Friday, April 24, 2009

Hen House

The Hen House doesn't go all the way across the barn. It will end where the first wall we have up ends. It's about 11' wide. The loft will go all the way across the barn where the beams are. On the other side will be a small room called a "cold bin" to store produce. Mr. Suzychicks is doing most of the work. I did work out in the barn with him a couple of evenings when I got off work this week.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Progress on the barn project

We made some progress on the barn this week. There is one wall up on the hen house (on the left). We hope to make more progress this coming weekend.

Silver Laced Wyandottes




Here is a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen and a chick. I'll be getting three of these too. The Silver Laced Wyandotte originated in New York State and is the parent variety of all the other Wyandotte varieties. They are good egg layers and lay large brown eggs. They are described as docile and generally easy going with a tendency toward domination.
I decided on to get a few of these because Elissa liked them.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Egg Baskets


My Mother brought me these egg baskets this weekend. Aren't they nice? She said she thought maybe the one on the left might be an antique. My sister, Jamie gave her to her a long time ago. I don't think Jamie would mind her giving it to me since my Mother doesn't have a use for it right now. Besides - I'm sure my Mother wanted to give me more than one basket so I "don't put all my eggs in one basket".

Monday, April 20, 2009

Buff Orpingtons - I'll be getting 3 of these



Here is a picture of a Buff Orpington hen and chick.
From Wikipedia - The original Orpington (the Black) was developed in 1886 by William Cook. He crossed Minorcas, Langshans and Plymouth Rocks to create the new hybrid bird. Cook named the breed after his home town in Kent. The first Orpingtons looked very much like the Langshan and were black. Between 1889 and 1905, Cook also created white, buff and blue colored Orpingtons. The breed was famous for its great egg-capacity.


Some characteristics of an Orpington are:

  • Heavy (7 to 10 pounds),
  • Soft, profuse feathering, which almost hides the legs of the bird,
  • Curvy shape with a short back and U-shaped underline,
  • A small head with a small comb.
  • Large and usually tame
  • Its fluffy feathers that makes it look distinctively large.

Sunday, April 19, 2009


Thanks very much to my first followers and my first comment from the Hoosier Vagabounds. Today I am going to work on my brooder (the little box the chicks will live in for their first 5-6 weeks. Here is a "before" picture of the barn.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

My first posting...

Hello and welcome to my newly created blog. Just in case you haven't heard - I'm embarking on a new hobby of raising chickens. I ordered my chicks from the Mount Healthy Hatchery in Cincinnati. They are due to be hatched on May24 and I will pick them up on the same day. I'm very excited that little Miss Tess will be here visiting us during that week. Baby chicks need lots of care and she will be such a big help to me.

Dennis is going to build a henhouse in the far northwest corner of his barn and a chicken run directly outside of the barn. I helped him clean the barn and plan the pen today. He also plans to build a loft and a cold bin to store garden produce in the opposite corner of the barn.