bombs in bottles
After several weeks of thinking about it, I pulled the trigger and ordered hen chicks today. I am now lowkey panicking, but in a good way.
I haven't had chickens since childhood. Back then, I thought taking care of them was onerous - mostly because I didn't want to take care of other people's chickens (and the chickens were very much my parents', not mine). It took me a while to reevaluate and realize that it's actually less work per day than having my two long-haired, barf-prone cats. It takes about as long to clean a coop as it does to unload and reload a dishwasher.
I also had to read my local ordinances, as I now live in a subdivision. Tl;dr the chickens are fine and so is my composting setup for their manure.
Then I did the math on setup costs. Turns out I can build a solid, fully insulated henhouse and run for the same price as the crappiest pre-built options available.
Some of the reviews on pre-built houses are hilarious. "This is a great henhouse! I waterproofed the interior and exterior, caulked all the cracks, installed roofing, put in a door between the house and the run, and installed latches! It's not sturdy enough to be outdoors."
So you spent $500 on a henhouse, built a henhouse on top of it, and still wouldn't put it outdoors? Cool cool. Glad we live in an era of high quality products.
The henhouse I'm looking to build will cost me about $275 if I buy all my lumber new at retail. I will almost certainly be using scrap lumber from the family farm instead.
A brooder setup for chicks will run me another $100 or so, but I chose items that can all be expanded as the chicks grow and/or reused for other purposes (like neonate kittens). Not that I want neonate kittens, but I already have a cat lady rep, so who knows what will show up on my doorstep?
I'm not doing this to break even on eggs, which is good, because I probably won't. Rather, I want some nitrogen fertilizer and pest control. That it comes from hilarious, friendly birds who offer a sliver more self-reliance via premium eggs is a bonus. (But I REALLY want little workers that turn insects into nitrogen fertilizer.)
Finding a hatchery that could guarantee me hen chicks was a challenge; this is peak chick breeding season, and most places have been sold out for months. I finally found one in Ohio that, as of this morning, could ship me an Australorp, a Buff Orpington, and a Wyandotte together on June 9.
...As of lunchtime, they could ship the Orpington by July and the Australorp not at all.
So I am now the expectant chicken-herder of three silver-laced Wyandotte hen chicks, to arrive June 16. Plenty of time to set up a brooder and start building a hen house. (The hens won't be ready to move to the house for a couple months anyway.)
I get lowkey screamy like this any time I commit to bringing home a new animal. It's a responsibility! But I'm also very excited. I cannot wait to meet the chicks.
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