The Coop

The noise and smell of these young chickens was cute a couple of weeks ago, but now fills our livingroom to a level that seems to be growing exponentially everyday.  The cute little peeps are now frantic- flapping- squaking noises necessitating cranking the volume on the netflix movies we watch at night.   While the noise isn't always bad the smell from the nitrogen rich poop production has certainly doubled within the last week.  That said, there is increased need for a permanent outside structure (coop) that we can move these girls into soon.   Luckily for me I have been blessed with a work friend that not only has a great set of wood working tools and a shop that dwarfs most houses but she also has great skills and when I mentioned our family needing a coop, she jumped at the chance to design and build this project with me.  Now let me be perfectly frank that without her help this coop would certainly have taken me way past my very limited carpentry skills.  So, as you view these photos and notice the clean angles, and cool design the credit goes to "Tam" who lucky for me doesn't seem to mind giving up a couple of Satudays to help us in our quest for getting closer to the source of our food.  

Here are some photos of the project.

-George

P.S. By a recent family vote, we have decided (over careful deliberation...as naming chicks is very important for the kids) to name the blonde chick Tam, in order to thank our good friend who has helped us to make these chicks a home. 

The Chick Whisperer

I have given myself (Leigh) the nickname of "Chick Whisperer". Everyone in the family agrees that this is an appropriate nickname for me, since I am able to put our baby chicks to sleep almost every time I cluck at them. 

I first noticed this phenomenon about a week ago when we had only had the chicks for a couple of days. When I approached their tub, I wanted them to be calm and, of course, they were not. Anyone out there who has had baby chicks knows that it is rare to see them just kind of chilling out. They are usually pecking at the ground, or trying out their wings, or running around or pecking each other! (Establishing pecking order, I guess.) 

I don't know why I clucked at them...maybe because I do it with my dog, Sunny, when I am calming him or giving him pats...maybe because I grew up near farmland and had a best friend with horses, that she used to calm by clucking at them. Whatever the reason, it definitely just happened naturally. 

When I did it at the chicks, they immediately stopped pecking and cocked their heads at me. ALL OF THEM!!! "Weird," I thought. I wonder what would happen if I kept clucking. So, I kept clucking about 30 seconds. By the time 30 seconds was up, they all had their heads in the cedar chips and were snoozing!!

If you have chicks, you may already know this. This is our first time. We are definitely novice chick parents and every day is a new adventure in parenting. SO, it was a surprise and, who knows, it may come in handy when we are trying to collect their eggs when they get a bit bigger. 

-Leigh

Why Bother?

When considering changes like our family is trying to make questions like "why bother" sometimes nag at the back of my mind.  A recent article by Michael Pollan in the New York Times attempts to analyze this question and in my opinion paraphrases nicely the thoughts that go into an effort like the one that we are beginning.  It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the global warming crisis if you read all the news that continues to be generated recently.  It is easy to critically examine the issue and come to the conclusion that any change we attempt to make isn't going to do enough to make a difference and this is probably true.  

Is it me or have we already entered a time of rapidly changing climate?  Have we already reached a point of no return?  I like to feel we have time, but I also know that even though our families efforts may be trivial and given the big picture (developing India and China) not really going to make a difference.  The effort alone is important to us. 

Please see comment below for a permanant link to the article.

-George

Which came first... the chicken, or the coop?

Well, it's me, Rahne. Before I begin, let me explain that there are five members of our family not including the chicks. Kelly is my brother (see "Chicken Fun"), and George and Leigh are my parents (see "Why Chickens?"). They have been posting as well, and will continue to post. We also have a dog, named Sunny, who you can see in the background of the picture under the post, "Why Chickens?" He is eating  grass. (ORGANIC grass.)

Today, my dad, George, spent his time with some work friends making a "Chicken A-frame," as he so humorously put it. The chicken a-frame is designed in such a way so that it can be picked up and moved around. This way, the chickens and the ground works together so that the chickens still are technically producing "free range eggs," and the ground is fertilized from the chicken's waste and their turning up the soil.  

Unfortunately, although the chicken coop is turning out quite nicely, the chickens cannot enjoy the pleasure of living inside the new chicken coop because of the weather and their age. Even though it is "Spring" (note the quotation marks) we are still experiencing winter- like weather. But don't blame it all on global warming... here in the Northwest, the weather is already irratic... global warming just helps it and gives it a nudge along the way. We've been getting hail and snow, even in April!!! 

-Rahne

chicken fun

hi welcome to chicken run website i want to tell you that how much i like chicks. When my dad said where going to get chicks i was proud i love chicks.I couldnt belive it the chicks where arracanas a good kind of chicks. I watched them alot it was my best time.so My dad is soon going to get eggs from them when there big, I dont like that idea i want more chicks.If you want chicks go to airport strret and a pet shop is there if you want to buy some go there.  Bye have fun with the website chicken run.

-Kelly

Inch by Inch Row by Row

Other aspects of our getting closer to the source of our food revolve around the very small scale garden and fruit that we are starting to cultivate.  Pictured here is the beginning of our small sixteen ft. in diameter vegetable garden.  Actually it is not really vegetables yet, but rather the beginning of conditioning the soil.  Truth is the family hasn't done much gardening at this point, and starting small we thought would be good.  As of today we know the following about gardens:  

• Plants need water
• Plants need sun
• Deer like plants
• Dogs like gardens
• Digging is hard work

So, see our garden beginning here and the raised strawberry bed that we resurrected this last few weeks.

-George

Why Chickens?

Why chickens you ask?  Well the answer is simple.  We love them fried, baked, stewed, broiled many different ways!

Just kidding, we have no intentions of raising these chickens to be broilers, or for stewing but just for the eggs they will produce for a few years.  Our interest in raising chickens represents our desire to become closer to the source of our food.  Chickens are an easy step towards providing a low cost protein source that is local and ecologically more sustainable then buying corn-fed store bought eggs.  In addition to providing us with eggs our chickens will live in a portable "chicken tractor" moved around our yard to feed on insects and grass all while fertilizing our yard with their nitrogen rich poop.  Sounds like a win win to me!

This interest in becoming closer to our food source came about after a week- long trip our family took to a small island off the southeastern coast of Vancouver Island in Canada.  Two books read on this journey (Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver) raised our awareness of the problems associated with industrial agriculture which essentially derives its energy from intense amounts of petroleum in the form of pesticides/herbicides and transportation fuel to produce and transport most all of the food we eat.  All of this large scale food production is far from sustainable considering the energy required to produce food and then transport it.  It is also highly damaging to our closed Earth ecosystem.   The methods of raising animals in CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations) and the tremendous amount of chemical pesticides and antibiotics needed to produce food in this system is very troubling.  This is the reason for our chickens.  

Our chickens to us represent our attempt to provide our own food source in a more sustainable manner that isn't connected to this unsustainable industrial food chain.  

-George