Thank you for all the kind words regarding the loss of my dear horse, Opie. His absence is keenly felt by both myself and the four other horses that live with us up on the hill. Even the farrier had tears in his eyes when we told him Opie was no longer on the roster for shoes. They truly become family, and I know many of you understand the pain of the loss through your own experiences.
When we moved into This Old House after the renovation, (my name for her has always been Saving Grace, or just Grace) I decided I wanted Chickens. Our previous three homes had the same theme, small horse farms, but it stopped at horses, dogs and cats. I wanted to add to the menagerie and the husband liked the idea of actually producing something on our “farm”. There’s something very satisfying about growing some of your own food. We’ve lived here for eight years now and we hay our fields and have a decent two plot vegetable garden, and bringing in fresh eggs from chickens that are fed wholesome quality feeds is just a good feeling. Plus I love animals of all kinds, more for me to love, right?
My current flock of 14 chickens consists of a few very old ones – two from the original batch, and a handful of middle aged hens from newer batches I brought in throughout those eight years. Chickens only lay eggs for about three years, their first two being the most productive – and some a little longer, but they can live to be ten or so. Many farmers either eat their laying chickens after their prime (which will not result in a plump oven roaster, as laying hens are built and fed differently than meat birds) or send them to auction so they can bring in a fresh batch of laying chickens, where some other sucker might buy them thinking they have laying hens. About half my hens no longer lay eggs, but I just can’t dump them.
Oatmeal with cream and blueberries in a graham pie crust for breakfast
They’ll stay here and live comfortably till they pass on. My current coop only holds the 14 chickens I have, so… to bring in more chickens means I need a bigger coop. The Mr. rolls his eyes at this, but my truth is my truth – I can’t dump or kill and eat something that has lived here on the farm. This is why we don’t have cows. He’d love a few, but only if in two years they can be sent to the “beauty parlor”. I can’t serve up Henry from the freezer after I’ve fed and cared for him for two years. We have a friend who actually labels his beef in the freezer – Betsy, Ivy, Franny… and so on. I want to save two veal calves and raise them, but we are at an impasse on the terms and conditions, so we remain… cowless.
I did convince him we need a bigger coop. One would think since I’m married to a home builder, building a new coop would be no problem at all. Ah, but taking time out of the work crew’s schedule to build a frivolous coop just isn’t prudent. So we looked online at pre-mades, like the one we ordered from the Amish nine years ago. They’ve gone up in price, of course! There are so many options out there too, from the simple to the ornate…
Can you imagine?
My current coop below… The EggPlant. We added on a little here and there, so it now looks like a bunch of afterthoughts.. which it is. I’d like to streamline it – and I have some ideas on how we can move the whole operation up to where the horses live, instead of down by the garage and house. In bad weather or deep snow it can be a chore to get over to the chicken coop to do those chores and then trek up to the barn – with some of the same supplies kept in two different places. After much discussion and a little bitching (!) , I think we’re going to go with my idea… stay tuned!
Below are the new chick breeds (three of each) I’ve ordered from Cackle Hatchery , one of the big operations you can mail order your chicks from. Sometimes I have bought from local grain stores, but those are always the standard breeds and this time I want to fortify a rainbow of egg colors. The big hatcheries have a better breed selection. They’ll arrive at the beginning of March, so we need to get cracking on the new coop build! (fingers crossed)
Lavender Ameraucana (blue egg)
French Black Copper Maran (dark brown egg)
Olive egger ( green egg)
Faverolle (sp? light brown egg)
Speckled Sussex (light brown egg)
Austra White (white/ivory egg)
The chicks will arrive as days old babies – and will need to be raised until full size in what will be the new coop, away from the mature hens in the current coop. This is for their protection, otherwise they would most likely be bullied and killed. Chickens can be horrible to each other. Think of the sayings – hen pecked, pecking order – and you’ll understand the origin. Once they are full size, I’ll introduce them all together in the new coop. They should be able to live together in the new larger coop and coop yard happily.
More on the Coop revival to come!
