Chickens

After attending my first Permaculture workshop at a farm in New Mexico, I decided that I wanted to get chickens. The farm had many chickens and turkeys which they moved around the place to help with weed control and insect control. I was interested in the weed and insect control, as well as feeding garden excesses to the birds and getting something I could eat in return, mainly eggs.

And so I returned home all excited about getting chickens and my partner went to work building a 6x8 chicken house with nest boxes and a human-sized door and a chicken sized door. I painted it before the winter rains came and then I stalled on building the fence. I am not particularly handy with certain types of projects. Like building a fenced in yard for chickens. The winter rains came and we got some leakage in the house, but nothing too bad, it just needed a little modification.

White-crested black Polish bantam chickens. Two hens and a rooster.

In my master gardner training and such, I met a man who had raised chickens from his own chickens, and he said he'd give me some of the new flock. And he showed me picture of the tiny chicks with their little white heads on top of their little black bodies. 

Off to the hardware store I went and loaded up my little car with fence posts and poultry netting and other fencing. And I went to work creating a fenced yard for the chickens and my partner went to work modifying the chicken house to keep the rain out of the few leaky areas. 

The chickens arrived yesterday afternoon, a little hot and a little shaken up from the drive from the farm. 

Today they were up and preening and drinking water. The rooster was patrolling for bugs and they all seem to be adjusting to their new surroundings. In a few days they'll get to go outside in the daytime, where they'll be able to scratch and dust and so forth.

Next spring they'll probably be laying eggs and hopefully they'll be helping with weed control and insect control.