Friday, June 10, 2011

Chicken Update



These are our chicken coops.  We actually have two right now. The green one houses our 9 laying hens and Goliath.  The white one has the 30 Isa Brown Chicks that will start laying sometime in the early fall.
 
This is a view from the back of the coops.  There are two separate chicken runs.  Once the young layers are a little older we will put both batches together, but to eliminate excess fighting it's best to wait until they are almost full grown.

Here is my current laying flock with Goliath watching over them.

These are our meat chickens.  If they appear fat and somewhat clumsy its because they are.  We have 34 of these this year.  This will supply all the chicken we need as a family for the year.  There is something very satisfying about raising some of your own meat.

This is our chicken tractor.  My husband designed it from a truck topper.  Normally we raise the meat chickens in this and move it around the yard.  However this year we attached it to an existing chicken run, which made the chores much easier because we don't have to haul water and feed quite as far.
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6 comments:

  1. Your coops are cute! I love looking at chickens. The layers are beautiful aren't they? And the meaty ones are just...well, meaty! haha.

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  2. Betsy,
    I never get tired of watching them scratch and peck--sometimes when I'm stressed out I sit out by the run and just space out. Yes the meat birds are meaty. I wish you could see them they stagger and stomp around. :)

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  3. Thank you so much dropping by and leaving a comment. Sorry t hear that it has been so hot, another of ladies have said the same thing and my brother (who lives in Colorado)also said it was quite warm.

    I wish I had hens, love home grown eggs, but sadly we don't have the space.

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  4. You must have some very happy chickens. They have 2 cool looking coops to hang out in :-)

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  5. Ron,
    They seem pretty happy, and I like my coops too. We bought them, but my hubby added some of the extra touches like windows, and the little chicken doors in the back!!

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