Officially The Chicken Lady…

When we moved out of the city almost 6 years ago, I wasn’t sure what we were getting ourselves into.  Our new home would be a 15 minute drive to the nearest gas station and 25 minute drive to the closest grocery store.  We where intrigued with the idea of getting out of the city, with no street lights, no neighbors peeking over our fence and acres upon acres of land.

6 years later and two more kiddos added to our family.  I have finally committed to living a more sustainable life.  This spring the garden is getting bigger and I committed to raising chickens.  I read, researched, and pinned everything on raising chickens.  I had been counting down the days until the chicks would be arriving at our local feed store.  That day came and I packed up the kids and we headed down to pick out our new family members.  We came home with 12 chicks, a 25 lb. bag of chick starter feed, a feeder, and waterer.

They where calm, and cuddled up close to each other, hardly making a peep the drive home.

I immediately transported them to their new home, an 18 gallon tote, with a layer of hay and the brooder lamp on them to keep them warm and cozy.  Mind you the day we got them, they where about 4 days old and in our living room.  I wanted to keep a close eye on them and the temperature in our garage was in the 30’s, I feared our brooder lamp wasn’t going to cut it.  This picture below was taken of them on their 5th day here. Look at her wings starting to grow in.   I am guessing they are 9 days old at this point.  They are curious and trying to take flight.  12 little chicks cramped in a tote, was not going so well.  They poop A LOT, it gets in their water and I was cleaning it out 3-4 times a day at this point.

We hit a comfortable 80+ degrees at about 10 days old, so I grabbed their box, and took them outside for about 15 minutes.  The boys and I surrounded them sitting and then let them put their feet in the grass.  They stayed super close to each other as they ventured around.

Time to move them to a more suitable home.  I had a 50 gallon tote in the garage and transitioned them on day 6 (about 10 days old).  They use the length to run and practice `taking flight.  They are curious and dig in the hay as if they are looking for scrumptious treasures.  I haven’t covered the top to prevent them from getting out, but that is on my to do list for today.

I love to watch them sleep,  some tuck their head in, a few stretch their necks out as if to bathe in the warmth, and two of them sleep sideways with one leg stretched out.