Chickens! Guest Post~

 

This guest post is in honor of the fact that my family got three beautiful baby chicks and one cute baby rooster this weekend… so I was quite excited when this post came thru to be added to the site! Once again, thanks to Michelle at www.singlemompreparedness.blogspot.com for knowing all kinds of awesome things!! I am forever learning from her! ENJOY!!!!! Happy Parenting! Love, JL~

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Chickens!

I'll admit, I was very scared to get chickens. People told me taking care of them would be easier than taking care of the cat, but I didn't really believe them. Finally I took the plunge. I built a coop I got the plans for online called the "coop-de-ville". It looked great! I shopped around & got the chickens. And guess what?! They really are easier than the cat! We fill the food & water about every 5 days. Twice a year my son cleans the coop. During the winter I put the coop on top of my garden so it's getting fertilized. And we gather eggs every day! I feed them a lot of my leftovers that would go to waste, to cut back on feed costs.

One of my favorite things I learned was how to store eggs all winter without refrigeration. You coat the eggs in mineral oil, put back in carton, & store in a cool dark place. I stored mine for 9 months last year & they were still great!

So why would I want chickens & how do I learn more?

Here are a few of the most frequently expressed reasons people raise chickens:

Easy and inexpensive to maintain (when compared to most other pets, much easier than our cat.)

Eggs that are fresh, great-tasting & nutritious

Chemical-free bug and weed control

Manufacture the worlds best fertilizer

Fun & friendly pets with personality (yes, you read that right) I have a friend who's neighbor kids come over & ask to watch "chicken TV". They love watching the chickens.

www.backyardchickens.com

Has everything you could want to know about raising chickens. They wrote the books "Raising Chickens for Dummies".

You can find Michelle at www.singlemompreparedness.blogspot.com she is amazing and full of great info!! Thanks again Michelle for the guest post!