We recently found out that our city by-laws allow us to have chickens! I was a little excited to say the least. One more step closer to my dream of being totally self-sufficient. Organic free-range eggs everyday then organic chicken meat (not that I could ever slaughter them, I think that will be a job for Jon). And fresh chicken manure for the garden, all the manure I want! It is surprisingly cheap to keep chickens too. Sounds too good to be true.
Yes maybe it is too good to be true. Once you have everything, keeping chickens is not all that expensive, but getting ready for chickens is quite expensive. We have an old dog "cage" that is a sort of chainlink pen that is tall enough to stand in, that was left by the old owners, that we were planning on using for the run. But the coop is quite the project. It needs to be big enought that they can run around inside, that we can go in and clean and get eggs but small enough that we can fit it in the back corner of the property. A challenge? Yes. Add to that the fact we have to stick to a budget. The more reading I do the more I feel like the coop needs to be bigger and better. It needs to be insulated so they don't freeze, the floor needs to be cement so it's easy to clean and they don't get sick and no animals can burrow into the coop, it needs windows for light and air, it needs electricity for a heat lamp if it gets too cold. And before you know it this coop is almost $2000 (and that's without food or even chickens).
Am I going way overboard? Does anyone know if I'm just being sucked in to spending more than I need to or is this really what every chicken coop needs? Am I leaving out costs? Any thoughts?
Then actually getting chickens this time of year is tough. Buckerfields is through with ordering chicks for the year (and I can't get any chicks until they can be sexed because we are not allowed males) and there are no hatcheries on Vancouver Island. I tried calling a couple people who just keep chickens for themselves to see if they could part with 2 or 3 but most said no. Maybe this all is more stress than it is worth. Pondering....
Let's see if this works. ;)
ReplyDeleteThere's someone on one of the gulf islands who had chicks in May, but she (he?) told me he gets pullets in late summer. I'll see if I can find his information. I'm really jealous. Our yard isn't anywhere near big enough for chickens. :( One day!
It worked! Any info would be so helpful! We may end up with an excess of eggs, so we'll have to send some your way ;)
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