We are happy with our three hens but eat more eggs than they can produce so we wanted four more hens. I found a farm on Craigslist that was selling chickens, organic produce, and eggs. We drove an hour away to Okeechobee to purchase more hens for our flock. When we got to the farm, the woman I had spoken to over the phone, Jennifer, seemed very knowledgeable about chickens, goats, and organic farming. We were there a while just talking. I had not met anyone with the same views on on the food we eat until now. People always think that I am crazy and go overboard about the foods that we eat. She understood and has the same views!
On the drive in, we saw her goats (we did not know this was a complete farm with goats.) She had two baby goats in the same pen as the chickens and we got to talking about goats. She then walked us over to the older goats. The baby goats were dwarf nubian goats and she said they were good milking goats and very easy to take care of. Well, we put down a deposit for the baby girl she had. She said that most people buy her goats for meat and she was happy that we were buying her to milk. Jennifer knew that we don't have shelter for the goat yet so she said we could pick her up when we have shelter for her.
We did get four barred rock cochin hens. Fortunately, on the way there we bought a large dog crate at a yard sale for $25. Otherwise we would have had to put them in our animal trap and a cardboard box. The dog crate is also the perfect size for transporting our goat. This was a great yard sale score!
Congrats! Sounds like you had a good day! The chickens don't care what kind of shelter you give them. I have four guinea keets and 10 barred rock teenagers in a temporary coop made with strawbales and a piece of scrap plywood for a roof. When they're big enough, they get to hang out with the big girls and free range.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're having good luck with your birds, too!