Why?

When I told my parents about my chicken adventures, my announcement was met with uproarious laughter. And of course, they asked a question which you yourself might be wondering: WHY? Why have chickens? That's a fair question. After all, my first reply, "for their delicious eggs"! Is quickly countered with, "but you can buy eggs for $2!"

So I think my main reason is probably the same as for why people have vegetable gardens: there's just something immensely satisfying about producing your own food. We have a strawberry patch and several raspberry bushes in our yard, which were already planted when we moved in. That first summer, after barely any work on our part, we collected enormous baskets full of goodies from these plants. What I didn't immediately eat, I shared with friends, made into jam, froze to eat over the winter, and used for baking goodies. The entire process was much more satisfying (and better tasting) than anything from the grocery store, even though it required more work. It's the same idea with the chickens.

Plus, baby chicks are just darned cute!

The Setup

It is fairly inexpensive and easy to get set up for baby chicks. Items we needed:

Box

Plastic

Pine Shavings

Feed Tray

Waterer

Lightbulb

We got the cardboard box and plastic from the dumpster behind a grocery store. The feed tray and water dispenser we got from the feed store (total about $10), along with the pine shavings (you can get a huge bag for less than $10 - will last for months). We splurged and got an infrared heat lamp ($8), but a 100 watt light bulb will also do the trick. It probably took about 10 minutes to set the whole thing up. Pretty simple!

The Adventure Begins

When I was in middle school, we had to take an aptitude test naming what fields we were most closely wired towards. My highest scoring category involved occupations such as forest ranger, farmer, etc. My family took immediate and lasting pleasure in teasing me about being "farmer girl". All their teasing never turned into fruition until this week, when I became the proud owner of 4 baby chicks!

My first memory involving chickens is when I was very young. I visited my mother's friend's farm, and she had some chickens. There is a picture of little me holding a chicken, and I LOVED it. While always a fond memory, I never thought much about chickens until I moved to Washington. Every spring at our local library there were seminars on raising backyard chickens. I never made it to one of these seminars, but the posters always piqued my interest and I thought it would be very cool to have a few chickens.

The past two years I have visited my sister-in-law in New Hampshire, who is also a chicken owner. On last year's visit, I helped feed them and gather their eggs, loving every second of it. This past visit, she picked up 1 day old baby chicks, which I was immediately enamored with! She educated me on different breeds (more than you would imagine), the care involved, and egg production. She also tried to send a couple home with my husband, but no poultry were allowed on the plane.

So, two days ago, we went to the feed store and picked up these adorable little ladies. The chicken adventure begins!