Oh, I hope I can resist hanging out at Tractor Supply during Chick Days.
Chick Days
We’re down to 7 chickens — 1 big old happy rooster, 4 full sized hens, 1 bantam hen and 1 big chicken of questionable sex. I had about decided she was a rooster til yesterday I saw the real rooster doing what roosters do. Maybe he’s as confused as I am.
The hens have finally started laying again. I’m getting 4 eggs most every day . . some days there are 5 eggs, including the bantam, and every now and then I get only 3 eggs. For a week I get 28 to 30 eggs so that’s enough for now and I’ve been able to share again with my friend.
It’s so nice having one coop – one inside and one outside watering can, one food can, one coop to clean. If I do get more babies, they’ll have to be in a separate coop or I’ll have to go through the ordeal of combining the new with the old and that’s never easy. But, if I don’t get a few more and something happens to one or two of the hens I currently have, then I’m stuck buying eggs again . . and will have to wait til next year when Chick Days come around again.
Ideally, one of my current hens would want to sit on some eggs and hatch babies so they could all live together in one coop. I’d feel a whole lot more comfortable with 7 or 8 good laying hens.
We’ll see what happens.
JOYCE says
The eternal chicken cycle. I have nine hens and 2 roost roosters,4 years old this year. None of my hens will set from the place I got this bunch.
I am ordering buckeyes from sandhill preservation. They are quiet, friendly, and cold hardy. But now I have broke a leg. My son may have the joy of raising my babies as my poultry pens are up the hill. Hope I can take care of them myself.
katie z. says
We have five coops and my husband wants one more. Of course, I’m the one who does the daily chores, and I think I have plenty right now! Chicks are such lovely animals to have, though, so maybe I’ll be convinced by the time the chicks arrive.
Judy D in WA says
I predict a trip to Tractor Supply during chick days will result in new chicks on the farm. I think you should stay away from Tractor Supply. 😉
Angie says
If you go to Tractor Supply, you know you will buy chicks. It’s sort of like going to the fabric store, the yarn store, the craft store, the hardware store and even the grocery store. Even if you didn’t intend to buy one thing—you come out with something. In this case it would be Chicks!
It sounds like you have plenty of chickens for just the two of you, and the work load is so much easier now.
JudyL says
The issue for me is that with 4 full size laying hens now, if something happens to one of them, I have 3, or maybe 2. The chances of getting through a year without losing a chicken is slim. If I don’t buy baby chicks this year, then it will be spring, 2017 before I can get more. And, getting a baby chick means it will still be about 6 months before it starts to lay.
Adding 6 more hens, especially if I get them combined with the other chicks and all living in one coop, won’t be a lot more work than having the 7 that I have now.
There’s a HUGE difference in having 13 chickens (which is what I’ll have if we get 6 more) than having 70 or 80 like we had before.
Vince and I talked about it at lunch and I think we’re going to go ahead and get 6 more.
liz says
Any preference on the type of chicken you’ll be getting this spring?
Donna says
Since all I know about chickens is what I’ve read on your blog this may sound dumb but how do you keep the little chicks from getting out of the fence or something getting it. Do you keep them in a protected place until they grow bigger or just put them in with the other chicks right off the bat? DUH I’m a city girl born and raised!!! But I think they would be so much fun to have.