A little over a month ago I set myself a challenge and made it public here on Steemit. In that post I described how I had all sorts of projects that I wanted to work on and considered what I would tackle first if I didn't have to worry about "they daily grind". As a recap:
One thing that came to mind was chickens. I've often wanted to keep a few around the home, learn how to care for them and benefit from the fresh organic eggs that are nutrient rich. It's something I've already researched a little in fact....
So I thought to myself, why not set a challenge of taking on a "retirement project" pre-retirement? Why not set up an area and bring in a few point of lay chickens (see, I even know some of the lingo already!) and then maybe progress to chicks and perhaps breeding.
Our chickens after their journey in the horse float.
Yesterday that challenge was achieved! We welcomed three lovely ladies into our family. It turns out that another lovely lady who I know was interested in sending her three girls on to a good home due to a number of practical issues around her house and learning that we were looking to get into chickens, offered to move hers on to us. They came together which is great and didn't even need to be separated from their coop.
Starting to venture out into their new yard.
We love their colours. When the sunlight hits them they're a gorgeous rusty tone with the punchy white feathers offsetting it. They're pretty relaxed around us too; something we're trying to nurture. We want them to feel comfortable coming up to us and socialising.
They like our shipping container and spent a lot of this morning scratching around the doors. We opened it up for them too. They don't seem to venture far. They've not even been to the fence of the house pad yet. Nor have they walked around the house.
Plenty of space and shade for the girls to explore.
We've already tried them at home without us. Earlier today we popped out to the shops for some supplies and to buy one of those fox repelling flashing lights that we'll install in the house pad for extra security. We also picked up some wood chips / sawdust to adorn their coop.
We've loved watching them and can't wait for our first organic fresh eggs!
You do not know how happy you will be when you see the first eggs... Wooow
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Can't wait! Maybe tomorrow. They must have had a stressful trip so I'd expect some time for them to settle.
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You have a great family and I hope it keeps growing!
Some organic eggs for breakfast are very healthy.
Honey, your new girls are very beautiful! how are they called?
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Thank you! Oh we haven't come up with names yet. We have to first watch for how they individually behave and go from there. Already I think one is more bossy. What about "cluck norris"? 😎
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The name "cluck norris" sounds good, then you say how the other two behave. ;)
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the farm is very nice, hopefully your chickens getting more and more in the farm
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Thanks!
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Congratulations on your new chickens! The excitement when you get your first egg is indescribable! And Now that you have three, you will want more. I love the plumage on these chickens. They make a nice addition to your Pre-retirement plans.
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The anticipation of eggs is growing. I hope they settle in and start laying soon as I'll know they're recovered from their relocation. Maybe tomorrow! Thanks for joining in with our fun!
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make sure to capture those moments and share them with us!
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Nice post！
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I absolutely LOVE your enthusiasm for something so simple. Fresh eggs is a great by product of having those lovely chickens keeping the pests at Bay in your garden. Everyone should have a few at their home. They are such a great way to have some semblance of control over the foods you eat. They are just so easy to keep in just about every homestead no matter the size.
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I would get a rooster (if you did not), and look forward to some fresh organic fried chicken with fresh organic deviled eggs on the side.
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good platform
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excelente iniciativa, @pornolnocluap. Tener gallinas ponedoras es de alto beneficio porque sabes con qué se alimentan y si encima están en un ambiente idóneo serán más sanas y sus huevos más nutritivos.
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Congrats!! How many did you get, and what breed(s)? I started with my first chickens in 1995 when I lived on my first 5 acre stable farmette. Those were standard white leghorns and were rescued from a battery farm egg operation in which the owner abandoned and left a thousand caged chickens to starve and die (that's another story). The addiction to the fresh eggs grew, and eventually I added easter eggers, Ameraucana (blue egg layers), rare Rumpless Araucana (also blue egg layers and no tail), sex links, and bearded silkies (we no longer have silkies). I also naturally care for them and have treated the ones who became ill with alternative medicine with great success. I also have sold hatching eggs, and allowed our broody hens to hatch chicks! Right now we get more brown eggs from the new sex links, than we do green/blue eggs from our easter eggers (I lost my last pure Ameraucana blue egg layer to a raccoon break in). I have about 25 chickens right now, half of which are roosters due to the last several hatches most being roosters. All of our birds are free range in large fenced in yards, and do get out on grass when the neighborhood hawk isn't out. We currently get tons of eggs, about 5 to 7 daily now. We give the extra away to needy and anyone who wants fresh farm eggs. I love my exotic chickens! :)
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