We have raised chickens for meat for several years now, but this will be our first year to have laying hens.  We are thankful our young son has outgrown his severe egg allergy and look forward to collecting our own farm fresh eggs before long!

We took a trip to the local TSC and let the kids pick out three chicks each.  The chicks spent their first few weeks in the garage in a stock tank under a heat lamp… and the kids enjoyed feeding, holding and checking on them regularly.  The chicks are about 8 weeks old now and doing very well.  We ended up with three Barred Rocks, three Rhode Island Reds, two Buff Orpingtons and one mystery chick that was supposed to be a Buff.  We’ll have to figure out what she is one of these days!

The chicks are now fully feathered and have been moved to the chicken coop.  In anticipation for eggs to start coming, we built a hen-house and attached it to the back of our chicken coop.  We made the nesting boxes easily accessible so the kids can collect eggs from outside the chicken coop.  Now we are all set and waiting for eggs!

Picture of the framed hen-house – note the nesting boxes to the left.

Another picture with the siding added.

A picture inside the hen-house – complete with roost and nesting boxes.

A picture from inside the coop looking at the doorway to the new hen-house.  Look forward to seeing which hen ends up “ruling the roost!”

post and pictures by Peter