Every spring, I cannot help but buy a few baby chicks. I walk into Cal Ranch and hear the little peep peeping from the chicks and can't help but smile. Mostly, I buy them for my children. I think it is such a great part of childhood.
So this year, I bought two Buff Orphingtons (my favorite chicken) and two White Leg Horns.
I also did something new this year. I bought four meat chickens. My parents are on a humanitarian mission and one of the big projects they have done is provide chicken pens for people in Guyana to raise chickens for meat. They get really big, really fast and will have to be killed. I'm a little nervous about this because I already like their personalities. They are very docile. But I wanted to have the experience (well sort of, my husband will have to be the one to do the butchering) and know how to do it.
Last year, I kept them in the bathroom in my basement. I bought them in early spring and by the time it was warm enough to put them outside, my bathroom looked like a chicken pen. It was horrible. So this year, I am keeping them in the greenhouse. I put shade cloth over some hoops to provide some shade, because it was quite warm. The next two nights are forcast to be cold, so I brought them in tonight, but they will go right out in the morning.
Today I just let them wander. They spent the day eating bugs (yeah!). I can't believe how much the meat hens can eat!
Our dog Tinkerbelle loves to watch the chicks. She also loves to stir them up. She has spent years around chickens but has never hurt one. She loves to chase them though.
We have tried several varieties of chickens and have enjoyed most of them. We have bared Rocks, Buff Orphingtons, Golden Sexlinks, Auracaunas, Lace Whyndots, Rhode Island Reds, and several other vaireties I can't think of right now The Buff Orpingtons are my favorite because they are so docile. They lay well also. One of my favorite things about my chickens is the compost they provide. I give them all of our scraps. Bits and pieces of vegetables trimmed from dinner prep, kids left over apple cores, left over cereal, everything (except chicken). I put my grass clippings in, leaves in the fall, and straw in the winter. They mulch it all up and make a beautiful compost for my garden. I use it on my berry bushes and everywhere the dirt needs improving.
Well, It has been a week, and my four meat hens has turned into 14! They are such nice, docile chickens. No fighting at all...and I have a forgiving husband. Or maybe he is just used to me. He might ban me from going to Cal Ranch or IFA during chick season. I came very close to bringing home Silkies. But I refrained. I have to have something to do next year.
