Chickens Revisited
It’s been a while since I wrote about our chickens. I just wanted to chime in with an update (four years into owning our original two chickens) and let you know it’s still amazing. It’s actually even more amazing now that we have kids (as a side-benefit, I’m hoping that our little mini-farm helps them develop more resilient immune systems).
We raised our girls from a really young age, and they have always been incredibly gentle, social, and fun. We originally acquired them to be egg-producers for our families, but they quickly proved themselves to be awesome pets. We feel so grateful that they have managed to thwart predators through the years.
Our Eglu is still going strong (although it’s faded), and it makes caring for the girls really easy. The worst part about owning hens is that they poop all over the deck. Henry and I just make it a habit to get out there about once a week to sweep it all off.
5 Comments
Marie Carlisle
Hi Sara. What is your approach to child and pet safety? Toddlers are still developing and don't know any better (no matter how much parents try to teach their children how to respect animals) so what do you do to ensure there is safety for both the children *and* the animals?
I was just wondering because your little one looks a little awkward in the way he is holding his little friend.
Sara E. Cotner
Hi, Marie! We always try to monitor our children closely when they are interacting with animals to ensure the animals' safety. We also don't let Henry hold the chickens for very long.
Marie Carlisle
Thanks for answering my question, Sara. If it helps there are many resources on how to hold/handle a chicken properly. Might be more comfortable for both of them. Good luck! 🙂
Shawn
Thanks for the update! If you get the Eglu with the chicken run, do you need much more room for them than that, or would that do it? Also, I'm trying to estimate about how much it costs, on average, to have backyard chickens. Any feedback would be great!
Sara E. Cotner
Hi, Shawn! We buy one bag of food a month and that's it. I'm not sure how much it costs because Matt takes care of it. The Eglu with the run is supposed to be enough for the chickens. We've always let ours roam freely throughout our entire yard which makes them much, much happier. If I were going to keep the enclosed all day, I would be sure to move the Eglu to new grass every day so they could find lots of new things. Hope that helps a little!