Hey, everybody, this is to let you know that I have my very first batch of chickens -- 5 Ameraucana chicks (or probably just Easter Eggers) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wikiOne of my friends, an accomplished blogger herself, suggested that I start a blog about my experiences with the chickens etc. So here it is./Ameraucana -- that I picked up from the feed store last Wednesday. They are now about a week old and thriving in a plastic tub on my dining table. The cats are fascinated, which does not bother the chicks at all. I do try to discourage the cats from laying on top of the hardware cloth lid, especially if that means blocking the heat lamp. But so far I can take the lid off the tub and clean the cage or handle the chicks, and the cats just peer in. The babies have really grown since I got them. They are already getting little stubby tail feathers.
On the 23rd the Grange is expecting to get in Australorps (http://www.mypetchicken.com/Australorp-B14.aspx ) and Speckled Sussex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex_(chicken) ), and I'm looking forward to getting a few of each, maybe a dozen chickens total. I figure the hassle factor is about the same for a dozen chickens as it is for a few, and I can sell some of the eggs.
Himself is very much on the hook to build a hen house and predator-proof run. He seems to find the chicken thing mildly amusing. And he was the one who wanted to live in the country after all.
Why chickens? I really don't know. My neighbor and I were talking about chickens & rabbits and such and I suddenly had an intense and persistent urge to keep chickens. I think it has to do with just having so much life around me. They've certainly revitalized me since they arrived. I'm getting a lot more done than I have for months. We'll set them up in the back yard, just across the bridge over the creek. I'd like to have a movable pen for them, too. Nothing quite like chickens to clear a garden bed, from what I hear. Not a weed nor a weed seed left.
On a separate note, the neighbors are renting 4 goats to clear out some blackberries and other weeds. Next week I'll have them over here to clear the back yard (including where the chicken coop will go). The goats don't clear out the roots like pigs would do, but they get everything but the big canes. And you don't have to find a place to dump the stuff that has been cleared -- the goats pellatize it all!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Chickens, goats, and the beginnings of a blog
Why start a blog now? It began with an email I sent to a list of my friends, copied in part here:
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2 comments:
I am looking forward to pictures of the goats. When I lived in Sardinia, one of the sheep herders employed a goat to "lead" his flock. In the evening he would just call for goat and the sheep, being sheep, wold follow it home.
I do have some great pix of the goats (and of the chickens). I'm having technical difficulties getting them onto my computer but hopefull you will see them soon.
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