My Chirpy Chicken Coop

The Big Day 2022 January 30, 2022 (The chicks free ranging with their mammas!) It's "the big day" for the chicks!!! They are officially 4 weeks old. Which means they now have a world of opportunities to unlock!  We let them outside for the first time, and they got to see their mama hens!!! I only wish they could have met Lafayette...he would have been a proud daddy. The mamas didn't take too well to their little babies, but the outcome was better than expected- Hamilton and Eliza mostly ignored them, but the chicks loved following Hammy around! As for Angelica...well let's just say parenthood isn't one of her core strengths. As for the chicks future...we will most likely keep the hens, but we may have to sell the boys to a farm. (We don't know who's hen and roo yet.) I think our babies are enjoying life in the chirpy chicken coop!

DIY Brooder Box January 23, 2022 (My DIY brooder box kennel.) Baby chicks need a safe warm place to spend their first few weeks after you bring them home.  It's called a "brooder" or "brooder box".  I finally settled on making my own brooder box out of a dog kennel. It's quick and easy to set up, inexpensive, durable, 100% safe, easy to clean and reusable.  A dog kennel makes an inexpensive and safe brooder for your baby chicks when you first bring the home. You just need to make some alterations to it before your chicks move in! What You Need: Dog kennel Dog kennel tray Duct/Scotch tape What You Do: Unfold the kennel and set it up Slide in the kennel tray Use duct/scotch tape to tape an inch up from the bottom of the sides of the kennel (Chicks are extremely hyper and if the kennel bars are wide enough, then they will definitely escape by sliding through, keep the tape up until the chicks are about 2 weeks old.) Your chicks will need chick-sized feeders and

Quick Chick Checklist January 16, 2022   (A chick eyeing the mini roost in the brooder!) Any new hobby, or project, or recipe (or bringing a new baby home for that matter!) requires a shopping list. And raising baby chicks is no different.  Your first time getting ready for your chicks to arrive, you might feel overwhelmed with all the supplies and choices available to you. So I've created this shopping list of baby chick supplies to be sure you're ready for your new arrivals - whether you go pick them up at the feed store or have them shipped to you at home. What you basically need to do is replicate the set-up you see at your feed store. Your chicks need a safe warm place to grow up, feed, water, soft bedding, etc. While you're at the feed store, you can get your shopping done before you pick out your chicks, but if you're having your chicks delivered, why not have their baby chicks supplies delivered as well?  It's a good idea anyway to assemble everything you ne

Join Me In The Fight To Legalize Roosters! January 9, 2022 (A picture of dear Lafayette crowing one early morning!) Hundreds of cities across the U.S. have permitted urban chicken keeping. People have a desire for urban chickens for a number of reasons, including companionship, teaching children about agriculture, and the ability to raise one’s own food (one hen provides on average 3-4 eggs per week). After setting up the coop and the initial learning curve, urban chicken farmers say a small flock can be as easy to raise as a dog. The regulations regarding roosters were unclear in 14 cities and in 7 cities the keeping of roosters was not permitted. Of the remaining 4 in which the keeping of roosters was permitted, 1 city allowed roosters if kept a certain distance from neighbors residences, 1 allowed roosters only under 4 months of age, 1 allowed a single rooster per household, and 1 placed no restrictions. Many cities choose to not allow the keeping of roosters, as neighbors often com

The Great Eggscape January 2, 2022 (A chick making the Great Eggscape!) Ever since starting to raise chickens, I had in the back of my head to try hatching eggs one day. And so I decided to do so over Christmas break! Unfortunately, Angelica isn't the best broody hen (she will sit on her eggs for a few days, then abandon them forever!). Fortunately, we were able to borrow a Brinsea incubator from a friend and so I got started! The plan was originally to hatch the chicks on Christmas day (cool right?), however, we got the incubator a little too late to set them for Christmas, so we eventually set them for December 28th, my grandpa's birthday!  Since Lafayette kindly provided us with some fertile eggs, we decided to use those for hatching! How exciting it will be to have mixed breed chicks!  If you are hatching with a Brinsea incubator, or are just starting out your journey of hatching eggs, Brinsea's Incubation Handbook is a great place for info! As soon as I collected th