The chicken Saga

It can not be said that I am a small scale person.

An ex of mine once said I should get fish, so that we could share a common interest. That interest turned into a passion, and 11 comets and 5 koi latter... he decided it was no longer fun! (I am choosing not to even mention the ancestrus plecos and guppies I was also breeding.)

After moving, and having a baby that is now a running toddler I am down to three ryukins and two comets, along with some baby ancestrus and that's about it for fish. They are simply too much work for my busy life. But my point is, I always go big. Ya sure I could have been practical and gotten one or two easy keeper fish, but what would be the fun in that. If you are going to take up a new hobby you should jump right in, and do it all the way. Right?

(Any one who tells you gold fish are easy keepers is a flat out liar! You can not keep gold fish in a bowl! They are one of the most demanding fish on the earth to keep! They are super dirty due to their digestive tract and have very demanding filtration needs. I will not even talk about the complicated filtration system I have or the amount of filtration I run just to keep two 50 gallon tanks.)

So, I knew I wanted chickens, this spring John Dear's dad declared he was buying a house, moving out, and taking his nasty rat dog with him. Yay I said. I can get my chickens I said. I will have some where to put them I said.

And in keeping with my known over the top fault, of course I did not stay simple and practical. I could have gotten 3 hens, or a small handful of chicks. But noooo. I of course decided to go over the top, all the way.

I can at least say with confidence I am a responsible pet owner. I always do my research, make sure that I really want the animals I am getting, and care for them properly. I keep happy healthy animals.

I did my research, decided what breeds I wanted, made a list, and went to buy my chicks. Our new flock started out with an even dozen. Two of each desired breed that they had in stock. All in all I had 8 full sized chicks and 4 bantams. Within a week I had added 6 more chicks making it a flock of 18. The first batch were straight runs, so I did my best but still ended up with roosters. The second batch were double sexed before I got them, so far so good there.

Well fast forward 5 weeks to now and... I have 18 pullets living in my kitchen! Okay realistically they sleep in the kitchen in their brooder run, and run around playing alla free range style, out side all day till supper time.

Yes we did have the run already built, but I needed extra wire to secure it and keep them safe from predators, and we needed to build them a  chicken house. And poor folk that we are, I was impatiently waiting for the 1st to come around to rush out and buy building supplies so we could get started. And that is all we have been doing since the 1st. Building!

The coop's house is nearly complete. It has it's deck, three walls and John Dear is out putting on the roof as we speak. Today we plan to add roosts and the front complete with doors. Then comes the wiring, building feeders and hanging waterers.

I have hopes we can get the essentials done today so the chicks can move in tonight. The frills can go in tomorrow.

Photo blog of the process and the kids to come soon. I also intend to catch up on some neglected blogging, but I simply have not been int he house to blog much lately. The garden, toddler Bear and the feathered kids are simply too demanding.

I also need to do a free pattern blog update. In the mean time if you are feeling the pattern itch, stop by my FB shop page for a bunch of free patterns. I tend to post them there as I come across them, and have been neglectful of adding them here. I promise to remedy that soon.

On that note, I had best head back outside.....

You can friend me on FB to read daily updates on the chickens, crafting, family and all my projects.

As always all photos are the property of Full Knitted Jacket and me. (c) Full Knitted Jacket, all rights reserved. If you would like to use my images for anything please ask permission first.