Chickens and all things fowl..........

[hsehntr98]

Joyce I have 25 chicks ordered and 15 guinea keets ordered and they will all be here by June 8. I have nesting boxes that my husband ordered that I have to put together and they will be put on the left side of the building as you enter the door. I plan on free ranging and penning them in. They will penned in until spring when I expand the garden and can put an additional fence up to block a corner of the yard so they can free range without being bothered by the dogs. Do you think I should insulate the building? There are two windows so that I have cross ventilation to keep the smell down. I talked to an electrician today and he will come out Monday or Tuesday to look into getting electricity out to it. I hope I don't have to wait until the snow is gone before he can get the power out there.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

That is one nice shed. Something that size could prolly hold up to 50 chickens! How many do you intend to have all told? Are you going to build you own nest boxes or buy them? I think your girls are going to love digging around under there. Do you intend to free range or are you going to pen them in? So many questions, sorry, I'm just curious.

[hsehntr98]

I wish I could rotate the top picture to make it easier to see it. I figure the space underneath will give them a good place to get out of the sun and a place to do their dust bathing. The top pic is the inside.

[hsehntr98]

Yes Joyce it is sitting where I wanted it.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Great! I can't wait to see them. Were you able to get it delivered to the site you intended?

[hsehntr98]

New coop has arrived but I can't figure out how to load the pictures. As soon as I do I will post them.

[hsehntr98]

New Coop has arrived

These are the before pictures

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Joyce,
Are you allowed to sell from the farm

Yes, I sell from our property. I have a "Fresh Eggs - $2.00" sign out by the road. I box the eggs up and put them in a cooler. If it's really warm I put an ice pack in with them. I have a coffee can taped to the lid that the money goes in and I've never had any stolen. The honor system is used in our area alot mostly for garden/farm produce. We're in the most rural county in New Jersey and we don't have many laws or regulations that cover small-scale sales of this kind. Dairy products are an entirely different matter. Any milk or milk products that come from, cows, sheep or goats are heavily regulated. I found that out when I wanted to make and sell cheese. It simply wasn't worth all the trouble. We do trade among ourselves though. I don't know what it's going to be like when we move to North Carolina - not too restrictive, I hope.

[southernmom]

Tex, love the pictures. The chickens we had at the other place haunted our sheep and the pasture with the cows and followed them everywhere.
Yeah
Here our chickens dig the wooded areas and scratch all the leaves into neat little piles. There are a few that like to hang out with the ducks and a few who hang with the pigs. Then back to bed at roosting time.
I have a couple mamas who are pretty broody. we shall see if we get lucky with more chicks. I wont have to buy many at all this year.

[Tex]

Ours play in piles of cow poop while they are searching for tasty tidbits.
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If they aren't digging through the re-purposed hay and corn, they are patiently awaiting the goats to kid so they can help with the clean up. They are like a bunch of kids waiting to lick the spoon and the afterbirth don't last long.
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Our chickens have to get creative if they want gourmet.
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Anyone in the mood for some 'Free-Range' chicken?
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Tex

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Cant believe Tex don't know chickens play. Foghorn did[/QUOTE]

Mine haven't broken out the bat & balls yet. Love Foghorn Leghorn! "I say son......"

[Terence]

Yes, toys. Chickens bore easily. I get them these things that look like 4" round plastic cages. Then I put things in them they like, lettuce, cabbage, meal worms or whatever I have. They will bat and chase these cages all over the place until they've gotten all the goodies out. It's a heck of a lot of fun watching. I did say my girls are spoiled.

Something about Chickens and toys made me think of this comedy sketch.

[tk]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_UXLWkr5VMM/hqdefault.jpg

Cant believe Tex don't know chickens play. Foghorn did

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Toys?

Yes, toys. Chickens bore easily. I get them these things that look like 4" round plastic cages. Then I put things in them they like, lettuce, cabbage, meal worms or whatever I have. They will bat and chase these cages all over the place until they've gotten all the goodies out. It's a heck of a lot of fun watching. I did say my girls are spoiled.

[Joyce Hoffman-Gayley]

Joyce, got a call today the coop is ready to be delivered.

That's great! Sounds like you've got a nice neighbor there. I hope it all goes well.