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Taking the backyard chicken plunge
Enough pecking around this backyard chicken business.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about buying a chicken for our neighbor’s coop, but when Julia started getting her feathers scratched out by one of the older hens (they didn’t name her Skeletor for nothing), it was time to finally get off the fence and commit to raising our own backyard birds.
I needed a coop, feed and another hen to keep Julia company, so one afternoon last week, I headed straight to Callahan’s General Store. (Buck Moore Feed and Supply on North Lamar Boulevard on has everything you need to get started with chickens, but Callahan’s is slightly closer to my house.)
“You must be here for chickens,” an older gentleman said to me as I walked into the feed and live animal area in the back of the store. I’m not sure what part of me, my style or the look on my face gave away my status as backyard chicken novice, but the man had clearly seen more than a few urban Austinites in recent years stroll into the store to get into an animal husbandry once reserved for farmers or hippies on communes.
With his help, I picked out a $75 hutch that will hold up to four hens. (I debated making my own but figured that by the time I bought or salvaged the materials, gathered the proper tools and actually built a coop, it would cost more, especially in terms of time, than if I just bought one already made.)
He again helped when it came time to wrangle another bird. Based on aesthetics alone, I picked out a white and black hen with feathers on her feet that I would later learn is a Brahma. (Julia is a Rhode Island Red, which lays more eggs than a Brahma, but both are hardy birds that can tolerate the cold and the heat.)
Even though I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, I knew we’d made the right decision within minutes of getting both birds home.
At first, they were wary of each other, keeping their distance from one another as they pecked bugs, pebbles and small pieces of food scraps near the compost pile. But as they roamed the yard over the next two days, we watched as the birds forged a sweet little friendship. It’s probably instinctual and out of necessity that wherever one goes, the other follows behind. They started sharing their water and feed bowls and snuggling together in the nesting box I set up in their hutch.
In Julian’s mind, we might as well as gotten a new puppy — but unlike a puppy, chickens don’t chew up furniture, bark at the mailman or require daily walks, poop bag in hand, through the neighborhood.
He named the white one Con Can Broyles Ann, which Ian and I have shortened to Cotton, and even though neither of the girls has laid her first eggs, we’re enjoying them for the character and entertainment they’ve added to our ever-evolving urban homestead. (And yes, I’m going to use those words despite all the hubbub recently over California bloggers trademarking the term and aggressively pursuing violators.)
By taking the baby steps of buying a chicken that the neighbors were raising, it wasn’t such a dramatic transition, but I still spent quite a bit of time online trying to figure out the best way to set up a nesting box and a roosting rod, how much and how often to feed them store-bought feed and food scraps, how to properly compost their poop and all the other specifics you don’t necessarily think of ahead of time.
And I still have a lot to learn. In order to make these hens more than just expensive pets, they’ll have to lay almost 300 eggs to make up for the $120 I’ve spent on them, their hutch and the feed.
However, even without the eggs, they are an exciting addition to our family. We’ve already given Julian the responsibility of making sure that they have food and water in their bowls, and 6-month-old Avery can’t keep his eyes off them. No, naming and fawning over them hasn’t changed my mind about wanting to eat them when their time has come, but everyone in the house knows that the only reason we have these birds is as a source of food.
It just so happens that they are pretty fun to have around, too.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment Categories: Eating locally, Food in your backyard
Comments
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By Kristina W
February 28, 2011 2:43 PM | Link to this
Addie your chicken coop Rocks! I will live vicariously through you until I feel it safe (from my dogs) to get a coop of my own. I hope you will keep readers posted when you get your first eggs. Thanks
By Shelley
February 28, 2011 3:31 PM | Link to this
Your new gals are adorbale as is little Julian. I wish I could get my own chicks but I don’t think my Lab would cooperate. I’m enjoying the pics and stories of yours. Keep it coming!
By tmonroe
February 28, 2011 7:44 PM | Link to this
Great article! My daughter (in South Austin) is thinking of getting some chickens. I am definately sending her your story. Please keep us up-to-date on your chicken progress!
By Lazy Smurf
March 1, 2011 11:51 AM | Link to this
I’m curious if you know where the stores are getting the chickens?
By staff
March 1, 2011 1:20 PM | Link to this
Hey, Lazy Smurf! I’m not sure where they are getting the chicks. I’ll try to find out, though. Do you know of another good local source for hens?
By DYDY
March 1, 2011 3:44 PM | Link to this
Great post, I’m looking forward to more on this topic, as I too have been tossing around the idea of getting my own chickens.
By DY
March 1, 2011 3:45 PM | Link to this
Great post, I’m looking forward to more on this topic, as I too have been tossing around the idea of getting my own chickens.
By Lazy Smurf
March 1, 2011 4:36 PM | Link to this
No, I have just heard that when the chicks get shipped they come from factory farms which I thought was really sad, but if there is a responsible local farm they are getting their chicks from I would love to know about it.
By Shirley Mount
March 1, 2011 5:28 PM | Link to this
Would you like a Brahma rooster to go with your hen? He’s simply too big for my hens; he’s starting to damage their back feathers. He’s a great rooster-not aggressive, eats from my hand, very calm and he would probably be thrilled with a hen of his own size. He’s about 9 months old. He doesn’t crow too much. Shirley, 441-1784.
By Gina
March 1, 2011 11:31 PM | Link to this
Your chickens are great! That was sweet of you to get a friend for your chicken. I believe Callahan’s gets their baby chicks from Ideal Poultry which is a great hatchery just a little north of here in Cameron, TX. They do hatch chicks on a grand scale, but have dozens of breeds of pullets and you can drive to Cameron to pick them up yourself if you don’t want your chicks shipped. Callahan’s would be getting these chicks probably the same day that they are shipped though and it would be ground delivery. As for the full grown hens in the back they do get them shipped in, but I am not sure from where. I also love to get the $2 bags of hay from them. I use that in their nest mostly and as a light coop floor. You can buy a bale, but the bag is more than plenty for at least a few weeks.
By staff
March 2, 2011 12:41 PM | Link to this
$2 bags of hay! Hurray! I need to get a bag of that. We’ve been using shredded paper and dried leaves for now.
And Shirley, you are so sweet to offer your Brahma rooster. I don’t think we’re ready for a rooster at this point in the backyard chicken rearing process, but maybe another reader will see your offer and respond.
Thanks for all the encouragement!
By Texasboy
March 5, 2011 10:13 AM | Link to this
After having many conversations with myself about the pros and cons of raising VERY expensive backyard chickens for the sake of harvesting their VERY expensive eggs, I, too, have taken the backyard chicken farming plunge. I decided to build a chicken “tractor” which enables me to move it from place to place in my yard- makes cleanup and maintenance much easier and is great for the lawn. In addition, since they aren’t “freeranging” in the traditional sense, they are fairly safe from the family dog, a lab mix who salivates whenever he’s around the coop.
I bought six hens from a woman in Burnet and selected them based more on their looks (apparent health, etc,) figuring that if they were being raised in Central Texas by a chicken farmer it probably meant that they were proven breeds for the area. Wound up with a Brahma, a Barred Plymouth Rock, 2 Americaunas, a Welsummer and a Cochin. They’re still fairly young and aren’t laying yet but seem to be doing well. Overall it’s been a very enjoyable experience, but if you’re thinking of saving money on eggs and meat by keeping your own chickens, you’d probably be better off just going to Whole Foods. Good luck.
By sheagmaTeen
June 18, 2011 3:31 AM | Link to this
Отличный квест с интригующим названием “Глупец” порадует любителей побродить по сказочным мирам, поболтать со сказочными жителями.