Sittin' with the chickens
I recently decided I wanted some chickens. Probably because I eat about 3-4 eggs a day as part of my KETO-ish diet and I know that "homegrown" eggs are better. (Ask any baker.) I had chickens in the past, so I knew what I was getting into. I was debating wheather to refit the goat shed behind the barn, (Dad had it as a chicken pen, then a miniature horse pen, then I changed it to a goat pen..).
About that time, a like-minded friend posted on CrackBook that he was moving and if anybody wanted his chicken pen, they could come take it down. I JUMPED at that offer. I worked for about 2 hours and had it all in the back of my truck. (He also loaded me up with some cool stuff.)
So I got home and after a couple days, (Ok, a week..or so..or maybe two...), I started building the pen.. It was a lot harder to take down the stock panels than it was to put them up. I took down some, REPLACED OTHERS because of the tight mesh at the bottom of a "hog panel". I figured it might help prevent predators from digging in.. I then stretched the 1" chicken wire around the two sides that had no mesh. My used chicken wire was 48 inches and it took 2 1/2 runs around . (About 10 feet tall.)
Then my neighbor from across the pond called me.. The evening before I finished the pen. It seems someone had given him a rooster and his rooster and two turkeys were NOT having it. So I became a chicken rescue..I kept him in one of Dad's old coon traps overnight with a pan of water and access to grass. the next day, I finished it and released him into his very own 10X20 chicken coop that was 1 foot deep in old hay and goat manure and a 5-gallon chicken waterer. (It came with the pen). For two days I watched craigslist for hens. Everybody was "sold out" for the year. Then I texted an OLD ad. "Do you still have any chickens for sale? And if you do, how much?" was my text.. His reply was, "Down to two roosters and free".. Again, I jumped on "free".. So now I had three roosters. At least his two could be penned together without fighting...
So the next day, I decided I needed to get some chicken feed at CD's Feed and Seed. While I was in there visiting, (You HAVE to visit at the feed store. Its the Law!), I mentioned that I couldn't find a hen, much less her teeth anywhere in the county.. Chris said there was someone in there last week who wanted to sell out of chickens. He said I know because two of my customers bought chickens from him.. After asking the two older gentlemen who were sitting in the chairs who it was, a story about raising chickens from one of the old men, and the other one making a phone call to a friend of a friend, I finally had a name.. I called him. He said he was a truck driver and was unloading in Atlanta. My heart sank.. Then he told me how to get there and that his brother-in-law was caretaking for him while he was on the road. I ended up getting 8 hens. Probably about 4 more than I needed, but the price was right and I would love to pick up an incubator by spring.
Anyway.. I was sitting in the pen about 8 inches above the ground on the upturned horse feed trough, (that I haven't removed yet), and I though about how relaxing it was to sit and watch the chickens. I even had a couple of them eat straight out of my hand. In that 15 minutes I sat there, I didn't have a care in the world. If you are having a down day, try Sittin' with the Chickens.
About that time, a like-minded friend posted on CrackBook that he was moving and if anybody wanted his chicken pen, they could come take it down. I JUMPED at that offer. I worked for about 2 hours and had it all in the back of my truck. (He also loaded me up with some cool stuff.)
So I got home and after a couple days, (Ok, a week..or so..or maybe two...), I started building the pen.. It was a lot harder to take down the stock panels than it was to put them up. I took down some, REPLACED OTHERS because of the tight mesh at the bottom of a "hog panel". I figured it might help prevent predators from digging in.. I then stretched the 1" chicken wire around the two sides that had no mesh. My used chicken wire was 48 inches and it took 2 1/2 runs around . (About 10 feet tall.)
Then my neighbor from across the pond called me.. The evening before I finished the pen. It seems someone had given him a rooster and his rooster and two turkeys were NOT having it. So I became a chicken rescue..I kept him in one of Dad's old coon traps overnight with a pan of water and access to grass. the next day, I finished it and released him into his very own 10X20 chicken coop that was 1 foot deep in old hay and goat manure and a 5-gallon chicken waterer. (It came with the pen). For two days I watched craigslist for hens. Everybody was "sold out" for the year. Then I texted an OLD ad. "Do you still have any chickens for sale? And if you do, how much?" was my text.. His reply was, "Down to two roosters and free".. Again, I jumped on "free".. So now I had three roosters. At least his two could be penned together without fighting...
So the next day, I decided I needed to get some chicken feed at CD's Feed and Seed. While I was in there visiting, (You HAVE to visit at the feed store. Its the Law!), I mentioned that I couldn't find a hen, much less her teeth anywhere in the county.. Chris said there was someone in there last week who wanted to sell out of chickens. He said I know because two of my customers bought chickens from him.. After asking the two older gentlemen who were sitting in the chairs who it was, a story about raising chickens from one of the old men, and the other one making a phone call to a friend of a friend, I finally had a name.. I called him. He said he was a truck driver and was unloading in Atlanta. My heart sank.. Then he told me how to get there and that his brother-in-law was caretaking for him while he was on the road. I ended up getting 8 hens. Probably about 4 more than I needed, but the price was right and I would love to pick up an incubator by spring.
My favorite post so far. Makes me miss having chickens!
ReplyDelete