I used to say I was not a ‘farm girl.’ I was not suited to the work and dirt. I wanted the city slicker life with nice cars and high fashion clothes. I wanted to be successful and rich. In fact, the idea of raising anything other than a cat or dog was such a repulsive thought, I swore that I would never live on a farm or ‘granola’ property like a bunch of hippies singing songs of peace and all that. Fast forward 15 years. Ohhhh how things have changed.
While I am still not interested in being a “farm girl” in the traditional sense, age and experiences have certainly altered my outlook on the prospect of having a ‘farm.’ Right now, I have a hobby greenhouse and cold frame set up. It is practice for when we are able to get property where we can build what we really want and it is working out well. We have talked about having chickens here and there, when we were able. We agreed that we want about a dozen or so total but no rooster as we will not be hatching any chicks to start. Just egg layers and meat birds. Beyond that, we haven’t got a clue. We know they need a coop, a place to run around, clean water all the time and good food so they lay good eggs. That pretty much sums up our knowledge and it wasn’t a high priority to really learn about it all until we were closer to getting some property. I am happy to say that we are at the point where we are actually looking at what is out there! Of course, that means more research for yours truly.
As with all things I do, I break down my research projects into small easy-to-handle chunks. What we need to know is: what breeds are the best egg layers, the best meat, or combo of both, how much space they need in the coop, what nutritional needs they have, how much feed they will go through in a month, common ailments chickens face, how much space the run needs to have, and general chicken knowledge. Another big one is coop design which will be a project all on its own! Thankfully, the island I live on has many families that raise chickens and sell eggs. I believe it is important to have local resources you can tap for information that will be relevant to the area you live in. No matter how knowledgable a person is about chickens, if they live in New Jersey and I live in Alaska…some things will just be different. Here is what I have learned so far (sources will not be cited as the information I am giving is a conglomeration of days of research online, ebook reading, and talking with local people).
Basing the research on having 12 egg laying chickens, we will need:
- 4 – 5 nesting boxes
- 100-120 sq. ft chicken run
- A coop roughly 10 ft wide, 8 ft long, and 8 ft tall. We plan on building our own
- Food and water dispensers (Either buy a system or DIY Style!)
- Chicken wire for the fencing, etc.
After speaking with people locally, I was advised to have the chicken run covered due to the amount of rain we get here. It also makes sense because it gives extra protection from the incredible number of bald eagles we have in the area and it lessens the disgusting slop that would develop which can cause sickness. I have seen ‘mobile’ chicken runs and plan on making one or two. I have daydreams of being able to roll the run over the tops of the raised beds and let them at it in the Spring and Fall. Ultimately, I hope to be able to let them free range a bit but that all depends on the amount of land we are able to get. Well, and training the dogs to leave them alone…or better yet! Train them to herd the chickens up if they are free range! 😉
It will be some time before we are able to realize the experience of raising chickens. It will be a big change! It will also be a big step toward being even more self-reliant and having more control over what we eat. We are looking forward to it. Do you raise chickens? Feel free to share any advice, suggestions, and links to good information.