Friday, January 31, 2014

Contemplating Clucks

     Looking back a few years, it was this time of year that our thoughts turned serious about bringing chickens home. We were sure we wanted to add them to our family and looked forward to their egg gifts. But first things first, we had to make a secure place to house them in. We decided to construct our little coop and run from reclaimed wood that we happened to have. We could have also used new wood from the lumber yard or home improvement store but for us it was nice that we were able to reuse some old wood. But one could also use an old garden shed or a new one, an existing out building that could easily be converted into a coop, or maybe one of those wooden shed kits that are sold at the home improvement store. What ever your choice ends up being make sure you really think about your decision. Where is the location of this coop going to be, will that location allow for a nice size run for your clucks and most importantly is it big enough. Now, due to space and how much you can afford in your finances to dedicate to this coop and run for your clucks has a lot to do with the size of coop you are willing and/or able to choose. For us I absolutely adore the little coop and run that we constructed. But if I had it to do over again, I think I would go a bit bigger. Our coop has a 4 x 8 foot print and our run is 8 x 12. I would do an 8 X 8 coop and 16 x 20 run if I had it to do over again. One reason is quite simply this, chickens are addicting. So are their eggs. But another important reason is that you need to have enough space so that each spring you can add a few more clucks to your flock. Why? There are several reasons. Sometimes clucks die. Just like that. No apparent reason. Or there are predators that you can loose your clucks to. But if you had none of that to worry about you would want to add a few more clucks each year for egg production purposes. When you bring your new little peeps home they won't be laying for a good 4 to 6 months depending on the breed. Once they start laying they will lay well for 2 to 3 years and then the amount of eggs they lay will decline. So if you add a few clucks each year, your egg numbers will continue to remain strong. I love knowing that the eggs we eat are coming from our very own, very spoiled clucks.                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                           Snooks.

5 comments:

  1. I only have six clucks and they provide more eggs then I can use, plus endless hours of entertainment. I enlarged their run last year so when I'm gone for a few days I know they are safe and sound. Love my clucks, fondly called my girls!!

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    Replies
    1. We use our eggs all the time. With the 3 of us eating them we need a few more clucks to make the eggs go around. We all love to let the clucks in the yard and watch them. They always do something that gets us laughing. We also have plans to enlarge their run come warmer weather. We will all be much happier when we are able to get that done.

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  2. I remember when you guys were getting ready for your chickens :)
    They all seem so happy and healthy. You seem happy to have them too .

    We're not missing our "girls" right now, as we have so much snow, and it's so cold. It's been nice to take a winter off and not worry about their combs freezing, or their water freezing etc..
    One of these days, we'll get more chickens.... and we'll enjoy fresh eggs again !

    Enjoy your 'clucks' and fresh eggs :)

    Smiles :)
    K.

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    Replies
    1. The clucks have been more work this year with the colder then usual temps. But with the help of my son we have managed. If we continue to have these colder then usual temps we will have to make more changes to make things a little easier come winter. We don't get deep snow and typically our temps are pretty agreeable except for a few weeks in February. But this year the temps have been below freezing more then they have been above, Making freezing water a definite problem and chore.

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  3. I just love your coop. You have some lucky girls!!

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