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Food and Water
Like all living animals chickens have to eat and drink. Their diet consists of many grains such as wheat, corn and seeds, along with chicken feed that has extra protein for eggs. -
First chicks
This day was very exciting. I had always dreamed of getting chickens, and this was the very first step! I decided to go with heritage breeds (dual purpose for eating and for eggs). The picture is a Rhode Island Red chick. The “RIR” chickens are the more aggressive breeds but have the best egg production and meat on their bones. -
Roosting
Chickens naturally are a bird or prey, meaning they are a chicken nugget to a lot of predators. To avoid this at night. They roost. This means that they sleep high up on a branch or a ladder, which also keeps them warm and ventilated in the winter. -
Half Way There
This is when my chicks were 2 months old, at this point they are about the size of a smaller football and all feathers are grown in. At this point in my hobby my addiction was becoming more of a problem. I lived and breathed chickens for the next few months -
Eggs
This was the most exciting and rewarding part of having chickens. Eggs! The amount of work and time that I had put into these wonderful creatures had finally payed off. I did all the math and the first egg is worth $67.99. Soon there were eggs everywhere! The brown egg is my home grown compared to a grocery store egg. -
Egg Business
My dream of having a sustainable chicken farm was finally falling into place! Soon more and more of my chickens were laying! At this point I was getting 6 eggs a day on the average and I could not have been Happier. I got my first half dozen a day before my birthday September 16, 2017. -
Guinea Hens
I got my first trio of guinea hens later in September of 2017! They were like Chicken-chickens - Scared of everything. They ate all the arachnids and bugs around our farm. That fall I didn’t have any wood ticks at all. -
Homemade Chicks
In Late October of 2017 I made it my goal to hatch my own chicks. I bought an incubator and 21 days later I had 3 chicks. I didn't have a very good hatch rate at the time and only 3 our of 10 hatched but I didn’t mind because I was ecstatic that I found that I could have as many chicks I wanted. All I had to do was wait 21 days and poof! I would have chicks at my disposal. -
Eggs Galore
The winter of 2017-2018 wasn’t bad nor good. I unfortunately lost 2 chickens because they caught a rare form of poultry cold. In the winter with 21 hens I was getting about 3-7 eggs a day. But come spring time they didn’t stop laying. My average egg production for 1 week was about 140 eggs. And with my addiction at full hand I will soon find out that much more eggs are coming. -
More Chickens
Over the summer of 2018 I began developing a love for my incubator and the out come it gave me! I soon was on a set rotation to have 20 chicks hatch every 2 weeks. I sold a majority for $2 a chick but kept quite a few! My total chickens that summer way well over 70 and this started to be a problem. -
School Time Eggs
Once school started I had to many eggs and they weren’t selling as fast as I wanted them. Until Mrs. Krueger came up with an ingenious plan - BRING THEM TO SCHOOL! This was the perfect solution and I have sold so many dozens at school. I have kept a log of how many dozens I have sold at school and the number was remarkable! I had sold 76 dozen eggs to Teachers, Peers, and guidance councilors! And the numbers are climbing even higher thanks to my hens and Mrs. Krueger! -
Earning Their Keep
My chickens were now become so self sustainable that the money I make from eggs and selling chicks can cover months worth of feed. Not only are the hens working hard to make eggs but on April 2nd things changed dramatically and I had to say goodbye to my incubation because the chickens have decided to do it for me! I greatly appreciate this because the outcome has become more successful. Like they always say “Mother Nature Knows Best”
