This year my family decided to undertake the adventure of raising egg-laying chickens. In February, we went to the local farm store here, in New Hampshire, and ordered a dozen egg-laying chickens in three breeds:

• New Hampshire Reds
• Black Wyandottes
• Black Sexlets

This week the 1 day old chicks arrived! I went to the store on the 15th and picked up the dozen new additions to our household. While I was there the clerk mentioned that she had a few extra of two other varieties (Aracuanas and Silver-winged Wyandottes), so we decided to take 2 of each of those, bringing us to a grand total of sixteen chicks at at our home.

They are currently living in a large plastic bin with a heat lamp to keep them warm. All of the family members find themselves speaking to the chicks during the day, and one of my daughters enjoys picking them up and holding them. This was, of course, until her new found pet decided that going to the bathroom on her was also fun!

The chicks are ferocious eaters and drinkers and spend their time doing a lot of both of those activities. Throw in a little sleeping and you have a pretty good picture of what a day in the life of our chicks is like.

During March and April, my future father-in-law and I built a chicken coop (see photos). I still have to finish the roof, but will complete that in the next few weeks before the chicks are ready to move outside in the middle of June. The kids also have to paint the outside, which in itself will be an adventure.

In coming months on Feathers, Fins, and Fur, I will keep readers up-to-date on the chicken adventure and our family’s progress on being chicken farmers.

Photos:

The nearly completed coop:

The chicks: