attempts.
After getting frustrated over the crazy temperature fluctuations, and since our new chicks wouldn't be arriving until May 14th, 2007, I decided to brood them inside, in one of our spare bedrooms that we use to grow our Orchid Collection. We put the plants out on the porches every spring, so it was ideal.
Once the plants were out, we brought in a rabbit cage and stand, that Skip built but we had never used yet.
The chicks arrived on May 14, 2007. Here they are on the 16th...
Here's the gang at 3 weeks old...
By the time they turned 5 weeks old, we still didn't have the main coop and run finished, and they were running out of moving room in the brooder. Luckily, we found out that we could order Ware's Chick-N-Barn through our local Tractor Supply Store. Skip dubbed it "The Teacup Pterodactyl Townhouse" and it's been all about the chickens, ever since!
Some dust bathing chick videos for your viewing entertainment:
Geezer the Easter Egger
Mottled Cochin 1
Mottled Cochin 2
We'd had several pet birds, indoors, over the years. Our last was a gorgeous female Sun Conure who didn't like me at all and who Skip didn't have time for due to long, crazy hours at work. We found a wonderful home for her and our Chicken Journey began.
Last November, Skip found a kid's prefab playhouse that he thought would be ideal since we planned on ordering Bantams only. I had a flock of mixed Standards about 20 years ago and just wanted to do something different this time around.
I began my on-line research into raising day-old chicks (since it would be a first for me) back in November, as soon as Skip found the coop. Most of what I learned, over the many months of research, came from here at BYC and I have everyone to thank for my beautiful, healthy flock!
As soon as I ordered the chicks in February, I began turning the playhouse coop into an outdoor brooder.
1st & 2nd Outdoor Brooder attempts.
After getting frustrated over the crazy temperature fluctuations, and since our new chicks wouldn't be arriving until May 14th, 2007, I decided to brood them inside, in one of our spare bedrooms that we use to grow our Orchid Collection. We put the plants out on the porches every spring, so it was ideal.
Once the plants were out, we brought in a rabbit cage and stand, that Skip built but we had never used yet.
The chicks arrived on May 14, 2007. Here they are on the 16th...
Here's the gang at 3 weeks old...
By the time they turned 5 weeks old, we still didn't have the main coop and run finished, and they were running out of moving room in the brooder. Luckily, we found out that we could order Ware's Chick-N-Barn through our local Tractor Supply Store. Skip dubbed it "The Teacup Pterodactyl Townhouse" and it's been all about the chickens, ever since!
Some dust bathing chick videos for your viewing entertainment:
Geezer the Easter Egger
Mottled Cochin 1
Mottled Cochin 2
