And now for the moment, we’ve all been waiting for: CHICKENS!! Earlier this year around Easter we made the horrible mistake of going into our newly opened feed store. Once Hattie and I heard the baby chicks, it was over. While I was very pouty we didn’t leave with any, I started doing research and found My Pet Chicken. I ordered the exact breeds I wanted for a delivery date in the future that gave me more time to learn and prepare for them. If you go the online hatchery direction, I highly suggest ordering them for an earlier delivery date so it’s not as hot. We, unfortunately, lost a few but were refunded.

Arrival

Our chicks were born on May 24, early in the morning. We got them Saturday morning, which was later than the post office guaranteed. This resulted in a really panicked new chicken mama with a daughter who wanted to go to the post office to pick them up. I’m glad she stayed home though because there were a few who had passed. Once I got them settled in I finally was able to appreciate just how tiny they were!

The Coop

My next step is coop planning. I knew I didn’t want a prefabricated coop for my backyard flock. These prefabricated coops are usually expensive for the quality and too small for the number of birds they say they hold. So, I asked my father-in-law if he’d teach me how to build using this plan I found on Etsy.

Stay tuned for more on our building progress later this fall! I plan to share the coop build and the rest of our chicken journey here for you! I’ll be posting new recipes for our fresh eggs and garden harvests too! Welcome to our mini Havard Homestead!