I’m in farming mode this week as the weather has been in the 70’s and we have tons of stuff to do if we are going to get anything accomplished! I ordered baby chicks online yesterday and was even able to schedule their delivery date. Yes! The chicken breeds we wanted were not available for several weeks.
Different Chicken Breeds
Here are the breeds we ordered:
25 Buff Orpingtons, a gentle brown egg layer. This is the flock my little ones and I will manage.
6 Black Australorps, a docile breed that is heat and cold tolerant and lay brown eggs as well. This is the breed that my two daughters chose for their little flock.
8 Arcuanas, another docile breed but they lay green/blue eggs! This breed will be cared for by my two older boys.
We ordered them from Murray McMurray Hatchery. We’ll be sure to take photos of the chicks when the arrive in about 6 or 7 weeks.
Do-It-Yourself Chicken Coop Ideas
We ordered baby chicks and now we need a place to keep them! The whole idea behind our farming is to not only grow our own food but to allow our children to experience different things and learn new skills. That is why my husband plans to build our own chicken coops with our boys and why I am chief researcher in getting ideas. We are doing this ourselves to save money and to teach our boys how to do it.
PVC Chicken Coops
We are interested in a moveable chicken house, which allows the chickens to scratch in new areas and not be confined to one place. We would like to try to make a chicken coop that is light-weight, which is why we are considering making one out of PVC pipe. We’d need to get PVC Fittings, like Schedule 80 PVC fittings for the corners and such. PVC also seems like it might be more economical than wood, and wouldn’t rot.
The one disadvantage I thought of in regards to the PVC is we get a lot of high winds and what if the whole coop just up and blew away…..whooosh! There goes our profits and meat supply!
A-Frame Chicken Coop
My daughter wants an A-frame chicken tractor/coop like the one at this website. However, I am partial to different moveable coop, but a modified version for laying hens.
This should be a fun project once I finish researching, deciding and figuring out the costs of each one. And yes, I intend to take lots of pictures and videos as we build our coop.
How about you, do you have any DIY projects on the go? If so, what are they?
My favorite are the soft, fuzzy yellow ones, but honestly, since I don’t have the time to take care of them, I wouldn’t get them (they deserve someone who has the time and talent)
I’ve always loved the idea, but I too, just don’t have the time to devote to them.
I can’t wait to do this. We still are not settled enough this year!
Are you planning on it then, Brande? We are very excited and I just looked at my calendar and realized I am going to a blogging conference the week we get the chicks, so my husband will be on his own supervising the children with them for a whole weekend…..not sure how he’s going to like that once I tell him! lol!
Just called him and he said, “Nice, thanks. You’re gonna get it.”