We were so nervous bringing those first chicks home and full of questions, after all what did we know about livestock? I had bunnies and an ornery billy goat growing up, but birds were a whole new world to us. We'd have to build a coop and pen to protect them from hawks and coyotes. We had read a statistic to expect 10% mortality in chicks, so we bought 8 to start with. Luckily only one turned into a rooster, Henry, and we didn't lose any of them. The other 7 were wonderful, happy to see us (usually because we were bearing gifts of food) and produced a ton of eggs for us. Henry became very protective of his girls to the point where he became our first butchering project after several attacks on my hubby and I.
Not only that, but they brood their own babies to make MORE egg-layers and MORE meat!
Once they got us hooked, the turkeys, cows and goats weren't too far off.
Once again, I'm participating in the Homestead Barn Hop, click to find other interesting blogs!
I just love chickens. I wish I could have them here, but my dogs are not trained and probably would have chicken dinner. Really pretty pictures. Don't be scared, just do it.
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Trying to talk my husband into a couple of chickens. He's not so sure about this urban homestead thing.
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Jenn, I can't recommend chickens enough. I've been trying to talk my parents into getting them, but they falsely believe they are too much work. We let our range over the ranch, so we only really feed them in the winter and clean their coop periodically.
ReplyDeleteWe absolutely love our chickens- we've have had them for about a year now and hatched a brood this past spring. They make the best pets!!
ReplyDeleteI anguished over getting chickens too. That was a couple years ago and now they are easy peasy and loads of fun. Still, I don't know how much further I can go. I'm thinking of bees but don't think I could do a turkey or a goat. And I'd be run out of my suburban neighborhood if I tried to bring home a cow. ;-) Maybe someday . . .
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