There are Chickens in our Future

Yep. I love chickens.  I love to watch them, I love to hear their little noises.  I LOVE their fresh eggs. Last spring we actually got a chicken coop from my dad.  He had built it, and housed his chickens there for a few years.  But when my mom got tired of the chickens flying over the fencing and getting into her flowers and eating their grapes and such, I got to inherit the coop!  YAY!

My dad is an excellent builder, and this coop will be around for the next 300 years, I'm just sure of it! So, I was SOOO happy to get it.  We also inherited their older chickens (aka- my dad's pets).  When we brought them (there were I think 12 of them) to our house with the coop, they gave us about 2 eggs a week...  and because of the stress of the 1 hour journey, they soon molted.  

I tried to justify keeping these "pets" all summer to my husband.  But it was hard when we are forking out so much money in feed.  Even so, both of us LOVED to sit by the coop and chicken yard to watch the girls dig for bugs, get dust baths, and nap in the shade.  We even moved a 2 seater swing to beside the coop.  In the summer, my husband knew if he couldn't find me at any point, that I was watching the chickens.  It was relaxing.

But summer turned to fall, and fall into winter.  I felt badly for the accommodations that we had given the chickens.  The coop was great, and almost airtight.  But water froze often, and we had to take them fresh water 2-3 times a day.  

When the first of the year rolled around, a threat of a major storm came about.  We knew we would loose chickens unless we did something.  So we found them new homes.  It was pretty easy.  Advertise free chickens and they go pretty quickly.

SO, I felt better knowing they were going to be taken care of and not have to be out in the bitter cold. Now, seeing the weather patterns that we have had here in Indiana, I'm glad for the choice we made. 

But now, as I plan my first garden at this home, and we are lining up animals for 4H, I started thinking about getting layers again.  

And guess what!?  The end of April we are going to get chickens that are starting to lay!  It's worth the little bit of extra money, especially thinking about how hard it would be to keep chicks warm in this nasty, cold.

So, I'm excited!  It gives me hope that this winter won't last forever... :)

Come on SPRING!!!