Saturday, January 30, 2010

How this poultry thing got started

My teenage daughter wanted to get chickens. She loves animals, and the more the better. Apparently, two cats, a hamster, two frogs, and a fish are not enough. I finally agreed and we took a class at Tilth in Seattle. The class was fantastic, and by the end, I couldn't wait to get chickens of our own.

I wanted to make my own coop, but I knew that would take months at best, so I looked online. The variety of coops for sale is unbelievable. I found one that was both good looking and well designed. I was almost ready to hit the purchase button.

The instructor at Tilth suggested we sign up on meetup.com and join the
"chicken lovers" group. I did so.

The next day I got an email (sent to all the chicken lovers) that a guy was selling his coop and chickens. The price seemed right and my daughter and I went to look. We decided to but the whole shebang. We loaded the chickens and the coop into the Ridgeline and brought it home. The chickens spent their first night at our house without incident.

The next afternoon I got a call from my daughter that we had three eggs! I was delighted but it got better when I tasted them! Since then we have averaged two eggs per day.

Our killer cat is fascinated with the hens, but is also afraid of them, just like the instructor said would happen.

The breeds of our chickens are as follows; two Buff Orpingtons, and one Rhode Island Red. They are all big girls, and love to wander the yard searching for things to eat. The instructor said they will eat anything that does not eat them first.

They can be quite noisy, but only during the daylight, and they are no where near as noisy as a rooster would be. After dark they go into their house and sleep quietly.

I'm looking forward to more good times with the jungle fowl in the Park.

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