Sustainable Living: Raising Chicks into Hens
It’s almost been a year since we picked up our spring chicks- Henrietta and Dixie. In all honesty, we did have four Spring chicks but our dog Durgen, killed two of them (Fluffy and Lois). It was devastating to say the least. We decided that two was our lucky number. Having chickens has been such an adventure. When you first get them as chicks they do require to be under a heat lamp for about 2-3 weeks until they get bigger and can face the temperature variations outside. They require a little heat, food (medicated), water, your attention and love. Just before they get bigger you want to teach them to perch so that they are accustomed to doing so when moved into the coop. All you need to do is add a piece of wood inside the box you’re using to house them; elevate it so that they learn to jump up and perch. It’s really that simple.
My husband built the coop and we reused as much material as we could to get it up. For instance, the door was leftover fencing material and some of the wood was from older jobs that didn’t require as much wood as expected. Building the coop didn’t take much time and before we knew it the chickens had there own place to live and roam. Besides the coop they need a nesting box which is where they’ll lay their eggs. Add straw to the nesting box and make it nice and comfy. Some people will put in a golf ball or alabaster eggs in the box so that the chickens get the idea that they should lay the eggs inside the box. We did not do this. Our chickens learned on their own. It took them a few weeks but they figured it out.
