Chicks!

Well, my ADD has kicked in again and somewhere in the depths of my brain I decided I needed yet another hobby to occupy my time, so I have strayed into the realm of keeping chickens. Specifically, laying hens, but if they don't produce eggs or become more trouble than they're worth they may end up as dinner fare. For once this decision was not totally a spur of the moment thing, it was at least somewhat thought out beforehand, although the actual purchase was pretty much an impulse buy as I was in tractor supply at a weak moment and came home with 6 baby chicks and assorted chicken keeping paraphernalia. The initial brood was 3 Golden Comets and 3 Rhode Island Reds, but one of the Rhode Island Reds didn't make it, so in another relatively impulsive moment I added 2 Black Copper Marans to the mix. They are all doing fairly well at this point, in fact in the past 3 weeks or so they have grown from cute little baby chicks to rather homely looking adolescents. I hope they grow out of this stage quickly as they are pretty ugly as their feathers are coming in and they are also somewhat skittish (southern word for nervous-acting) unless there is food involved. Up until now they have been housed in a large storage bin in my garage, on the advice of the Tractor Supply salesperson who likely has no idea what she was talking about, but soon they will be transferred to their permanent coop home, a picture of which is included below, along with a pic from the day they arrived and another around 3 weeks later. My original intent was to build a large, custom chicken Taj Mahal, but given my long and illustrious string of failed hobbies I decided to start with a more modest coop and if this works out I can always upgrade from there.

The primary driver for this project was twofold. I started thinking about chickens a year or more ago because I wanted fresh free-range eggs for the nutritional value. In case you are not aware, free range chickens that forage for themselves (with laying feed provided at night) are much healthier than the typical store-bought variety, even those supposedly labelled as free range or organic. That idea took really flight recently as I embarked on a low-carb/high protein diet ( I am currently down 45 lbs, so this diet DOES work, more on that in another post) and eggs are one of the staple foods for me in order to survive without bread or potatoes. Secondly I wanted chickens for my grandson and eventually my new granddaughter to experience, although the jury is out on whether they will actually have any interest in them.

I fully realize I could buy farm-fresh eggs locally for around $4 a dozen, so this is hardly a money saving venture, but there is something satisfying about growing your own food to supplement the grocery store trips, and I have had a vegetable garden for several years now. Chickens are just an extension of that for me. Free range birds also eat a wide range of bugs, aerate the yard by scratching for said bugs, and the droppings are natural fertilizer. I'm told they have distinct personalities as well, mine have yet to develop that trait but they are still youngsters so there is plenty of time for those traits to emerge. I have resisted naming them at this point because once you name them they become pets, and it's harder to eat a pet than a nameless yard bird, but I expect names will be forthcoming as the aforementioned personalities emerge.

So no idea how this experiment will end up, but so far I am enjoying watching them grow, they are not terribly smart creatures as they have a tendency to poop in their feeder and in their water but they are entertaining and I am hopeful this will be a long-term endeavor for me. I will update as they grow, and hopefully one day late summer or early fall or so I will have some fruits of my labors to show report, or theirs more appropriately. If not, well, fried chicken is one of my all-time favorites...!!!