What came first the chicken or the egg?
In this instance, the chicken came before the egg. I have wanted chickens for a few years now and this summer has been the start of the adventure.
My oldest boy’s favorite snack is a hard-boiled egg. This sparked the need for chickens since he is starting to eat more and more. I’m slightly worried for the grocery bill in teenage years. My InstaPot is my go-to egg cooker. You can do more than 12 eggs at a time and the shells come off easily. It has been a learning curve with what animals will try and eat a chicken wither it be at night when the coop is accidently left open or in the middle of the day by a hawk who lives in my woods. The boys have also learned not to put the eggs in your pocket and run to the house. (That was a funny night)
Our flock went from 5 to 55 around the 4th of July. This was the biggest adjustment so far. We have now gone down to 20 due to half of them going to other homes for the wintertime. My coop was ideal for the babies to start in since the bottom is completely enclosed so we didn’t have wondering babies. The food and water for them however was like tending to 50 toddlers at the same time. Someone always tipped over the water.
Learning how to take care of the chickens, the coop, and everything in-between makes you have appreciation for larger farms hobby farms with more animals. My advice is start with one animal and get into your groove with feeding and tending to them. I have integrated the chickens into my routine now and it has become easier. Feeding and water is at night while just opening the coop is our morning routine.
~Happy Clucking
