Raising chickens

Rooster and hens in the run

For several years, we kept a small flock of chickens at our former home. We very much enjoyed the birds and the fresh yard eggs. This year, we decided to dive back in and start a new flock.

We got our chicks from our local Tractor Supply store in early June. We decided on the Plymouth Blue Rock variety as they were the only chicks in stock. They are advertised as prolific layers and very friendly. We preferred all hens and the chicks they had were sexed but it’s not an exact science. We ended up with one rooster and four hens.

Chicks in the brooder

We set up our brooder inside the house, in a 50 gallon plastic tote. We put a layer of pine shavings in the bottom for bedding, added a brooder heater panel and a chick feeder and waterer. After about a week, the chicks were hopping on top of the waterer and then out of the brooder. We took a wire mesh panel from a portable dog kennel and placed it over the top of the tote to keep the chicks from getting out. We kept he chicks inside for about two weeks, then we moved them out to the coop.

We purchased the Omelet Eglu Cube coop and run for our birds. I love this coop for several reasons. It is very lightweight and super-easy to move by myself. We have limited areas where we can grow forage for the chickens and I have to move them every couple of days. I didn’t want a coop that would require any mechanical assistance to move.

Chickens in the Omlet Eglu Cube run. We covered the top and south facing side with shade cloth for the warmest months of the summer.

The coop is also very secure. The design features make it very easy to secure the coop at night and are more than sufficient for any predator in our area.

The final aspect I love about this coop is the ease of cleaning. The litter tray under the roost makes it so simple to collect and change the pine shavings. All of the used shavings go on our compost pile. The roost itself is easy to remove and clean as well. I also like that the entire area of the coop is within arms reach from the access points while standing. No yoga poses are needed to clean this thing!

The chickens started laying eggs mid-late October and we’re currently averaging two eggs per day. I enjoy my daily interactions with the birds and I’m so happy to have fresh yard eggs again!