Chicken coop and eggs
 

This is my new pursuit. I have been drafting a design for a chicken coop, of the movable/tractor sort. I have purchased a Kreg jig, and have power tools on the way. I plan to have 2 to 4 hens, no roosters. For the eggs. I will provide updates as the project gets going.

my neighbor has started raising chickens again.

He started with 72 eggs, more than half of which did not make it for very long and only saw 18 make it to adulthood who have started laying eggs. He has a great incubator, then a coop and also a hen house. He kept two roosters.

His second batch saw 48 out of 60 make it. I think he's crazy but I will tell you about the eggs soon enough.

Coop is half-made now. All framed, and now needs nesting box, hardware cloth, roof and final touches.

Got four chicks.

Two buff orpingtons. And two Ameraucanas, which are probably more likely to be "Easter Eggers", i.e. blue-egg-laying mutts.

These Easter Eggers are supposedly originally from South America, and there's evidence to suggest that they predate Columbus, and may have come from Polynesian stock. Thus, I will take a leap of faith, and consider them to be my Nephite/Lamanite chickens. :)

http://www.pnas.org/content/104/25/1...3B104/25/10335

Now like a week-and-a-half old. Amazing how fast they are growing. They already have a ton of wing feathers and can fly. I know that because one flew on top of the water bottle while I was watching. I had to put screen on top after that. I swear I came home from work yesterday and they had doubled in size during the day. LOL.

It's like they have gone from chicks to hens already. Amazing growth. I'm thinking about eating chick starter for breakfast myself.

And they poop a lot.

Woke up this morning and my wife tells me that one of the chickens is missing. I knew it couldn't be far away. It was roosting on one of the legs of a chair at the table. Sound asleep. They are growing up fast. Feathering out nicely.

CHickens have been outside in the coop for quite a while now. They look full grown. But they are not laying yet. I had to move the coop and chickens to a friend's yard due to us leaving on vacation. PITA. Coop is big and heavy. I think we are a month or two away from getting our first eggs. It's a stinkier thing than I thought it would be.

Have had eggs for a long time now. One of the chickens was killed by dogs who broke into the coop. Brother gave me one of his chickens, so I am back to 4. It's a pretty good deal. Fresh eggs all the time. Feed them scraps and flax-enriched chicken feed.