Tuesday 27 November 2012

The chicken coop - progress!




Lots of hard work has been going on in our garden over the past week.  The chicken coop has finally been cleared (thankyou Mr H) in preparation for our chickens which we are hoping to get after Christmas.

If I were a chicken I think I would be quite happy pecking around in here under the shade of a couple of peach trees.  There is a large dirt area for dust baths and general pecking.  And a section of grass for lazying around in (do chickens laze?) plus a shed with nesting boxes for them to sleep in and hopefully lay lots of lovely eggs in.

There is still a bit of work to do - I would like to paint the sheds and make sure it is completely secure to keep our pup Charlie out.




This is how it used to look - it went wild over winter with all the rain we had and we have been emptying wheelbarrows of soil in there from some of the raised beds we have been clearing.

The boys love this dirt pile and play in here daily.  The can still dig around in here - but will have to share it with the chickens.

So lovely readers - who keeps chickens?  How many do you recommend keeping?  I was thinking about 3?

Do you recommend any good books or websites to read up on all things chicken?

Any chicken hints or tips you want to share?






11 comments:

  1. Oh wow, it looks amazing! Jennie over at posie patch blog is the queen of chooks ... I hope you are collecting you own fresh eggs soon!

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  2. It looks like an ideal place to keep chickens..I am sure they will love it. We have 3 chickens, we got them in August. I think 3 is a good number, as they have one another for company and you should get enough eggs to use each week :) We went for breeds that were good layers but also friendly/docile.
    Enjoy and share some pictures when you get them :)
    Magie x

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  3. Oh to keep chickens - I wish one day.

    Nina x

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  4. I'd love some chickens but have enough to look after with a cat and guinea pig! :)

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    1. I'm thinking the same thing too! 3 kiddies, a naughty pup............

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  5. I would love to have chickens but we don't have enough space. We got my dad some rental chickens earlier this year and it was great. We are waiting for him to build a chicken coop so he can keep some on a permanent basis (and we can visit them)

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    1. I read about the rental chickens. Such a great idea!

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  6. my mum has 6 which is perfect for supplying eggs for 2 families (who bake a lot) have you got some sort of roof over the outdoor area??(mums is made of chicken wire)....I ask cause mum had trouble with hawks stealing the chooks!. we are out in a rural area and hawks/eagles will pinch chooks if the area is open enough (we are in northern NSW). also dont forget to make it snake proof....warm eggs are a fave snack for carpet snakes.....chooks are heaps of fun, my kids love them (almost too much!). I`ll ask mum what breed she has...all i know is that they are big and glossy brown....really pretty....there is one depressed one that we all give extra cuddles to....i kid you not!.
    Allison x

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    1. This is great info - thanks Allison. We are in NZ and don't have snakes but will definately need to look into some netting as we do have hawkes around the vineyard (looking for rabbits) - never thought of that! Would love to know what breed your mum has. Bless that little chicken who is depressed - what "signs" does it display? Thanks for stopping by my blog - always nice to have comments from new readers. Elaina xo

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