by Texas Homesteader~
This is our first year to explore raising our own chickens. They have been so much fun to raise so far, and they are doing an amazing job of severely reducing the massive load of grasshoppers in our barn pasture, as well as almost eliminating the fly load on our calves when they’re confined here near the barn.
Truly organic pest control – I can get used to this!
by Texas Homesteader~
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Back in April we bought baby chicks – three Hybrid Ideal 236 chicks for their larger egg-laying capabilities and three Black Minorca chicks, a larger dual-purpose breed.
They were cute fuzzy things and so much fun to watch. As they grew we moved them to an enclosed *portable coop in the garage. Then we moved the coop out to the yard as it warmed up and they grew their feathers.
We used that coop as a mobile chicken tractor moving them to a different area each day for fresh grass. When they got a little older we moved them to the coop of our 1880’s barn and locked them in for a couple of weeks to help them realize this was their new home.
Since then we’ve let them out to free range every morning and we lock them securely back in the coop each night when they go in to roost.
by Texas Homesteader
We have really enjoyed raising these baby chicks so far. Their antics are good for hours of entertainment!
But our temporary coop is only large enough for 4 grown chickens and we have 6. And these chicks are growing fast. We’d love for them to finally call our 1880’s barn coop their home, as it was meant to be!
by Texas Homesteader
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As we continue on this new journey of raising chicks for the very first time, I thought it would be fun to show you how they’re doing these days.
We’ve moved their small temporary coop outside but still close to the house so we can keep an eye on them.
(for those of you asking which coop we decided on, it’s this * portable coop
)
Although we felt we needed to fortify the coop to make it sturdier, by doing so we were able to use it as a chicken tractor & move it each day to fresh grass.
by Texas Homesteader ~
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About four weeks ago we took the plunge and bought six baby chicks. We’ve never raised chickens before so this is a brand new endeavor for us. We were told when we purchased them that they were only a day old or so. Awwww…. Here’s their baby picture. Weren’t they cute and fuzzy?
by Texas Homesteader ~
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When we purchased our property in 2000 I fell in love with the old 1880’s barn. When we had the exterior repaired we had the workers leave the coop intact & just repair the exterior walls around it, but alas it sat empty all these years.
We’ve always known we wanted to try to raise chickens some day but it was never a priority. Well today we quit playing “Chicken” and jumped in with both feet.