Are we sure we want this lifestyle? Can we handle it? We both have full time jobs outside of the home that keep us busy.
We have friends who started their homestead before we did, so I asked "what does it REALLY take to take care of chickens?"
I wanted to know if I was in over my head.
My friend told me he went out a few times a week to check water/food levels, gather eggs and do maintenance. Relatively low key and easy. Not a huge time suck.
We needed a tub and some basic supplies to start.
We got one of these big 25 gallon tubs, some pine shavings, a heat lamp, food and waterers.
Look HOW cute they are!
That's all the chickens needed for the first few months of life (before they got feathers and could go outside to the big coop).
This is after we moved them out to the coop for the first time.
And here's my girl He-Hei!
I replaced the pine shavings probably every 2-3 days from the tub.
Food and water was refilled every day or so.
It wasn't nearly as complicated as I had thought. Or as expensive. And it does not take up a huge amount of time.
Now, I probably spend 20-30 minutes every 1-2 days on chicken maintenance (I could likely go to every 2-3 days). We do not remove their pine shavings or hay everyday or even every week. We turn it over every few weeks and place new on top. Read about the Deep Litter Method here.
Each spring we will dig out the old shit and replace with all new.
This spring we plan on getting at least 6 more chicks. We have lost a few recently so we have plenty of room for more.
If I can do it, anyone can do it!
No comments:
Post a Comment