Chickens you say…
Greetings!
I think that is what I will call this series of farm blogs. But first I want to thank everyone that responded with thoughts and idea’s that you would like to see covered in my farm blog! By far the #1 topic requested was chickens. Now this was really of no surprise to me because I have long considered chickens a “gateway drug” if you will, when it comes to homesteading, farming or just a desire to be more self reliant.
Why wouldn’t this be the case? Right? I mean they come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and even personalities. They are a great boost of encouragement when things are going well, usually giving you a daily return on investment by way of multi colored eggs, that are both nutritious and taste great. I mean what’s not to like right?
Well that is what I want to delve into in this blog series and the timing couldn’t be better, because in 3 short months we will be smack dab in the middle of chick season. So before you are swept away by the bliss of those cute little squawking fluff balls and carrying a box full home, lets make sure you are prepared, mentally, physically and financially. Because those baby chicks turn into real chickens, real fast!
Now with that said, it is important for you to know that what I will include in these blogs are my own lived experiences and what I learned in the process. Hopefully you can learn from my experiences, what worked, what didn’t and what you should probably not waste your time and money on. There is NO ultimate handbook on how to raise chickens, homestead or farm, just shared experiences. Anyone telling you otherwise is just trying to sell you something.
The topics I hope to cover in each blog will be as follows:
Infrastructure, shelter and protection. These all go hand in hand.
Feed and water. Types of feed, cost and methods of delivering the feed and water.
To free range or not to free range. The question every chicken owner struggles with!
There is a lot of info to cover here, so I will try to push out the blogs as I have time to sit down and write them, so hopefully I can help you prepare in case chickens may be in your immediate future, lol.
Do me favor too! Share this with friends and family that you think may be interested as well. We would love for them to come along on this journey as well!
In the mean time, if you think I may have forgotten, let me know! Of course this is not meant to be exhaustive, but an introductory course for beginners.
Until next time, Stay strong in your faith, love your family and support your farmers!
Kevin
