We got the chicks in May. All the books, blogs, and “Things I Wish I Knew Before Getting Chickens” Pinterest posts tell you to make sure you have everything all set up before getting chicks. We had an empty bedroom that would soon become the baby’s nursery (I was four months pregnant). That’s it, that’s all we had. Did we have a coop that was set up for when they were ready to move outside? Nope. Did we have a heat lamp for the baby chicks? Nope. But where the spirit is willing right? So, on a rainy weekend in May, off we went to get our chicks. We went to Target to get a giant Tupperware bin. We went to a hardware store to get a heat lamp and had to use as a lid (hardware cloth was not a thing I knew existed until we got chickens—now we use it for so many things around the homestead!) We went to our local feed store to get baby chick feed, pine shavings to use as bedding, a food container, and a water dispenser. And finally, we went to the farm. The man who owns this particular farm is what we aspire to be…he feeds his family of five off his land, raises livestock and chickens, and sells his extra produce, eggs, and baby chicks. I was in chicken heaven as we walked into a barn full of happy, cozy baby chicks. It was all peep peep, flap flap, cute fluffy feathers in there! We told him the breeds we were interested in, and got two of each—Rhode Island Reds, Gold Wyandottes, Buff Orpingtons, and Easter Eggers. We named them on the way home, and the adventure began.
The finished coop!
As with all projects like this, it took us way longer than we thought to build the coop and run area. Many a long and sweaty hour that early summer was spent (by Spencer, not pregnant me). Side note: a great way to get out of most manual labor around the homestead….get pregnant with your first baby. Even though I’m sure I was perfectly capable, my husband was so protective. So I brought him tools when he needed them, held up 1×6 boards as he drilled screws, and brought him beer from his home brew.
By mid-July, the girls had outgrown their one Tupperware and were in two containers, four chicks each, in the future nursery. We took them outside while Spencer was building, and they helped as much as they could, standing on the drill and squawking encouragement. Their first day in the coop was my birthday party in late July, which was a way more fun party because while we had friends over, played Bocce ball and enjoyed sunshine, there were chickens running around everywhere. It was official…our descent into homesteading had begun!
Crump Family Farms 