It’s been three years in the making and it’s not done yet. I guess that’s what happens when two city slickers decide to have their own chickens for egg laying! We were given this book entitled, Chickens in Your Own Backyard, in 2003 during furlough. We intended from that point on to build and raise our own little flock of hens. It’s just taken us a long time to gain the confidence to attempt this project. There’s a lot involved!!!
About 3 months ago, the building started in earnest. Our yard worker, Joseph, cleared the ground and built our lovely fences. Bryan made the nesting boxes (way to go, honey!) and we recycled an unused iron curtain rod for the roost. (See…there’s lots of new terms to learn.) This past Friday, the finishing touch of the tin roof was nailed into place. So, now we have a chicken coop. (Actually, we need to get a door too. We are currently using a large cardboard box. We’re almost there….)
We also have one chicken. The hen was gift from a friend in the village. She’s lived in the coop for about 4 days and hasn’t laid an egg yet! So, hopefully, we’ll be purchasing several hens soon and we can finally have some eggs. I’ll keep you up to date on this fun adventure.
I group up with quite a few sets of hens. I remember the first sets names but I think most of my memories come from pictures. The second set was our responsibilty, as kids, to take care of. Needless to say, those chickens never laid a single egg. Poor girls! The third batch, however, lived a long and prosperous life and gave us many a good breakfast!