Chickens Away

The boys were back at it again this weekend with the tools and a pile of recycled lumber. We are continuing work on the chicken coop in anticipation of the adoption of twenty fertilized Buff Orpington chicken eggs that will be delivered some time at the end of the week. In an effort to be self-reliant and as environmentally conscious as a conservative Republican landowner can be, we have been using Freecycle.com to lessen our impact on the land as much as possible by looking for used materials. Besides it has the ever-popular "FREE" price tag. We acquired a load of used lumber from a local horse owner that was removing an out-building to make more room for two horses that she will be adding to her Harras (look it up).

So, back to our chickens. We purchased twenty eggs on Ebay for $1.04 plus shipping. They are due to arrive in a few days. We will incubate them for twenty-one days and then watch for them to hatch. We are actively looking for a small freezer to convert into the ultimate incubator, but a cardboard box with a light bulb will do in a pinch. We decided to start with chickens because they are relatively easy to work with and lower cost than a cow. (How can I get twenty cows for $1.04?, Hmmm..) We have been reading all we can about chicken rearing and such and decided that we would be better to relay the process in pictures. See Below:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

So we have our work cut out for us for the next few days at least. The weather here has been perfect. Cool at night and high seventies during the day. Our fall vegetables are coming along. The tractor is running when necessary and soon we will have live entertainment in the chicken run. God is good.